A growing body of evidence shows that mobile phones don’t cause brain cancer.
The use of mobile phones does not increase brain tumor incidence, according to a new study. The research bolsters previous findings that show mobiles aren’t linked to brain cancer.
“This study was so important because we saw a spike in cancer cases from 1975-1992,” Dr. Jessica Jones, an assistant professor of oncology with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston told Digital Trends in an interview.
Brain cancer cases increased from 1995-to 2008, Jones said, adding, “What could have caused such a rise? There were a few trends in that time frame, including the use of cell phones. This study looked at so many patients we can rest assured that cell phones do not cause brain cancer.”
In a recent study, researchers tracked the health of more than 1 million women in the United Kingdom. From this study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, researchers from Oxford Population Health and International Agency for Research on Cancer reported that there is no increased risk of brain tumors overall or by brain tumor subtype or its locations in mobile phone users, compared to those who have never used one.
“These results support the accumulating evidence that mobile phone use under usual conditions does not increase brain tumor risk,” one of the study’s authors, Kirstin Pirie from Oxford Population Health’s Cancer Epidemiology Unit, said in a news release.
However, the researchers who led the study cautioned that their findings were limited. They said it’s not clear whether the risks associated with mobile phone use are different in those who use mobile phones considerably more than was typical of women they studied. In the study, only 18% of phone users reported talking on a mobile phone for 30 minutes or more each week. The study authors noted that those who use mobile phones for long durations could reduce their exposure to radiofrequency waves by using hands-free kits or loudspeakers.
The study participants did not include children or adolescents, but other researchers have investigated the association between mobile phone use and brain tumor risk in these groups and have not found any worrisome trends.
Mobile technologies are improving all the time so that the more recent generations emit substantially lower output power.
“Mobile technologies are improving all the time so that the more recent generations emit substantially lower output power,” the study’s lead investigator Joachim Schüz said in the news release. “Nevertheless, given the lack of evidence for heavy users, advising mobile phone users to reduce unnecessary exposures remains a good precautionary approach.”
