Yahoo News Mobile phone brain cancer warning as malignant tumour rates double
A controversial new study has stoked fears that mobile phone use may be linked to brain cancer, as rates of a malignant brain tumour have doubled in two decades.
Experts have described the rise in an often-deadly brain tumour known as Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) as ‘alarming’.
The research, published in the Journal of Public Health and Environment, found that rates of GBM have increased in England from 1,250 a year in 1995 to just under 3,000, the Telegraph reported.
Researchers at the Physicians’ Health Initiative for Radiation and Environment (PHIRE) said the figure ‘raises the suspicion that mobile and cordless phone use may be promoting gliomas.’
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The conclusion is likely to be controversial, with other experts having previously suggested that large-scale studies showed no link between mobile phone use and cancer.
Professor Denis Henshaw of cancer UK, which worked with PHIRE said, ‘Our findings illustrate the need to look more carefully at, and to try and explain the mechanisms behind, these cancer trends, instead of brushing the causal factors under the carpet and focusing only on cures.’
Several prominent academics have criticised the study, saying that it’s already widely known that brain cancer is on the increase, and there’s no evidence that mobile phones are to blame.
Experts have said that other factors – such as the increase in air travel – could be behind the rise.
Andrew Sharrocks of the University of Manchester said, ‘This study does not investigate or uncover any causes for this and merely speculates at possible causes such as radiation emitted from mobile phone. There is zero evidence of a link between mobile phones and brain tumours.’
Dr Lion Shahab, Senior Lecturer Epidemiology & Public Health, UCL, said, ‘This paper provides evidence for a rise in specific malignant brain tumours in England. What the analysis does not show is that this rise is caused by mobile phones.’
In 2016, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) said people should take steps to limit their exposure to mobile phone radiation.
The CDPH also warned that people shouldn’t sleep next to their phones.
Previous research by the CDPH found that people with certain kinds of brain tumour were more likely to have been phone users for 10 years or more – and that the tumours were often on the side of the head they used their phones.
