Social Life
Mobile Phones Will Not Cause Cancer
Mobile phones will not cause cancer or slow the brain, according to a recently published six-year-long study.
The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Program, possibly the largest investigation so far into health risks associated with mobile telephone technology, was set up to resolve uncertainties identified by previous evaluations of the possible health risks associated with the widespread use of mobile phone technology.
“None of the research so far suggests that biological or adverse health effects are produced by radio frequency exposure from mobile phones. Reassuringly no epidemiological association was found between short-term and long-term mobile phone use (less than ten years) and cancers of the brain or nervous system,”
Not surprisingly, the study confirmed that the use of a phone or hand held device while driving does increase risk of accident, but researchers found it caused no greater risk than other in-car distractions. Researchers recommended however, that precautionary advice from vendors of mobile devices was limited and that policy makers need to adopt alternative, more effective methods of communicating the risks associated with operating machinery or driving vehicles while using hand held devices.
The debate of whether or not mobile phones cause cancer or affect the brain looks set to continue for some time yet. Evidence contradicting the MTHR project’s findings was supplied in a study of 300 people that found frequent mobile phone users did demonstrate slowed brain function. These researchers also want to continue their study over a longer period to examine over 17,000 people.
