The Environmental Health Trust is holding a lecture and public forum in Jackson Monday night to discuss the potential dangers of cell phone and wireless radiation.

Dr. Devra Davis is the founder of the Environmental Health Trust and a visiting professor of medicine at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She said France recently released the results of its own tests on cell phone radiation. 

“What they showed is that when phones are tested as they are used in the pocket they exceed current recommendations for radiation exposure three to four times,” said Davis.

Countries like Israel, France and Belgium have banned marketing cell phones to children, and advise children limit cell phone use because of radiation. Davis said children are more vulnerable to cell phone and wireless radiation because their brains have more fluid and their skulls are thinner than adult skulls.

“When it comes to microwave radiation what we know is that cell phone radiation can get more deeply into the brain. And even if child’s brain was identical to the adult, we know they grow more quickly and they develop more damage more quickly than that of an adult,” Davis said. 

These conclusions are still controversial, however. In a 2016 study by the U.S. National Toxicology Program, male rats exposed to cell phone radiation had a somewhat higher incidence of certain tumors, but the link has not been proven in humans. Cell phones are listed as a possible carcinogen by The Working Group, but most government agencies say evidence is not conclusive and more research is needed.

Davis and other medical professionals will discuss the debate over wireless radiation at the event, which takes place at the Teton County Public Library in Jackson Monday at 6 p.m.