Mobile phones increase risk of brain cancer

MOBILE phone users could be increasing their chances of developing brain cancer, experts have warned.

Scientists for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields associated with mobile handsets potentially increase the risk of glioma, a malignant type of the disease.

Following a week-long IARC meeting in France, 31 scientists from 14 countries classified the fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” (Group 2B).

The agency, which is part of the World Health Organisation, said there is around five billion mobile phone users around the world and growing.

Its classification of the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields to Group 2B puts them below the higher risk levels of Group 1 (“carcinogenic to humans”) and Group 2A (“probably carcinogenic to humans”).

Scientist Jonathan Samet, who worked on the research, said: “The evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion and the 2B classification.

“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.”