手機(jī)輻射致癌嗎？科學(xué)家研究十年后有了新發(fā)現(xiàn)

手機(jī)致癌嗎?

Despite years of research, there is still no clear answer. But two government studies released Friday, one in rats and one in mice, suggest that if there is any risk, it is small, health officials said.

盡管已研究多年，這個(gè)問(wèn)題依然沒(méi)有明確的答案。但是衛(wèi)生官員稱，周五公布的兩項(xiàng)分別在大鼠和小鼠身上進(jìn)行的相關(guān)政府研究表明，即便有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，也是比較小的。

Safety questions about cellphones have drawn intense interest and debate for years as the devices have become integral to most people’s lives. Even a minute risk could harm millions of people.

多年來(lái)，隨著手機(jī)成為大部分人生活不可或缺的一部分，有關(guān)它們的安全問(wèn)題引發(fā)了廣泛的關(guān)注和激烈的討論。即便是微不足道的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)也可能影響成千上百萬(wàn)人。

These two studies on the effects of the type of radiation the phones emit, conducted over 10 years and costing $25 million, are considered the most extensive to date.

這兩項(xiàng)針對(duì)手機(jī)輻射影響的研究歷時(shí)10年，耗資2500萬(wàn)美元(約合1.6億元人民幣)，被認(rèn)為是迄今為止最全面的。

In male rats, the studies linked tumors in the heart to high exposure to radiation from the phones. But that problem did not occur in female rats, or any mice.

研究認(rèn)為，雄性大鼠的心臟腫瘤和高劑量的手機(jī)輻射有關(guān)。但雌性大鼠和所有小鼠均未出現(xiàn)這個(gè)問(wèn)題。

The rodents in the studies were exposed to radiation nine hours a day for two years, more than people experience even with a lot of cellphone use, so the results cannot be applied directly to humans, said John Bucher, a senior scientist at the National Toxicology Program, during a telephone news briefing.

美國(guó)國(guó)家毒理學(xué)計(jì)劃(National Toxicology Program)的高級(jí)科學(xué)家約翰·布赫(John Bucher)在一場(chǎng)電話新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō)，研究中使用的這些嚙齒動(dòng)物連續(xù)兩年每天接受九小時(shí)的輻射，超過(guò)大量使用手機(jī)的人，因此相關(guān)結(jié)果不直接適用于人類。

The results, he said, had not led him to change his own cellphone use or to urge his own family to do so. But he also noted that the heart tumors in rats — called malignant schwannomas — are similar to acoustic neuromas, a benign tumor in people involving the nerve that connects the ear to the brain, which some studies have linked to cellphone use.

他說(shuō)，研究結(jié)果并沒(méi)有促使他改變自己的手機(jī)使用習(xí)慣或勸說(shuō)家人這么做。但他也指出，大鼠的心臟腫瘤，即所謂的惡性神經(jīng)鞘瘤，與聽神經(jīng)瘤類似。后者是人體內(nèi)的一種良性腫瘤，涉及連接耳朵和大腦的神經(jīng)，一些研究認(rèn)為它與使用手機(jī)有關(guān)。

He said that nearly 20 animals studies on this subject have been done, “with the vast majority coming up negative with respect to cancer.”

他說(shuō)，在這個(gè)問(wèn)題上已經(jīng)開展了近20項(xiàng)動(dòng)物研究，“就癌癥而言，絕大多數(shù)的結(jié)果都是陰性的。”

Other agencies are studying cellphone use in people and trying to determine whether it is linked to the incidence of any type of cancer, Bucher said.

布赫表示，另外一些機(jī)構(gòu)正在研究人們使用手機(jī)的情況，試圖確定它是否和任何類型的癌癥的患病有關(guān)。

The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement saying it respected the research by the toxicology program, had reviewed many other studies on cellphone safety, and had “not found sufficient evidence that there are adverse health effects in humans caused by exposures at or under the current radio-frequency exposure limits.”

美國(guó)食品藥品管理局(Food and Drug Administration，簡(jiǎn)稱FDA)發(fā)表了一份聲明，稱它尊重毒理學(xué)計(jì)劃的研究，并對(duì)其他很多有關(guān)手機(jī)安全的研究進(jìn)行了檢查，“沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)充分的證據(jù)表明，暴露在當(dāng)前的射頻暴露極限或以下會(huì)對(duì)人的健康產(chǎn)生不良影響”。

The statement, from Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s center for devices and radiological health, also said, “Even with frequent daily use by the vast majority of adults, we have not seen an increase in events like brain tumors.”

出自FDA設(shè)備和輻射健康中心主任杰弗里·舒連(Jeffrey Shuren)的這份聲明還寫道，“即使絕大部分成年人每天頻繁使用手機(jī)，我們也沒(méi)有看到腦瘤等病例的增加。”

The Federal Communications Commission sets exposure limits for radio-frequency energy from cellphones, but relies on the FDA and other health agencies for scientific advice on determining the limits, the statement said.

聲明說(shuō)，美國(guó)聯(lián)邦通信委員會(huì)(Federal Communications Commission)會(huì)對(duì)手機(jī)的射頻能量制定輻射極限，但它依賴FDA和其他衛(wèi)生機(jī)構(gòu)提供科學(xué)的建議來(lái)確定這些極限。

For people who worry about the risk, health officials offer common-sense advice: Spend less time on cellphones, use a headset or speaker mode so that the phone is not pressed up against the head and avoid trying to make calls if the signal is weak. Bucher noted that the radiation emitted increases when users are in spots where the signal is poor or sporadic and the phone has to work harder to connect.

衛(wèi)生官員對(duì)擔(dān)心相關(guān)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的人給出了常識(shí)性的建議：減少使用手機(jī)的時(shí)間;使用耳機(jī)或揚(yáng)聲器模式，這樣手機(jī)就不會(huì)貼著頭部;以及避免在信號(hào)微弱時(shí)打電話。布赫指出，當(dāng)用戶在信號(hào)不好或時(shí)有時(shí)無(wú)的地方時(shí)，手機(jī)不得不更加努力地連接，導(dǎo)致釋放的輻射增加。

The new studies also found tumors in the brains and some other organs in the animals exposed to the radio-frequency radiation. But Bucher said those findings were “equivocal,” emphasizing that only the heart tumors provided evidence strong enough for the researchers to trust. Other possible effects need more research, he said.

新研究在接受射頻輻射的小鼠和大鼠的大腦和另外一些器官中也發(fā)現(xiàn)了腫瘤。但布赫說(shuō)這些發(fā)現(xiàn)“很模糊”，強(qiáng)調(diào)只有心臟腫瘤提供的證據(jù)足以讓研究人員采信。他說(shuō)，其他可能的影響需進(jìn)行進(jìn)一步的研究。

Others felt that even the ambiguous findings were of concern. Joel M. Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the School of Public Health, at the University of California, Berkeley, said that based on the overall results of the study, the government should reassess and strengthen the limits it imposes on how much and what types of radiation cellphones can emit.

另一些人覺(jué)得，即使是模糊的發(fā)現(xiàn)也值得關(guān)注。加州大學(xué)伯克利分校公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院家庭和社區(qū)健康中心(Center for Family and Community Health at the School of Public Health)主任喬爾·M·莫斯科維茨(Joel M. Moskowitz)說(shuō)，根據(jù)這項(xiàng)研究的總體結(jié)果，政府應(yīng)該重新評(píng)估和加強(qiáng)對(duì)手機(jī)可釋放多少以及什么類型的輻射的限制。

Scientists do not know why only male rats and not females develop the heart tumors, but Bucher said one possibility is simply that the males are bigger and absorb more of the radiation.

科學(xué)家們不知道為什么只有雄性大鼠會(huì)患上心臟腫瘤，雌性大鼠卻沒(méi)有，但布赫說(shuō)，一種可能性是雄性體型更大，吸收的輻射更多。

The studies also found some DNA damage in the exposed animals, a bit of a surprise because scientists had believed that radio-frequency radiation — unlike the ionizing radiation in X-rays — could not harm DNA.

這兩項(xiàng)研究還發(fā)現(xiàn)，暴露在輻射中的動(dòng)物體內(nèi)的一些DNA受損。這有些意外，因?yàn)榭茖W(xué)家本以為射頻輻射不同于X射線中的電離輻射，不會(huì)損壞DNA。

“We don’t feel like we understand enough about the results to be able to place a huge degree of confidence in the findings,” Bucher said.

“我們覺(jué)得對(duì)這些結(jié)果的了解還不夠，無(wú)法對(duì)結(jié)果有高度的信心。”

A seemingly paradoxical finding that has also puzzled the researchers is that the rats exposed to the cellphone radiation actually lived longer than the controls. One possible explanation, Bucher said, is that the radiation may ease inflammation, and lessen the severity of a chronic kidney disorder that is common in aging rats and can kill them.

一個(gè)看似矛盾并令研究人員感到困惑的發(fā)現(xiàn)是，暴露在手機(jī)輻射下的大鼠實(shí)際上比對(duì)照組活得更長(zhǎng)。布赫說(shuō)，一個(gè)可能的解釋是，輻射或許會(huì)緩解炎癥，并減輕一種慢性腎臟疾病的嚴(yán)重程度。這種疾病在老年大鼠中很常見，可能致死。

Asked if there was any chance that cellphone use could help people live longer, Bucher said: “The extrapolation to humans requires a number of steps that go beyond the realm of what we’re studying here. I don’t think that question is particularly answerable at the moment.”

被問(wèn)及使用手機(jī)是否有可能幫助人們活得更久，布赫說(shuō)：“針對(duì)人類的推斷須采取大量超出我們目前研究范圍的舉措。我不認(rèn)為這個(gè)問(wèn)題目前能夠具體回答。”

The reports issued Friday were considered draft versions released for public comment and a review by outside experts on March 26-28 at the environmental health institute in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

周五發(fā)布的報(bào)告被認(rèn)為是草稿，意在征求公眾意見，并于3月26至28日在北卡羅來(lái)納州三角研究園(Research Triangle Park)的環(huán)境衛(wèi)生研究所接受外部專家的檢查。