Danger surrounds our lives. We know that if we engage in risky behavior, we can become ill or injured, but what about the potential dangers we can’t see, likecell phone radiation? Cell phones have become increasingly popular since their advent. More people have them and are spending more and more time on them, including children, who are more at risk of cell damage because their bodies are still developing. One trendy practice has emerged: women carrying cell phones in their bras for easy access. They even make bras with pockets for cell phones. Thatsounded like a pretty good idea, until it wasn’t.

On January 4, 2012, a 21- year old Pennsylvania woman named Tiffany Franz was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her case was unusual not just because she was so young or because she had no family history whatsoever of the disease, but because the masses were located directly underneath the spot in her bra where she had been carrying her cell phone for 12 hours, every day, for the last at least five years. She and her mom were convinced that the cell phone was the culprit, but few doctors agreed with her.

Also in 2012, a 51 year old mother from the UK named Wendy Holt developed breast cancer after carrying her cell phone in her bra every day for about 10 years. She was convinced that her cell phone caused the malignancy, also, because she had no family history, but medical professionals didn’t agree due to her age, becauseeighty percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer are over the age of 50.

In 2013, the National Institute of Health published case studies of four womenbetween the ages of 21 and 39, who were identified as having cancerous breast masses exactly where their cell phones rested against their skin. These women had no family history of breast cancer, tested negative for the breast cancer genes BRC1 and BRC2, and were under the age that breast cancer generally occurs. In addition, the tumors were remarkably similar in their structure, they were all low-intermediate level, and were all hormone-positive.

Since cell phones came out, and increasingly more since these cases have been reported, research has been, and continues to be, done to prove or disprove the association between cell phones and breast cancer. In addition to many other studies performed in several different countries, a large scale studyusing rats was undertaken by the National Toxicology Program, a part of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The conclusion was that these rats did exhibit a higher incidence of two kinds of malignant tumors when exposed to the same type of radiation emitted by cell phones, the non-ionizing kind. However, the rats were exposed to the radiation for longer periods of times, athigher intensities, and at higher doses than those to which cell phone users are exposed.Some of the male rats even lived longer after exposure.

Despite documented cases with very similar circumstances, multiple studies have not established a definitive correlation between breast cancer and carrying cell phones in bras. The consensus is that cell phone radiation is “possibly carcinogenic to humans”, and more studies need to be done over longer periods of time. In the meantime, there are things you can do to protect yourself from cell phone radiation. The fact is, if a solid link between the two is found in the future, this type of breast cancer can be prevented. Just don’t do it. Don’t play Russian Roulette with your life.