A LONG-awaited international study of the health risks of mobile phones has linked extended mobile phone use to an increased risk of developing brain tumours.
The 10-year Interphone study, the world's biggest study of the health effects of mobile phones, found while there was no increased risk of cancer overall, those in the top 10 per cent of phone use are up to 40 per cent more likely to develop glioma, a common type of brain cancer.
Just 30 minutes of mobile talk time daily was enough to put participants into the top 10 per cent category in the study, carried out in 13 countries, including Australia, and involving more than 5000 brain cancer patients worldwide.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which conducted the study and has repeatedly delayed its publication, summarised the findings by saying there were "suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and much less so meningioma, in the highest decile (10 per cent) of cumulative call time, in subjects who reported phone use on the same side of the head as their tumour".
It added "biases and errors limit the strength of the conclusions that can be drawn . . . and prevent a causal interpretation".
But the finding - reported by British newspapers yesterday ahead of its official scheduled release this week - has nevertheless ignited controversy among cancer experts, neurologists and other scientists.
Australian neurosurgeons Charlie Teo and Vini Khurana said last night the findings were a concern. "Despite the study's methodological limitations that biased it towards finding nothing, the heaviest users were found to be at significantly higher risk of glioma, which is consistent with our message," Drs Teo and Khurana told The Australian.
"This (finding) does concern us, but it's also an impetus to do two things: the mobile phone industry has to supply the actual hours logged, and we need to track brain tumour incidence in Australia."
Other experts sought to reassure the public over the findings. IARC director Christopher Wild said an increased risk of brain cancer was "not established from the data from Interphone".
"However, observations at the highest level of cumulative call time and the changing patterns of mobile phone use since the period studied by Interphone, particularly in young people, mean that further investigation of mobile phone use and brain cancer risk is merited," Dr Wild said.
Although modern mobile phones have greatly reduced emissions the authors said phone use now was "much more prevalent and it is not unusual for young people to use mobile phones for an hour or more a day". 

Industry group the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association also emphasised the study found no increased risk overall, and its conclusion was "in line with the weight of scientific opinion, which has found no substantiated scientific evidence of any adverse health effects".
The study's authors said there was "reasonable doubt" about the credibility of some patients' estimates of their phone use, which in 10 cases amounted to 512 hours per day, an impossibility.

ah this explain's the huge lump on the right side of my head

This study sounds like a waste of time.

"The heaviest 10 per cent of users had clocked up an average of 1,640 hours of phone use spread over 10 years,
which corresponds to about half an hour a day."

"half an hour a day"? That's nothing for many people.

For what is worth, the mainstream medical consensus now is inconclusive.

That just means there's insufficient evidence to support a link between brain tumours and the use
of mobile phones. But they don't want to rule it out .... just in case ...  

I heard this awhile ago and am fuzzy about the details. Was told the reason why Koreans don't use bluetooth headsets (in a country where mobile phones are technologically very advanced compared to HK) was because there was a reported case where a guy died and during autopsy they found that one side of the skull was discoloured. The press made a big deal about it and everyone stopped walking around with headsets stuck to the sides of their heads for hours on end. Like I said I don't know how much of this is true. Maybe a bro from Korea can shed some light?

That's right: it's your phone ...

It was inconclusive about smoking being correlated to increased lung cancer for a VERY long time ...

The reality is the body (and the brain) is capable of tolerating a lot of interference, but once you reach the tipping-point it causes complications.  

Actually cordless phones are a LOT worse than cellphones, because cellphones go into a low-energy standby mode that is much less harmful any time you're not using it.  Cordless phones (aside from a single model that's not for sale in Hong Kong) are always on and always transmitting.  So if you have one at home, you're basically cooking your brain while you're at home (e.g. at night, asleep).

we prolly die younger from many other stupid things *shrug

limitations of the study are that they have been in widespread use for a relatively short time. Although 10 years may seem a long time - consider the age of people who start using mobile phones heavily - just gets younger and younger. the worry is that maybe after 20-30 yrs you start seeing these adverse effects and people may still be in their 30s

They're saying that using a hands free system for your mobile will diminish your chances of developing brain tumours.

If you have kids though you might want to think twice about giving into their demands for a mobile as the young developing brain seems to be the most susceptible.

I think the tobacco-cancer comparison is a valid one. Let's not forget the successful stalling tactics the tobacco companies pursued for decades. The mobile telephone companies, while not as powerful and influential as the tobacco companies once were, will still nonetheless do whatever they can to forestall any action on this.

Sounds to me like you would be better off using only a mobile telephone at home if you need the portability of a cordless phone at home.

Could you give us the make of safe cordless telephone you mentioned not being available in HK?

[ Last edited by  atomic3d at 18-5-2010 04:57 ]

totally agree about kids, being in a stage of partly-formed development they are MUCH more vulnerable than our old and case-hardened brains are, and potentially so much more to lose

But the hands-free question is (alas) a huge gotcha:-

if you use a WIRE as a hands-free, what happens is the wire leading to your ear-buds acts as an antenna and actually CONCENTRATES the radio waves into your ear (and your brain)
even worse: if you use a blue-tooth, you're putting a transmitting aerial DIRECTLY into your ear, where it does the most damage (inverse square law applies)
apparently the only SAFE hands-free device is a tube that works like a stethoscope to direct the sound to your ears ... and I've never actually seen a real one of those for sale anywhere

What does work is a speakerphone.  If you have a speakerphone on your cordless or cellphone, use it whenever you can.  The negative impact of a transmitter that is 1m away from your brain is disproportionately less than if it's 2cm from your brian (it's that inverse square law again).  

these days I notice some smart-phones are designed with the aerial in the bottom of the phone, where it's closer to your mouth and (therefore) further away from your brain.  This is a good thing (remember those first-gen cellphones with the antenna sticking out of the top next to your head? right ...).  But you have to remember not to clasp it too strongly, since your hand can absorb a bit of the signal, making the poor thing have to increase the transmission power just to reach the cell tower ...

confused yet?  

It's called Orchid

http://www.lowradiation.co.uk/

if anyone knows another, PLEASE TELL US!!

... and if we can get enough interest let me know, it might be worth trying to get some stock over here ...

I suggest just use a bluetooth headset.  It's more convenient anyways.  Then, there won't be any worries about radiation whatsoever.

Thanks for that.

I'll probably just move back to a corded telephone for now and do a bit of research, see if I can find an Australian supplier.

[ Last edited by  atomic3d at 19-5-2010 12:23 ]

Wait...I don't get it. So it *didn't* raise overall cancer rates but it *did* raise brain cancer rates for the top 10% of users? Sounds like doublespeak.

yeah - gobbledeygook

... otherwise the logical inference of the statement is that as long as you're in the lower 90% of users the net effect is to reduce cancer rates slightly???

I look at it this way ...

it's pretty obvious to see that low levels of irradiation can be tolerated by the body - it can handle the impact and repair itself - after all, the basic function of life is maintenance of the status quo and restoring balance when there's a disturbance (physical impact, biological, chemical, etc.)

it's also perfectly clear that high levels of irradiation are harmful and can be lethal: microwaves, x-rays, etc.  Stories of people walking in front of high-powered radar devices and getting themselves cooked abound.  

Somewhere between the two extremes there must be a cross-over ... and it would be smart not to be the test-case that's exposing himself to the highest levels of irradiation that are currently commercially legal and widely available.

I use a hands free device whenever on a long call, it's easier on my ears too.
Now the second question is if the radiation is only being pumped out when speaking, cause when we're not speaking guess where the phone is at...
Right, in our pockets near our BALLS.
They should do a study too for testicular tumors

you're absolutely right

and I hate to admit I sound like a Luddite ...

at one level we do know the cellphone is not transmitting anything like as much power when it's on standby - after all your battery life is much longer if you're not talking (like 10x or better).  

which in turn shows just how much power gets pumped into your brain while you are talking!

but there is definitely the (unproven) possibility of electromagnetic intereference with your heart, if it's close.  you heart is the biggest source of electrical and magnetic impulses in your body (that's known) ... and you know what happens to a radio near your phone just before you receive a call ... up, lots of static ...

life-threatening?  well, compared to unloading your battery into your ear it's probably not as bad to carry a cellphone aroundon standby

but you can't rule out a cumulative impact resulting from continuously carrying a cellphone in the same pocket over a period of years.  

we're all being guinea-pigs!