Increased use of mobile phones since the late 1990s is not causing a rise in the frequency of brain tumours, a Scandinavian study has found. The survey of cancers reported among 16 million adults in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden found no related, observable change in the incidence of cases up until 2003.

Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the research covers a more recent period than previous studies. It suggests that if there is any risk from regular use of mobile phones, it would take more than five to 10 years for the tumours to appear.

“The [cause] of brain tumours is poorly understood,” the paper, written by Isabelle Deltour of the Danish Cancer Society and others, says. “The only well-established risk factors – ionizing radiation and rare hereditary syndromes – account for a small proportion of brain tumour cases.”

The study was based on 59,984 brain tumour cases diagnosed between 1974 and 2003 among 16 million adults aged 20–79 years. But Deltour said she had found no evidence that using mobile phones increased the risk of brain tumours.

Via guardian