Mobile phones, cordless phones and the risk for brain tumours

****For those of you in the media****

I'm sending you this message because of the title of a session at theBioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) meeting in Europe next week. The title of theSession is:"When do we know enough to stop research on the safety of wirelesscommunication?" (see [http://omega.twoday.net/stories/5752211/]).Why would this Society even consider stopping research into this area especiallysince our daily exposure to wireless radiation continues to rise and there are agrowing number of reports of illnesses including cancers? This is very puzzling or is it?How would you feel and what would you do if the statement read:"When do we know enough to stop media coverage on the safety of wirelesscommunication?"This is coming next and it is based on fear and greed and is anti-democratic. I'maware of stories that have been pulled because they were damaging to variousindustries so I should say it is already happening in the media.A free society needs to allow and enable investigations into topics that may not beto the liking of various industries and by investigations I'm referring to bothscientific and media research.And if this isn't worth a story, then consider the most recent research on mobilephones that just came out. Abstract below.

****For those of you not in the media****

Please send this to your media contacts. We need some brave reporters to raisethe warning before we are all silenced into submission.-magdap.s.JUST PUBLISHED: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 35: 5-17, 2009

Mobile phones, cordless phones and the risk for brain tumoursLENNART HARDELL and MICHAEL CARLBERG

Abstract. The Hardell-group conducted during 1997-2003 two case control studies

on brain tumours including assessment of use of mobile phones and cordlessphones. The questionnaire was answered by 905 (90%) cases with malignantbrain tumours, 1,254 (88%) cases with benign tumours and 2,162 (89%)population-based controls. Cases were reported from the Swedish Cancer Registries. Anatomical area in the brain for the tumour was assessed and relatedto side of the head used for both types of wireless phones. In the current analysiswe defined ipsilateral use (same side as the tumour) as 50% of the use andcontralateral use (opposite side) as <50% of the calling time. We report nowfurther results for use of mobile and cordless phones. Regarding

astrocytoma

wefound highest risk for ipsilateralmobile phoneuse in the >10 year latency group,

OR=3.3

, 95% CI=2.0-5.4 and for cordlessphone use

OR=5.0

, 95% CI=2.3-11. Intotal, the risk was highest for cases withfirst use <20 years age, for mobile phone

OR=5.2

, 95% CI=2.2-12 and for cordless phone OR=4.4, 95% CI=1.9-10. For

acoustic neuroma

, the highest OR was found for ipsilateral use and >10 year latency, for mobile phone

OR=3.0

, 95% CI=1.4-6.2 andcordless phone OR=2.3,95% CI=0.6-8.8. Overall highest OR for mobilephone use was found in subjects withfirst use at age <20 years,

OR=5.0

, 95% CI1.5-16 whereas no association was found for cordless phone in that group, butbased on only one exposed case. T

he annual age-adjusted incidence of astrocytoma for the age group >19 years increasedsignificantly by +2.16%, 95% CI +0.25 to +4.10 during 2000-2007 in Swedenin spite of seemingly underreporting of cases to the Swedish Cancer Registry.

A decreasing incidence was found for acoustic neuroma during thesame period. However, the medical diagnosis and treatment of this tumour typehas changed during recent years and underreporting from a single center wouldhave a large impact for such a raretumour.

NOTE:

an OR (odds ratio) of 3.3 is a 3.3 times increased risk or a 230%increased risk. All of these ORs are statistically significant! A 2% increase in therate of astrocytoma during 2000 and 2007among those older than 19 years isdisturbing because it is "age-adjusted" and thus factors out the effect of aging. Iexpect once the numbers come in for those under the age of 19 it will be muchhigher than a 2% increase for a similar time period as has been reportedelsewhere.

Dr. Magda Havas,

B.Sc. Ph.D.Environmental & Resource Studies,Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, K9J 7B8phone: 705 748-1011 x 7882 fax: 705 748-1569mhavas@trentu.caInformant: Elizabeth Kelley