Mobile phone owners were urged to limit their use last night after the World Health Organisation admitted they may cause cancer.
The UN’s health agency advised ‘pragmatic’ measures to reduce exposure, such as using hands-free kits and texting instead of calling.
The disturbing report marks the first time the WHO has linked mobiles with cancer, and follows earlier research linking just half an hour’s use a day with up to 40 per cent higher odds of brain cancer.
However the mobile phone industry was quick to point out that the devices had not been directly shown to cause cancer.
More than 70million mobile phones are now in use in Britain – more than one for every man, woman and child. Worldwide, the total tops five billion.
Dr Christopher Wild, director of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, said: ‘Given the potential consequences for public health, it is important that additional research be conducted into the long-term, heavy use of mobile phones.
‘Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure, such as hands-free devices and texting.’
IARC’s conclusion follows a week-long review of all available scientific evidence by 21 scientists from 14 countries, including fresh research that has yet to be published.
The working group concluded that mobile phone use is ‘possibly carcinogenic’, a term which places the phones in the middle of five tiers of possible carcinogens.
Mobile phones
They are below smoking, asbestos, sunbeds and other things which definitely cause cancer, but still a potential risk.
The review’s results could lead to the WHO redrawing its guidelines on mobile phone use. Until now, it has stated that there are no adverse health effects associated with it.
Dr Jonathan Samet, chairman of the working group, said while the evidence is still accumulating, it is strong enough to support the classification.
He added: ‘The conclusion means that there could be some risk and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk.’
The working group did not quantify the risk – but pointed to a study from last year that linked just half an hour of mobile phone use a day for ten years with an increased use of glioma, a type of brain tumour.
Some of the scientists behind that research said the figures were flawed and urged people not to worry, but others warned against dismissing the link.
Professor Denis Henshaw, a Bristol University radiation expert, said at the time: ‘Why should it come as a surprise that pressing mobiles to people’s ears increases the risk of brain tumours?’
The new review also found a possible link between mobile phones and non-cancerous tumours of the nerve that transmits information about sound from the ear to the brain.
John Cooke, executive director of the Mobile Operators Association, said that the industry takes all questions regarding the safety of mobile phones seriously, and is strongly committed to supporting ongoing scientific research.
He added that all mobile phones sold in the UK comply with international health and safety exposure guidelines.
Cancer Research UK urged people not to panic. Ed Yong, the charity’s head of health information, said: ‘The risk of brain cancer is similar in people who use mobile phones compared to those who don’t, and rates of this cancer have not gone up in recent years despite a dramatic rise in phone use during the 1980s.’
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘This does not change our position which has been to adopt a precautionary approach.
‘Children should only use mobile phones for essential purposes and keep all calls short.’
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Heavy mobile phone use may be linked to an increased risk of cancer of the salivary gland, a study suggests.
Researchers looked at 500 Israelis who had developed the condition and compared their mobile phone usage with 1,300 healthy controls.
Those who had used the phone against one side of the head for several hours a day were 50% more likely to have developed a salivary gland tumour.
The research appeared in The American Journal of Epidemiology.
Numerous studies have focused on the risk of tumours among those who use mobile phones, and overwhelmingly found no increased cancer risk.
But researchers at Tel Aviv University say these have tended to focus on brain tumours, and often did not include long-term users.
Cancer of the salivary gland is a very rare condition. Of the 230,000 cases of cancer diagnosed in the UK for instance annually, only 550 relate to this area.
Dr Siegal Sadetzki, who led the research, said while mobile phone use in Israel was much heavier than in many other parts of the world, this gave an insight into what the long-term, cumulative impact could be.
“Compared to other studies, the amount of exposure to radiofrequency radiation we saw here was much higher. If you like, you’re seeing what could happen elsewhere ‘speeded-up’ in Israel,” she said.
One of the key findings of the study was that heavy users in rural areas had an even higher risk that those in cities, due, the team suggested, to the fact that mobile phones in areas without strong signals need to emit more radiation to work properly.
But Dr Sadetzki stressed one study was not enough to prove a link, and that further research was needed.
Nonetheless, until more evidence became available, a “precautionary” approach was best, she said, particularly when it comes to children’s use of mobile phones.
Despite these latest findings, the largest and longest-running investigation ever to be carried out into mobile phone usage found no increased risk of any sort of cancer.
It followed 420,000 people in Denmark, some of whom had been using a mobile phone for as long as ten years.
There was in fact a lower incidence of cancer than expected in a group of that size, suggesting mobile phones had no impact on the development of tumours.
Last year, the UK’s Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme said that while the evidence so far was “reassuring”, there was still a need for studies to examine the very long-term impact, and to look at the effect in children.
Ed Yong, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Mobile phones are a relatively recent invention and new research into any possible health risks is welcome.
“However, it’s important to remember that the vast majority of studies so far have found that mobile phones do not increase the risk of any type of cancer.”
The World Health Organization’s cancer research agency says mobile phones are “possibly carcinogenic”.
A review of evidence suggests an increased risk of a malignant type of brain cancer cannot be ruled out.
However, any link is not certain – they concluded that it was “not clearly established that it does cause cancer in humans”.
A cancer charity said the evidence was too weak to draw strong conclusions from.
A group of 31 experts has been meeting in Lyon, France, to review human evidence coming from epidemiological studies.
They said they looked at all relevant human studies of people using mobile phones and exposure to electromagnetic fields in their workplace.
The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) can give mobile phones one of five scientific labels: carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, possibly carcinogenic, not classifiable or probably not carcinogenic.
It concluded that mobiles should be rated as “possibly carcinogenic” because of a possible link with a type of brain cancer – glioma.
Ed Yong, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: “The WHO’s verdict means that there is some evidence linking mobile phones to cancer but it is too weak to draw strong conclusions from.
“The vast majority of existing studies have not found a link between phones and cancer, and if such a link exists, it is unlikely to be a large one.
“The risk of brain cancer is similar in people who use mobile phones compared to those who don’t, and rates of this cancer have not gone up in recent years despite a dramatic rise in phone use during the 1980s.
“However, not enough is known to totally rule out a risk, and there has been very little research on the long-term effects of using phones.”
The WHO estimated that there are five billion mobile phone subscriptions globally.
Christopher Wild, director of the IARC, said: “Given the potential consequences for public health of this classification and findings it is important that additional research be conducted into the long term, heavy use of mobile phones.
“Pending the availability of such information, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure such as hands free devices or texting.”
Radiation from cellphone handsets is “possibly carcinogenic to humans” and may cause glioma, a type of brain cancer, says the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). IARC put radio-frequency electromagnetic fields — emitted from cellphones, radars, microwaves and radio, TV and wireless signals — in the same cancer risk category as lead, DDT, chloroform and coffee.
This is the third-highest IARC rating, below “carcinogenic to humans”, which includes tobacco, and “probably carcinogenic”, which includes diesel exhaust and anabolic steroids.
With five billion mobile subscriptions in the world and growing, WHO warns against long and frequent use of cellphones. “Additional research is needed. Till then, it is important to take pragmatic measures to reduce exposure by using hands-free devices or texting,” said IARC director Christopher Wild.
Over the past week, 31 scientists from 14 countries reviewed several existing studies, including IARC’s Interphone study that said more than half an hour a day over 10 years increases risk of gliomas by 40%. They concluded that the evidence linking cellphone use to brain cancer was limited, inconclusive. Simply put, the cancers could have occurred by chance rather than causation and more studies were needed.
“Cellphone use has become widely popular only over the past decade but it’s too early to rule out the risk… Children, adolescents and pregnant women should use mobiles when strictly necessary as they are at greater risk of absorbing radiation,” said Dr GK Rath, head of the Rotary Cancer Institute at AIIMS.
MOBILE PHONE DON’Ts
Talk for hours on end. The longer you use the phone, the higher a dose of radiation your brain is soaking up. Even a two-minute call has been found to alter the natural electrical activity of the brain for up to an hour afterwards.
Use a regular wired headset, like the one that came with your phone. The regular wired headset has been found to intensify radiation into the ear canal.
Allow your children unlimited mobile phone use. Young brains encased in thinner, more fragile skulls risk greater damage.
Do not make a call when the signal strength is one bar or less. The phone must work harder to establish a connection.
Use the cell phone in enclosed metal spaces such as vehicles or elevators, where devices may use more power to establish connection. The metal enclosure also acts as a Faraday cage that traps the radiation and reflects it back on to the occupants.
MOBILE PHONE DOs
Keep your mobile phone in your bag rather than in your pocket or next to your body. One study shows that men who wear cell phones near their groin risk reductions in their sperm count by up to 30 per cent.
Send text messages or email where possible – don’t lean it against your body as you do so.
Use a wireless headset. Moving your phone 20cm away from your head reduces radiation doses by about 98 per cent.
Keep still when you’re using it. If you’re on the move, whether walking or in a vehicle, your phone needs to use more radiation to keep track of you.
Hold it away from you after dialling and watch the screen to see when it connects. Most phones emit more radiation when they’re trying to make contact.
Go low-tech. The more sophisticated functions your phone has, the more power it must use to complete tasks.