Is there a link between cell phone use and cancer (v. 2.0)?

I posted on this topic a few months back, and noted that there was no compelling evidence to suggest that cell phone use was linked to brain cancers. Certainly, the occurrence of the types of brain cancer in question (gliomas and acoustic neuromas) has remained pretty much the same over the last decade or two, even though cell phone use has escalated very rapidly.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced concerns of a potential risk in heavy cell phone use for developing gliomas and acoustic neuromas.

If you've been looking for a good excuse to stop answering your cell phone or to spend money on hands-free headsets, then now's the time!

However, if you are wondering how safe or unsafe cell phone use may be from the standpoint of brain cancer risk it's worth noting that the WHO's findings are far from conclusive.

• The level of risk is not new compared to earlier studies, and is assigned a level of 2B. This means a possible risk of cancer in humans, but with very limited evidence.
  
• Note that other possible carcinogens in the 2B category include carpentry, coffee and pickles.
• Even if this finding is taken at full face value, we are still talking about an uncommon form of cancer which means that the risk in any individual of developing a brain cancer from using a cell phone regularly is still very low.

To me, this is also interesting as telecom industry studies show that cell phone users are using there phones less for actual voice phone calls and more for texting, email and data transmission such as smart phone apps.

Until I am convinced otherwise I plan to continue to use my cell phone, start off my day with a mug of coffee, and eat pickles or kim-chee when the mood strikes me. However, I will continue to defer carpentry to my wife since she is far better at it than me!