NO CLEAR CONNECTION
NO CLEAR CONNECTION
Between mobile and tumours
A study across five northern European countries has concluded that there is no clear connection between mobile phone use and the development of brain tumours.
The study, published in the online version of the International Journal of Cancer in January 2007, looked at the link between mobile use and glioma (tumours) and is thought to be the biggest study of its kind.
Researchers interviewed 1,522 glioma sufferers and 3,301 cancer-free participants in
However, the research team did argue that those glioma sufferers who have used a mobile for ten years or more have a 39 per cent higher risk of developing glioma on the side of the head on which they typically hold their handset. It also showed that long-term users are two per cent less likely than average to develop a glioma on the side of the head where they do not hold their phone.
The study concedes that there could be a risk of error associated with recall, which could affect the reliability of the results.
Professor Anssi Auvinen, Research Professor at the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, which reviewed the results of the study, told that there, “remains some uncertainty about the biases in the study,” particularly people’s recall of use over a ten year period.
Asked if people could rest assured that mobiles were, after several studies, now safe, Auvinen responded that, “more research is definitely needed. If you want a stronger understanding of how mobiles affect the brain there needs to be significantly more work done with more data and many more variations. It is important also that any new research should be done looking at current use, rather than historical use.”
