ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

By: Duan Y, Zhang HZ, Bu RF
Published in: Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 2011: in press

This epidemiological study investigated whether using a mobile phone is associated with risk of  epithelial parotid gland (largest salivary gland) cancer. The study compared 136 patients with epithelial parotid gland cancer with 2051controls who did not have salivary gland tumours, for their mobile phone use and other possible causes of the disease. Overall, mobile phone use was not significantly associated with epithelial parotid gland cancer. There were, however, certain patterns of mobile phone use which were associated with epithelial parotid gland cancer (e.g. using a mobile phone for more than 9-10 years). Certain factors such as female gender, advanced age, married status, high income, and smoking were associated with an elevated risk of epithelial parotid gland malignancy, and especially mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Residing in a rural area was associated with reduced risk of epithelial parotid gland cancer. The authors conclude that the association of mobile phone use and epithelial parotid gland cancer requires further investigation with large prospective studies.

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Cancer of the parotid gland, which is the largest of the salivary glands, is rare (1-3% of all head tumours) and is mostly benign (70-80% of cases) however reports from one country suggest that the incidence of the disease may be increasing (Czerniski et al, 2011). There hasn’t been much research investigating whether mobile phone use is implicated in the disease. Earlier studies found no association with parotid gland tumours (Auvinen et al, 2002; Johansen et al, 2001)

The INTERPHONE project (PDF 1.38mb) which is coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer is a multi-national series of case-control studies (from 13 different countries including Australia) testing whether using mobile phones increases the risk of various cancers in the head and neck. The study included approximately 400 patients with parotid gland tumours and their respective controls making it the largest epidemiological study of these tumours to date. From two of the national studies that have been published no increased risk was observed overall (Lonn et al, 2006; Sadetzki et al, 2008). However the small number of long-term users in these studies with (malignant) parotid-gland tumours precludes any conclusions from these results. Additional investigations, with longer latency periods and large numbers of heavy users, are needed to confirm these findings.

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By: Schmid MR, et al
Published in: J Sleep Res 2011: in press

This study investigated whether pulse-modulated radiofrequency (RF) radiation affects brain physiology by reducing cognitive ability (thought processing) and altering the electrical signals in the brain during sleep (measured by an electroencephalograph, EEG). Thirty young healthy males were exposed, at weekly intervals, to three different  conditions for 30 minutes directly prior to an 8 hour sleep period. Exposure consisted of a 900 megahertz (MHz) RF signal, pulse modulated at 14 Hz or 217 Hz and a sham (no RF) control condition. Both the active conditions had a maximum specific absorption rate of 2 Watts per kilogram. During exposure the subjects performed three different cognitive tasks (measuring attention, reaction speed and working memory). There were no clear exposure-related effects on cognitive performance. There were variations in the EEG recordings between the two modulation conditions and the sham condition. The authors conclude that pulse-modulated RF radiation alters brain physiology, although this effect remains variable across different studies.

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By: Hareuveny R, et al
Published in: Bioelectromagnetics 2011: in press

This study investigated whether using a mobile phone alters cognitive function. In the experiment 29 male volunteers had two standard mobile phones attached to their head, one to each side, and were exposed to either the left side of the head or the right side. However the antennas connected to the mobile phones were located far away from the subjects thus reducing the RF exposure. The subjects performed a working memory task that required either a left-hand or a right-hand response according to the side of exposure. Although the results indicated an effect on cognitive ability these were similar to previous studies that had the antennas within the phones. The authors conclude that some of the effects previously attributed to RF can be the result of confounding (another explanation for the result).

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By: Juutilainen J et al
Published in: Bioelectromagnetics 2011: in press.

This paper reviews studies published during the last decade on the biological effects of modulated RF fields. Specifically the review looks at studies that have compared the effects of modulated and unmodulated (continuous wave) RF fields, or compared the effects of different kinds of modulations. The authors conclude that while the majority of recent studies have reported no modulation-specific effects, there are a few interesting exceptions indicating that there may be specific effects from amplitude-modulated RF fields on the human central nervous system.

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By: Carranza N, et al
Published in: Health Phys 2011; 100 (5): 530 – 541

This paper reviews the scientific literature published during the last decade on patient safety from electromagnetic interference on medical devices. The review identifies numerous publications on interferences in medical devices due to RF fields from sources like mobile phones. The authors conclude that several cases of serious interference with medical devices have been reported and that, therefore, special protective measures should be taken to protect against electromagnetic interference from RF sources.

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