News

Still no sign that mobiles cause cancer. So keep looking!

by Bill Ray | posted on 07 December 2006

A long-term study, carried out by the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Denmark and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, has found no increased incidence of cancer among mobile phone users.

With a sample size of over 400,000, the study found that long-term mobile phone users had a slightly lower incidence of cancer than the general population, though this can be attributed to being from the upper-income demographic, still one of the most important factors in illness and life expectancy.

The study included all Danes who had started a subscription to a mobile phone service between 1982 to 1995, and did not distinguish between analogue or digital subscribers. Analogue systems used higher power transmissions, so any risk should have been greater, but no evidence of any such risk was found.

The authors of the study concluded:

"We found no evidence for an association between tumour risk and cellular telephone use among either short-term or long-term users. Moreover, the narrow confidence intervals provide evidence that any large association of risk of cancer and cellular telephone use can be excluded."

Of course, this is unlikely to placate the Campaigners Against Stuff who will point out that the study only shows no evidence of risk; it does not prove there is no risk.