Health Effects Of Mobile Phones  
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has looked at the possibility of carrying out an international study of whether mobile phone use could cause cancer in humans, and concluded that such a study is feasible (see the IARC web site http://www.iarc.fr).  An international group of experts was convened by IARC, with support from NRPB, which reviewed the results of preliminary studies carried out in nine countries.

There is currently no direct evidence of a link between mobile phone use and cancer.  There is some evidence that people exposed occupationally to high levels of radiofrequency energy from other sources may have an increased risk of leukaemia and brain tumours.  ‘People should not be concerned that increasing rates of brain tumours that are now being observed worldwide are linked to mobile phone use’, said Dr Bruce Armstrong (Chairman of the group of experts and Director of the Cancer Control Information Centre, Sydney, Australia).  ‘These increases, which are most marked in people over 60 years of age, generally  began before mobile phones became widely used.  Even now, people in this age group are very infrequent users of mobile phones.  In fact, we presently have no evidence that mobile phones use is linked to brain tumours.  If it is, the risk for an individual user is likely to be very small.’

The feasibility study was prompted by public concern because of the growing use of mobile phones.  If a risk exists, at the individual level it is likely to be small; it is, however, important for public health reasons that it be studied.
 

This article is excerpted from Radiological Protection Bulletin No: 207, Nov 1998.