ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

By: de Vocht F, Burstyn I, Cherrie JW
Published in: Bioelectromagnetics [Epub ahead of print]

This ecological study compares the incidence rates of brain cancer in England between 1998 and 2007 with the prevalence of mobile phone subscriptions between 1985 and 2003. There were no increases in overall incidence of brain cancers for either gender, or any specific age group. Systematic increases in rates for cancers of the temporal lobe in men (0.04 new cases/year) and women (0.02/year) were observed, along with decreases in the rates of cancers of the parietal lobe (-0.03/year), cerebrum (-0.02/year) and cerebellum (‑0.01/year) in men only. The authors conclude that the increased use of mobile phones has not led to a noticeable change in the incidence of brain cancer in England between 1998 and 2007. The observed increase in the rate of cancers in the temporal lobe, if caused by mobile phone use, would constitute <1 additional case per 100,000 people in that period.

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There have been several similar studies that have compared brain cancer incidence rates with the increasing use of mobile phones. The majority of these have not shown an increase in the incidence of brain cancer. It must be noted however that these types of studies are limited in their ability to give unambiguous conclusions and provide the least evidence.

Other research includes projects like INTERPHONE which is the largest case-control study of mobile phone use and brain tumours to date and includes the largest numbers of users with at least 10 years of exposure. Results from INTERPHONE are presented in the May 2010 report.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer 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 new data from the INTERPHONE study.

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By: Swedish Radiation Protection Authority
Published in: SSM Reports 2010(44): 1 - 54

This report is the annual review (since 2003) of the research into electromagnetic fields by the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority’s Independent Expert Group. The report discusses relevant new data on extremely low frequency (ELF) and radiofrequency (RF) fields and health.

The report is available from:

http://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/Publikationer/Rapport/Stralskydd/2010/201044/

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By: Regel SJ, Achermann P.
Published in: Environ Health. 2011 Jan 25;10(1):10.

This is a review of 41 human provocation studies, published in the last decade, on the effects of RF exposure on cognitive performance. The authors note that there was a large variation in the findings which may be attributed to methodological issues such as differences in sample size and the composition of study groups, experimental design, exposure setup as well as the exposure conditions. They conclude that at present, no underlying biological mechanism has been identified that shows an effect of RF on brain functioning.

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By: Cardis E, Sadetzki S.
Published in: Occup Environ Med. 2011 Mar;68(3):169-71.

This paper discusses the main issues in the interpretation of the findings reported in recently published studies of brain tumours in relation to mobile-phone use, particularly the largest of these, Interphone, and their potential public health implications. The authors note that although no firm conclusion can be drawn at present, owing to methodological limitations, several studies have found suggestions of an increased risk of brain tumours in relatively long-term users. They recommend that until definitive scientific answers are available, precautionary measures should be adopted, particularly among young people.

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