Scientists from the Institute of Cancer Research, London, have announced that there is no correlation between mobile phone usage and brain tumour. They also have not discovered an increased risk in the first decade of the cellphone's use.
According to a report in London's The Independent on the institute's research project, no link was found between lengthy usage of cell phones and a type of brain cancer termed as acoustic neuroma or a benign tumour that develops in the area between the ear and the brain's inner ear. The result does not vary with the total number of hours spent on the cell phone, number of calls made or the length of time the cell phone has been used, the study says.
The findings of the study, which compared the cell phone usage over 10 years of 678 people suffering from acoustic neuroma with 3,553 people who had not developed the condition, were published in The British Journal of Cancer. People from five countries -- Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, all with an early history of cell phone usage -- were chosen for the study.
The study, carried out by an international team of scientists, also compared the older analogue headsets and the newer digital versions, but failed to find any increased risk of acoustic neuroma in the brain..
However, the scientists said there was little information on the long-term of mobile phones, and did not rule out a risk emerging over time.
Professor Anthony Swerdlow, the project's senior investigator at the Institute of Cancer Research and a spokesman for the institute told The Independent: 'The study suggests there is no substantial risk of this tumour in the first 10 years after starting mobile phone use. However, an increased risk after longer term use could not be ruled out.'
He added, 'There has been public concern about whether there is a link between brain cancer risk and use of mobile phones. The results of our study suggest that there is no substantial risk in the first decade after starting use. Whether there are longer-term risks remains unknown reflecting the fact that this is a relatively recent technology.'
In the 10 years that cell phones have been around, it is estimated that a billion people worldwide use the gadgets. While fears have been expressed about their use leading to cancer, so far there has been no conclusive evidence of the same.