The number of people using mobile phones is increasing
A study that researchers claim suggests links between
using mobile phones and brain tumours is flawed,
radiation experts have said.
The National Radiological Protection
Board (NRPB), which advises the
government on safety levels, said the
study "lacks statistical precision" to
draw such conclusions.
The findings were revealed on Monday in an edition of
the BBC's Panorama programme.
The researchers who conducted the study called on the
mobile phone industry to acknowledge that its product
poses a risk to human health.
But the industry denied there is any proven risk to health
associated with the devices.
Reduced time using phones
Scientists told Panorama that people should cut down
the time they spend using mobile phones, and consider
using low-emission phones or hands-free devices.
Research commissioned by
the programme showed large
differences between the
amount of microwave
radiation absorbed by the
brain from different makes of
phone.
The scientists say the
findings from the new studies
could be a "problem", and
are calling for the public to be
given full health information
on the use of mobiles.
Other investigations have
recently suggested that it is too soon to say for certain
that mobile phones cause harm to health, and one even
found they can help to improve reaction times.
'Biological indication of problems'
But on Panorama, Swedish cancer specialist Dr Lennart
Hardell, author of one of the new studies, says there is a
biological indication of a problem that needs further
research.
"I think that until we have the definite
conclusion, the definitive results of
much larger studies, we need to
minimise exposure to human beings,"
he says.
His study, which has yet to be published, looked at brain
tumour sufferers and found a connection between phone use and cancer.
He found that for those using their
mobile phone on the right side of their
head, the risk of getting a tumour
increased by almost two-and-a-half
times.
The risk for those using their phone on the left side was
also increased by almost two-and-a-half-times.
'No overall increased risk'
But the NRPB said it has seen the Swedish findings,
and quotes the authors as saying: "In this study we did
not find an overall increased risk for brain tumour
associated with exposure to cellular phones."
The NRPB said the study did not involve enough people
to offer compelling evidence, and any difference in risk it
did find was not statistically significant.
It said that the study showed there was no evidence of
increased risk with increased use.
Information on the use of mobile phones was gathered
by questionnaire, the NRPB said.
Scientists usually regard information gathered in such a
way as being potentially unreliable.
Research funded by phone industry
However, the NRPB did not comment on another study
by Dr George Carlo, head of a $25m research body
funded by the mobile phone industry in the US
He speaks out for the first time on Panorama about his
study, which he also says shows an increased risk of
getting a type of rare brain tumour from using mobile phones.
Dr Carlo's study is also yet to be published.
He said that taking into
account the two new studies,
it is no longer a responsible
position for the manufacturers to
say there is no problem.
"We clearly have results that
suggest there could be
something more here than
meets the eye.
"The science we have today clearly shows that this is
not black and white.
"That we have moved now into a grey area that suggests
that there could be a problem that needs to be looked at
very, very carefully.
"That grey area needs to be acknowledged," he says.
'Research indicates no health risk'
But Tom Wills-Sandford, director of the Federation of the
Electronic Industry - which represents mobile phone
network operators - said research supported the
industry's position.
He said: "I have not yet seen the
programme but if you look at the
totality of evidence for any link
between mobile phones and any
human health effects there is no
cause for concern"
The programme also spoke to people who claim they
have been made ill by mobile phones.
Steve Corney, who was a BT engineer four years ago
and used a new digital phone for up to five hours at a
time, tells the programme he now suffers memory loss
and speech problems, and is out of work.
Variation in emission rates
Research carried out exclusively for Panorama by the
National Physical Laboratory also features in the programme.
The study looked at the levels of emissions absorbed by the brain
from
different makes of mobile phone.
This is measured by what is known as a specific
absorption rate (SAR). An SAR is measured by Watts of
radiation energy per kilogram of brain.
An SAR of 10 Watts per kilogram is the safety limit set
by the NRPB.
The research shows that although all eight of the phones
tested were below the safety limit, there was a
considerable difference between the lowest and the highest.
