Phones ‘don’t raise risk of brain cancer’
Research into cancer rates among one of the largest groups of users ever studied found no difference compared with people who did not use them. Research into cancer rates among one of the largest groups of users ever studied found no difference compared with people who did not use them.
London - Using a mobile phone does not increase the risk of brain cancer, claim scientists.
Research into cancer rates among one of the largest groups of users ever studied found no difference compared with people who did not use them.
But campaigners say the study, by a team in Denmark, is seriously flawed and will falsely reassure users.
It is likely to add to confusion among the public because it comes after other studies suggested mobile phones may increase the risk of brain cancer.
The Danish study investigated data on more than 358,000 mobile users over 18 years, thought to be the longest follow-up so far.
Researchers, led by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, found cancer rates in the central nervous system, including the brain, were almost the same in both long-term mobile users and non-users.
They studied hundreds of thousands of Danes aged between 30 and 82 by gathering information on mobile subscribers from the Danish network operators and from the Danish Cancer Register.
They analysed data of 10,729 central nervous system tumours between 1990 and 2007, says a report on bmj.com, the website of the British Medical Journal. When the figures were restricted to those with the longest use of mobile phones - 13 years or more - the cancer rates were almost the same as those among non-subscribers.
The researchers also said they observed no overall increased risk for tumours of the central nervous system, or for all cancers combined, in mobile users.
There have been fears that cancer could be triggered by the brain’s exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted from mobile handsets. The authors said: “The extended follow-up allowed us to investigate effects in people who had used mobile phones for ten years or more, and this long-term use was not associated with higher risks of cancer.”
But they added that further research was needed to rule out the possibility that heavier and longer use of mobile phones could increase the risk.
In February another major study, by Manchester University researchers, found no statistically significant change in rates of newly diagnosed brain cancers in England between 1998 and 2007, saying it was unlikely “we are at the forefront of a brain cancer epidemic”.
Critics say the Danish study excluded business users and included as non-users people who began using mobiles later on in the survey.
Denis Henshaw, emeritus professor of human radiation effects at Bristol University, said the study was “worthless”, adding: “This seriously flawed study misleads the public and decision makers about the safety of mobile phone use.” - Daily Mail