Cell phone exposure is not associated with an increase in brain cancer, but it does raise metabolism in the part of the brain closest to the antenna, according to two new studies.
Led by Dr. Frank de Vocht from the University of Manchester’s School of Community-Based Medicine in the United Kingdom, the first team of researchers used data from the U.K. Office of National Statistics to investigate trends in freshly diagnosed brain cancers between 1998 and 2007.
The study is published in the journal Biometrics and found that cell phone exposure does not significantly increase brain cancer risk.
“Mobile phone use in the United Kingdom and other countries has risen steeply since the early 1990s when the first digital mobile phones were introduced,” said de Vocht in a press release. “There is an on-going controversy about whether radio frequency exposure from mobile phones increases the risk of brain cancer.
“Our findings indicate that a causal link between mobile phone use and cancer is unlikely because there is no evidence of any significant increase in the disease since their introduction and rapid proliferation.”
De Vocht added that it is “very unlikely” we are about to see a brain cancer epidemic associated with cell phone exposure. However, he noted that there was “a small increased rate of brain cancers in the temporal lobe corresponding to the time period when mobile phone use rose from zero to 65 percent of households,” but added that this would contribute to less than one extra case per 100,000 people per decade.
“We cannot exclude the possibility that there are people who are susceptible to radio-frequency exposure or that some rare brain cancers are associated with it, but we interpret our data as not indicating a pressing need to implement public health measures to reduce radio-frequency exposure from mobile phones,” de Vocht said.
The second study involved 47 health participants with cell phones placed against the left and right ears. Brain glucose metabolism was measured twice—once with the right cell phone activated for 50 minutes and once with both phones off.
The researchers found that whole-brain metabolism did not vary, whether the phones were on or off, but metabolism in the brain region closest to the antenna was significantly higher while the phone was on.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Feb. 23., but the “finding is of unknown clinical significance,” according to the abstract.
“The question that remains to be studied into the future is ‘Could there be potential long-term consequences from repeated stimulation?’” said Dr. Nora Volkow from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland, according to Internal Medicine News.
“The fact that we are observing changes really highlights the needs to do the studies to be properly able to answer the question of whether cell phone exposure could have harmful effects or not.”
Led by Dr. Frank de Vocht from the University of Manchester’s School of Community-Based Medicine in the United Kingdom, the first team of researchers used data from the U.K. Office of National Statistics to investigate trends in freshly diagnosed brain cancers between 1998 and 2007.
The study is published in the journal Biometrics and found that cell phone exposure does not significantly increase brain cancer risk.
“Mobile phone use in the United Kingdom and other countries has risen steeply since the early 1990s when the first digital mobile phones were introduced,” said de Vocht in a press release. “There is an on-going controversy about whether radio frequency exposure from mobile phones increases the risk of brain cancer.
“Our findings indicate that a causal link between mobile phone use and cancer is unlikely because there is no evidence of any significant increase in the disease since their introduction and rapid proliferation.”
De Vocht added that it is “very unlikely” we are about to see a brain cancer epidemic associated with cell phone exposure. However, he noted that there was “a small increased rate of brain cancers in the temporal lobe corresponding to the time period when mobile phone use rose from zero to 65 percent of households,” but added that this would contribute to less than one extra case per 100,000 people per decade.
“We cannot exclude the possibility that there are people who are susceptible to radio-frequency exposure or that some rare brain cancers are associated with it, but we interpret our data as not indicating a pressing need to implement public health measures to reduce radio-frequency exposure from mobile phones,” de Vocht said.
The second study involved 47 health participants with cell phones placed against the left and right ears. Brain glucose metabolism was measured twice—once with the right cell phone activated for 50 minutes and once with both phones off.
The researchers found that whole-brain metabolism did not vary, whether the phones were on or off, but metabolism in the brain region closest to the antenna was significantly higher while the phone was on.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Feb. 23., but the “finding is of unknown clinical significance,” according to the abstract.
“The question that remains to be studied into the future is ‘Could there be potential long-term consequences from repeated stimulation?’” said Dr. Nora Volkow from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland, according to Internal Medicine News.
“The fact that we are observing changes really highlights the needs to do the studies to be properly able to answer the question of whether cell phone exposure could have harmful effects or not.”
