Mobile Phones and Cancer

Scientific evidence so far shows that using mobile phones doesn't increase your risk of any type of cancer.
What does the evidence say?

The largest study so far on mobile phones and cancer is a Danish study, which looked at over 420,000 people. It found no link between mobile phones and any type of cancer including brain cancers and leukaemia. Even people who had been using their phones for 10 years or more did not have increased risks.

The vast majority of other studies have also found that mobile phones do not increase the risk of cancer.

A few studies have found that people with brain cancer are more likely to develop the disease on the side of the head that they hold their phone to. But they also had lower risks of developing the disease on the opposite side of their head.

This strange result is most likely to be down to chance or inaccuracies. The problem is that these studies ask people with cancer to remember how they used their phones, often many years ago. Their memories may be biased if they had previously heard about a connection between phones and cancer in the media.

Research in this field is still ongoing and Cancer Research UK will continue to look for any new evidence.
Mobile phones and cancer incidence

The use of mobile phones has skyrocketed since the 1980s. But studies in the USA and New Zealand have found that during this time, the numbers of people with brain cancer has not changed very much.
Is the radiation from mobile phones dangerous?

Mobile phones transmit and receive microwave radiation. The energy from microwave radiation is millions of times lower than that the energy from an X-ray.

This radiation does not have enough energy to damage DNA, and cannot directly cause cancer.

Mobile phones also produce small amounts of heat in the brain, but again, not enough to pose a health risk.

In 2000, the UK signed up to a set of international safety standards, which set a limit on the amount of radiation given off by phones. These limits are designed to have a very large safety margin to protect people who may be more sensitive to phone radiation, such as children.

Recently, a study found that mobile phone radiation caused laboratory cells to produce proteins called ERK1 and ERK2. These are involved in cell division and they are found at high levels in some cancers.

But we don’t know whether this could affect the risk of cancer. In this study, the two proteins were only produced for a short period of time. In actual tumours, ERK1 and 2 are activated strongly and for a long time. We also don’t know if these effects in isolated cells would happen in our actual bodies, where many other things affect the levels of these proteins.
Base stations

Mobile phone base stations are unlikely to increase your cancer risk either. The exposure you would get from a base station is usually a hundred times or more below international guidelines. And it is much less than the exposure you would get from a phone.
There is a health risk…

So far, the only proven health issue associated with mobile phones is an increased risk of car accidents! People who use mobile phones while driving, even with a hands-free kit, are easily distracted and are four times more likely to be involved in an accident.
Taking precautions

Mobile phones are a recent invention. So far, studies have indicated that using these phones for about 10 years is safe. But we cannot be completely sure about their long-term effects.

Until we get a conclusive answer, the Government recommends that people take precautions. It advises mobile phone users to keep their call times short. And children under the age of 16 should only use mobile phones for essential calls, because their head and nervous systems may still be developing.