Cancer threat from phone use unconfirmed

MOBILE phones do not cause health problems if used for up to 10 years but a long-term cancer risk cannot be ruled out, experts have said.

Researchers found a “very slight hint” of increased incidences of brain tumours among longer-term users. However, the data needs to be investigated further, according to the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) programme in Britain.

The impact of mobile phone use on children is also unknown and must be investigated further, scientists said.

A six-year research programme found no links between mobile phone use and brain cancer, nor evidence of brain function being affected by mobile phone signals, according to the MTHR report published this week.

MTHR chairman Professor Lawrie Challis said: “We cannot rule out the possibility at this stage that cancer could appear in a few years’ time.

“There is no way we can do that, both because the epidemiological evidence we have is not strong enough to rule it out and, secondly, because most cancers cannot be detected until 10 years after whatever caused them.”