Evidence is multiplying that using a mobile phone increases the risk of you developing cancer. For the first time, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has stated that mobile phones are ‘possibly carcinogenic’. This puts them in the same category as petrol fumes and coffee, other substances which are potentially harmful but still without a clear link.
‘The conclusion means that there could be some risk and, therefore, we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk,’ says Dr Jonathan Samet, chairman of the group.
Another study last year, entitled ‘Interphone’, found that people making calls for more than half an hour a day over 10 hours increased their risk of developing gliomas – a type of tumour – by 40%.
With over five billion mobile phones now in use worldwide, the new research is a wake-up call to governments, who should respond by urging citizens to use handsfree devices.
‘The risk of brain cancer is similar in people who use mobile phones to those who don’t, and rates of this cancer have not gone up in recent years despite a dramatic rise in phone use during the 1980s,’ says Ed Yong, head of health information at Cancer Research UK.
‘However, not enough is known to totally rule out a risk, and there has been very little research on the long-term effects of using mobile phones.’