ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

By: Hardell L, Carlberg M, Hansson Mild K
Published in: Int J Oncol. 2011 Feb 17. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2011.947. [Epub ahead of print]

In this study the authors have performed a pooled analysis (combining results) of three previous case-control studies investigating whether brain tumours are associated with mobile phone or cordless phone use. Two of the studies included  subjects alive at the time of the study inclusion and one used deceased subjects. Information was obtained via a questionnaire mailed to the cases and controls or to relatives of deceased subjects. Replies were obtained for 1,251 cases (85% of all the cases identified) and 2,438 controls (84%). The authors report that the risk of brain tumours increased with latency period and cumulative use in hours for both mobile and cordless phones. Highest risk was found for the most common type of glioma, astrocytoma (brain tumour type and sub-type), which produced, for mobile phone use greater than 10 years, an odds ratio (OR) = 2.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.9-3.7 and cordless phone use (>10 years) OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.2‑2.9. The authors conclude that an increased risk was found for glioma and use of mobile or cordless phone.

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There have been several case-control studies since 2000 looking at the association between mobile phone use and brain tumours. The majority of these can be divided into 2 main groups: (a) the studies by Hardell and co-workers (some of which have also included cordless phones) and (b) the INTERPHONE studies.

Hardell and colleagues have published quite a number of papers since 2000 based on 6 original case-control studies performed in Sweden; some of which have been pooled analyses of the results.  Khurana et al (2009) summarised the Hardell results as showing statistically significant positive associations between glioma or acoustic neuroma (benign brain tumour) and use of analogue, digital or cordless phones. The risks increased with latency period, particularly of more than 10 years, and with cumulative mobile phone use of more than 2000 hours.

The INTERPHONE project, which is coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), is a multi-national series of case-control studies (from 13 different countries including Australia) testing whether using mobile phones is associated with an increased risk of various cancers in the head and neck. The INTERPHONE studies were based on a common core protocol to enable valid data pooling.

A pooled analysis of the INTERPHONE studies for malignant brain tumours (glioma and meningioma) showed no overall association (INTERPHONE Study Group, 2010 (PDF)). There were suggestions of an association (most pronounced for glioma) in the group representing individuals with the highest cumulative call time. The authors note that limitations of the methodology prevent conclusions of causality being drawn from these observations.

Although the Hardell studies are similar to the INTERPHONE studies there are subtle methodological differences which might account for the deviating results. IARC has scheduled a comprehensive review of the carcinogenic potential of mobile phone use under the auspices of its Monographs Programme. The review, will consider all published epidemiological and experimental evidence, including the Hardell and INTERPHONE results.

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By: Ostrom QT et al
Published in: Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 2011: in press

This paper reviews the current epidemiological knowledge on brain tumours including the incidence, possible risk factors, response to treatment and survival rate. The paper notes that the only established environmental risk factor for brain tumours is exposure to ionising radiation. The paper also discusses mobile phone use as a possible risk factor mentioning that studies have been inconsistent and inconclusive due to systematic differences in study designs and difficulty of accurately measuring mobile phone use.

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By: California Council on Science and Technology
Published in: CCST website

This is a report from the US on the health consequences of the radio frequency (RF) radiation that is emitted from smart meters. The key findings of the report were:

1. Wireless smart meters, when installed and properly maintained, result in much smaller levels of RF exposure than many existing common household electronic devices,  particularly mobile phones and microwave ovens.
2. The current US standard provides an adequate factor of safety against known thermally induced health impacts of existing common household electronic devices and smart meters.
3. To date, scientific studies have not identified or confirmed negative health effects from potential non-thermal impacts of RF emissions such as those produced by existing common household electronic devices and smart meters.
4. Not enough is currently known about potential non-thermal impacts of RF emissions to identify or recommend additional standards for such impacts.

The report is available from http://www.ccst.us/publications/2011/2011smartA.pdf

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By: Vojisavljevic V et al
Published in: Med Biol Eng Comput 2010: in press

This Australian study investigated whether low intensity microwaves can alter protein activity. The authors report that protein activity can be altered by specific frequencies of low power microwave radiation. They conclude that this finding can serve to support the hypothesis that low intensity microwaves can induce non-thermal effects in bio-molecules.

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By: Volkow ND, et al
Published in: JAMA 2011; 305 (8): 808 – 813

This study investigated whether using a mobile phone affects brain glucose metabolism, which is an indicator of brain activity. In the study 47 healthy volunteers had mobile phones placed on the left and right ears and positron emission tomography was used to measure brain glucose metabolism twice, once with the right mobile phone activated (sound muted) for 50 minutes ("on" condition) and once with both mobile phones deactivated ("off" condition). Whole-brain metabolism did not differ between on and off conditions. In contrast, metabolism in the region closest to the antenna (orbitofrontal cortex and temporal pole) was statistically significantly higher for on than for off conditions. The authors conclude that in healthy participants, and compared with no exposure, a 50-minute mobile phone exposure was associated with increased brain glucose metabolism in the region closest to the antenna. However the authors note that this finding is of unknown clinical significance.

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