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Originally published in May 2003 icon
After a study by Mild and Hardell, linked brain tumours to the use of analogue mobile phones a couple of years ago met with no government action, what will happen this time?
Research scientists in Sweden have found the first evidence of a link between regular usage of digital mobile phones and brain tumours with a 30 per cent increased risk of brain tumours among regular users, typically those spending more than an hour a day on the phones.
The new research looked at digital mobiles and "DECT" cordless phones. It showed that all three types were linked with increased tumour rates.
The tumours occurred most frequently on the side of the head to which the person held their phone. The biggest increase was seen in acoustic neuromas, which form behind the ear and can mostly be treated.
The new study, published in the International Journal of Oncology, involved 1,600 tumour victims who had been using mobile phones for up to 10 years before being diagnosed.
The study leader, Professor Kjell Mild, a biophysicist at Orebro University, Sweden, said, "The evidence for a connection between phone use and cancer is clear and convincing. The more you use phones and the greater the number of years you have them, the greater the risk of brain tumours."
In the study, scientists compared the tumour patients with a control group of people who led similar lives but did not use mobile phones. They also compared them with a group of tumour patients who did not use mobile phones.
Brain tumours occurred most frequently on the side of the head to which the person held their phone
Dr Richard Sullivan, head of clinical programmes at Cancer Research UK, said the study was worrying. "It suggests a strong link between mobile phones and brain tumours. We now need a full-scale study."
The mobile phone industry has long resisted any suggestion of a link to cancer, though it accepts that mobile phone radiation does affect the electrical activity in the brain.
There are about 45m mobile phones in use in Britain and 85 per cent of children aged 10-15 have them. At icon our view is that anyone who uses a mobile phone without a first class screen needs their head examined. At The Vitality Show an independent ’ear piece’ seller, measured emissions from our ’Microshield-covered’ phones and was extremely impressed with readings of less than 3 per cent emissions - for more details ring 01280 815166 now.