Ten Years For Cell Phones

Ten years. That's the cut-off time placed by researchers in their new study about cell phones and their possible link to the development of acoustic neuroma.

Using a mobile phone for up to 10 years seems to pose no extra risk of brain cancer, scientists said yesterday.

Researchers could find no link between the risk of developing a tumour and the number of years for which mobile phones had been used, the time since their first use, or the total number of calls. Whether the phone was an analogue or digital model did not seem to matter either.

But increased risk after 10 years could not be ruled out because the technology was still so new, the team from the Institute of Cancer Research in London said in an article published online in the British Journal of Cancer.

Researchers collated data on adults from five countries --- Britain, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden --- where mobile phones were introduced particularly early.

One billion people use mobiles worldwide, and there remains concern that children may be more at risk of cancer because their nervous systems are still developing and they will be exposed to radiation for longer during their lives.

[ Guardian Unlimited, Aug 31 2005 ]

To be on the safe side, the same study advised people under 16 years of age to use cell phones less frequently, make brief calls, and use text messaging instead.

I believe more studies are needed. Can radio-frequency waves generated by mobile phones really damage cellular DNA extensively enough over time to cause a brain tumor or cancer?

I have always amused myself and my friends that we will know the answer in the future when we lie side-by-side in hospital beds with the same diagnosis. 'Kidding, guys. Just kidding.