Emerging aspects of mobile phone use

The mobile phone is a modern-day invention, which has managed to reach many parts of the world enabling telecommunications across areas where it was not possible before. Although these devices have proved to be life saving in certain circumstances (e.g., after accidents) and helped improve the quality of life in some sectors, concerns continue to be raised about potential adverse health impacts associated with their use. These range from cancer and cognitive deficiencies to subjective effects, such as a feeling of warmth around the ear used, headache and fatigue. We provide an overview of the concerns raised and summarise what is known about them. We conducted a literature search in Pubmed/…

Comparison of Studies on Mobile Phone Use and Risk of Tumors

published results of ameta-analysis of studies on mobile phone use and risk of tumors. Intheir analysis, the authors included 23 case-control studies, covering abroad spectrum of tumor entities including uveal melanoma, testicu-lar cancer, parotid gland tumors, and brain tumors.However, the authors give no rationale for pooling these hetero-geneous, biologically rather diverse cancer sites, for which the local-ized exposure from the use of mobile phones is completely different.The key difference between this particular meta-analysis com-pared with earlier ones is the use of a quality score. The use of qualityscoreshasbeenreportedtobea“formofsubjectivitymasqueradingasobjectivity”andithasbeen…

Medical exposure to ionising radiation and the risk of brain tumours: Interphone study group, Germany

Abstract Background The role of exposure to low doses of ionising radiation in the aetiology of brain tumours has yet to be clarified. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between medically or occupationally related exposure to ionising radiation and brain tumours. Methods We used self-reported medical and occupational data collected during the German part of a multinational case–control study on mobile phone use and the risk of brain tumours (Interphone study) for the analyses. Results For any exposure to medical ionising radiation we found odds ratios (ORs) of 0.63 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.48–0.83), 1.08 (95% CI = 0.80–1.45) and 0.97 (95% CI = 0.54–1.75)…

Occupation and risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma: results from a German case-control study (interphone study group, Germany)

Background: Several epidemiological studies have investigated the association between occupation and brain tumour risk, but results have been inconclusive. We investigated the association between six occupational categories defined a priori: chemical, metal, agricultural, construction, electrical/electronic and transport, and the risk of glioma, meningioma and acoustic neuroma. Methods: In a population-based case-control study involving a total of 844 cases and 1688 controls conducted from 2000 to 2003, detailed information on life-long job histories was collected during personal interviews and used to create job calendars for each participant. Job title, job activity, job number, and the s…

Kosmische Strahlung und Gesundheit bei Flugreisen

Mobile Phones and Health Risks

Epidemiological studies which have been conducted up to date have found little evidence linking short-term mobile phone use to an increased risk of brain tumors. Some studies have shown slight increases in risk for long-term mobile phone users (>10 years). These results are however based on small numbers and need confirmation. Keywords: mobile phones; health risks; brain tumors; epidemiological studies

Assessment of radiofrequency exposure from cellular telephone daily use in an epidemiological study: German Validation study of the international case-control study of cancers of the brain--INTERPHONE-Study.

The objective of the study is to validate self-reported cellular phone use information by comparing it with the cumulative emitted power and duration of calls measured by software-modified cellular phones (SMP). The information was obtained using a questionnaire developed for the international case-control study on the risk of the use of mobile phones in tumours of the brain or salivary gland (INTERPHONE-study).The study was conducted in Bielefeld, Germany. Volunteers were asked to use SMPs instead of their own cellular phones for a period of 1 month. The SMP recorded the power emitted by the mobile phone handset during each base station contact. Information on cellular phone use for the sa…