Cellphone and Brain Cancer
Written By: By David Liu Ph.D., foodconsumer.org
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Published - May 31, 2011
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a cancer research agency of the World Health Organization announced today cellphones are a possible human carcinogen and its classification indicates that it can be as dangerous as cancer-causing agents pesticide DDT and car exhaust.
Dr. L Hardell and colleagues from University Hospital in Örebro, Sweden published a study in the May 2011 issue of International Journal of Oncology that confirms that use of cell phones may increase risk of brain cancer called glioma.
Most of previous studies that have linked use of cellphones with increased risk of brain cancer were conducted by Hardell and colleagues. His studies are considered of high quality by researchers in the field including Dr. Joel M. Moskowitz, director of the UC Berkeley Center for Family and Community Health. Dr. Moskowitz himself conducted studies and found similar associations.
The current study based on data from three case-control studies showed those who had used cellphones for ten or more years had their risk of the commonest glioma called astrocytoma increased by 170 percent. The increase in the risk was 70 percent in those who used cordless phones.
The highest risk was found among those who started using wireless phone before they reached the age of 20. Of these subjects, cellphone users were 390 percent more likely to be diagnosed with astrocytoma, and cordless phone users were 290 percent more likely to suffer the brain cancer.
Hardell et al. concluded that men and women who used cellphones for a longer period or more accumulative hours and those who started using wireless phones before the age of 20 years were at highest risk for brain cancer astrocytoma.