WHO study warns of mobile use risk on brain

The Interphone report by the WHO has found those in the heaviest user category were in greater danger of developing malignant glioma tumours, which may lead to brain cancer.But the report’s definition of heavy use is just 30 minutes a day and regular use was at least one call per week over a six-month period.

The researchers found that tumours were more common on the side of the head where the phone was used. Experts have warned that the real risk may be much higher as the study didn’t look at other tumours as acoustic neuromas, which grow in the ears. Sarah Wright, Spokeswoman for campaign group Mast Sanity, said: “They are only looking at two types of tumours. Other reports have come up with an average that doubled the risk and this study gives a 40 per cent increased risk. Evidence showed the number diagnosed was increasing by two per cent every year.”

Dr Grahame Blackwell, a Spokesman for health charity Wired Child, said: “It’s time for the government to stop saying, like the mobile industry, ‘we need more research’, to put warnings on mobile phone packaging and to issue cautions over children, similar to those in other countries.

“Parents just don’t realise the dangers, which go beyond brain tumours, and the government needs to inform them as the manufacturers certainly won’t.”
PTI