Health and Wellness

Studies Find No Risk of Cancer from Cell Phones

The largest study ever of cellular telephone users found no increased risk of cancer, according to an article in the February 7, 2001 issue of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) journal.

The Danish study covered 420,000 users of cellular telephones, between 1982 and 1995. There was no increased risk of leukemia or for cancers of the brain, nervous system or salivary glands. Furthermore, the risks did not vary based on duration of cellular phone use, time since first subscription, age at first subscription, or type of phone (analog or digital).

Another NCI study, which appeared in the January 11, 2001 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, yielded similar results. The study evaluated 800 adult brain tumor cases and 800 people without brain tumors, and found that a person’s risk of developing a brain tumor was unaffected by how long they had been using a cellular phone. Among the people with brain tumors, the tumors did not occur more often than expected on the side of the head where the patients typically held their phones.

Both studies reject the hypothesis that radio frequency radiation from a small transmitter in cellular telephones may pose a cancer risk.