A new study undertaken by the International Agency for Research on Cancer has found there can be no conclusion on whether increased mobile phone use causes cancer.
The study, to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, has found there was “suggestions of higher risk” for the heaviest users of mobile phones.
These users reported using their phones on the same side of their heads, and had a 40% higher risk for gliomas and 15% risk for meningiomas. These users talked about a half hour per day on average, but researchers said there were “biases and errors” preventing the study from making a conclusive link.
“The study doesn’t reveal an increased risk, but we can’t conclude that there is no risk because there are enough findings that suggest a possible risk,” chief author, Elisabeth Cardis, told AFP.
“Observations at the highest level of cumulative call time and the changing patterns of mobile phone use… particularly in young people, mean that further investigation of mobile phone use and brain cancer is merited,” Christopher Wild, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, said in a statement.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
