Despite previous studies finding no link between mobile phone use and cancer a new study has found that long term users are significantly more likely to develop certain types of tumours.
According to new research the risk of people who use mobile phones for over 10 years developing a tumour on the same side they hold their phone is 40% higher than normal.
The research will be published later this year in the International Journal of Cancer and is the second study to suggest increased risk for phone users.
A number of other respected studies have found no links.
Prof Lawrie Challis, the chairman of the government-funded Mobile Telecommunications Health Research (MTHR) programme, said last week that most research had shown that mobiles were safe in the short term but that there was a “hint of something” for longer-term users.
Prof Challis said:
I agree with the authors that this is a hint that needs further exploration. It’s further reason why a long-term study is necessary.
During the study researchers from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Finland compared the mobile phone use of 1,521 people with gliomas with that of 3,301 people without the cancers.
Initially scientists found no link but when they looked only at people who had used a mobile phone for more than 10 years they found that these users were 40% more likely to develop a tumour on the side of their head where they held their phone.
