Recommendations
Ten-year longitudinal studies that are not sponsored in any way by telecommunication services or manufacturers of cell phones need to be conducted on adults and children to learn definitively the relationship between RF, cell phone use, and primary brain tumor. These studies have to be designed to obtain precise data that include radiation emission from the cell phone, amount of time (both call length and frequency) the phone is used, which side of the brain is exposed, age of the subject, and radiation exposure. The protocol should contain an ethically sensitive clause that if early results indicate a connection between RF and brain cancer, the subjects will be informed, and the study stopped to decrease risk to participants. A trial case study comparing pa tients who have cancer with healthy patients using phone log data in which only the subject is using the phone is needed (Mukherjee, 2011). Consumers need to be educated about the most recent findings.
Nurses are a particularly valuable resource for educating children and parents about health-related concerns. Nurses in clinics and hospitals attended by parents and children can create educational wall posters that display how RF exposure can be reduced. School nurses can also post information about RF on display boards and be available should parents and children request further information. As trusted professionals, nurses are in a good position to communicate to older children, teens, and parents about RF emissions from cell phone antennae and what steps can be taken to reduce this exposure and still benefit from the technology. Using a Bluetooth or the earpiece reduces the amount of radiation to the brain; the radiation effect drops exponentially as the antenna moves away from the head. Even using a speakerphone several inches away from the head reduces exposure significantly. Text messaging is another option because the cell phone is held away from the head while in use. Nurses can become politically active and request their legislators to craft legislation that provides warnings and protects children from radiation exposure as France, Toronto, India, and Israel have done. Through their specialty nursing associations, nurses can create position statements and submit them for publication in professional journals and lay publications. Nurses can encourage their professional organizations to advocate for research on this topic and participate in research if the opportunity becomes available.
Specific recommendations by the American Cancer Society and the Environmental Working Group to reduce RF exposure are listed in Table 1. Nurses have the opportunity to post and promote these recommendations.