'No increased cancer risk' from mobile phones

Using a mobile phone does not increase the risk of developing brain tumours, the latest research has suggested.

The study, carried out by the British branch of the European Interphone Study and published in the British Medical Journal, involved over 2,000 people across the UK.

Researchers from universities in Leeds and Nottingham, and the Institute of Cancer Research in London, questioned 966 people who had been diagnosed with glioma - the most common type of brain tumour - and compared the results with 1,716 healthy volunteers.

The participants were questioned about their use of mobile phones - how long they had used them, how often they made calls and which side of the head they held their phone to.

The researchers found no link between how long people had been using phones or how they often made calls and the risk of developing glioma.

However, they did find an increase in the risk between the side of the head where the phone was held and where the tumour developed. The researchers suggested that this was due to bias from cancer sufferers who reported that the side of the head where their tumour was located, was also the side where they held their mobile phone.

The research team stressed that their study only examined short-term use of mobile phones and that the effects of long-term use are still unknown.

Patricia McKinney, Professor of Paediatric Epidemiology at Leeds University, said: "Our study can only evaluate relatively short-term use, because the majority of people had used mobile phones for less than ten years.

"Future studies will be able to address the risks of longer-term use, but we found no evidence of increased risks in the short to medium term."

The National Radiological Protection Board said that the research did not give mobiles a clean bill of health, although it did welcome the findings.

The board said that its advice for children not to make unnecessary phone calls would remain unchanged.

(KMcA)