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Ellen Gabler

Cellphones may increase risk of 2 types of cancers

Ellen Gabler, Los Angeles Times, Shari Roan

Last updated Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 6:02pm

Cellphone users may be at increased risk for two types of rare cancers and should try to reduce their exposure to the energy emitted by the phones, according to a panel of 31 international scientists convened by an agency within the World Health Organization.

Studies so far do not show definitively that cellphone use increases cancer risk, said the authors of the consensus statement issued Tuesday by the WHO. However, "limited" scientific evidence exists, they said, to suggest that the radiofrequency energy released by cellphones may increase the risk of two types of cancers: glioma, a type of brain cancer, and acoustic neuroma, a tumor of the nerve that runs from the ear to the brain.

Cancer, Cell phones, Health, National Read more Comments

Toddler deaths linked to crib bumper pads not investigated

Chicago Tribune, Ellen Gabler

Last updated Tuesday, March 29, 2011 - 5:20pm

CHICAGO -- The nanny checked on Madison Morr twice during her afternoon nap. The second time, Madison's skin was blue -- her face was pressed against the bumper pad that lined the inside of her crib.

A medical examiner found the 5-month-old baby had suffocated to death, and federal regulators received a death certificate that said she had been trapped against padding in the corner of the crib.

Yet those regulators never examined whether Madison's death involved an unsafe product.

The baby's death in 2006 is one of at least 17 cases where the Consumer Product Safety Commission did not investigate a child's death, even though the agency had reports on file suggesting bumper pads played roles in the fatalities, the Chicago Tribune found.

Features, Accidents, Crib deaths, Investigation, Toddlers Read more Comments