WASHINGTON-A new World Health Organization-backed study says long-term mobile-phone use increases the risk of cancer, but scientists said follow-up research is needed before it can be determined whether wireless handsets pose a health danger to consumers.
The Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, today said research showed 10 or more years of mobile-phone use increased the risk of acoustic neuroma on the side of the head where the phone was usually used.
Acoustic neuroma is a benign tumor-occurring in less than one adult per 100,000 per year-on the auditory nerve that grows slowly over a period of years before it is diagnosed.
The new findings appear similar to those previously reported by Swedish scientist Lennart Hardell, whose research was attacked by industry lawyers and ultimately discarded by U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake two years ago in her dismissal of an $800 million cancer lawsuit against Motorola Inc. and others.
The mobile-phone industry, which has been successful in health litigation to date, faces six brain-cancer suits that Blake sent back to the District of Columbia Superior Court in July. In addition, industry is awaiting a ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Blake’s rejection of five class-action suits seeking to force wireless carriers to supply subscribers with radiation-reducing headsets.
“It’s potentially interesting. We’re glad to see this research being done and look forward to discussing it with the other government agencies,” said Bruce Romano, associate chief of the Office of Engineering and Technology at the Federal Communications Commission.
“It certainly piques our interest,” said Romano, whose agency next year is expected to tackle a new radio frequency radiation exposure standard that some claim is less stringent than current guidelines.
The FDA, which as legal authority over mobile phone safety, did not immediately return a call for comment.
Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), lawmakers who have pushed for greater oversight of the cell-phone health issue, were not available for comment.
“We are aware of the study and are in the process of thoroughly reviewing it,” said Nancy Stark, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 mobile-phone carrier in the United States.
Other carriers deferred to the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association for comment.
“As the press release from the Karolinska Institute indicates, no conclusions can be made from the study and the results need to be evaluated in future studies before any conclusions can be drawn,” said John Walls, a CTIA spokesman. “This was the Swedish part of the multi-national Interphone study, and a Danish study group from the same research project concluded earlier this year there was no increased risk in acoustic neuroma.”
In the past, industry has pointed to other studies that fail to link cell-phone use to cancer or other illnesses.
The new findings, announced today at a press conference in Stockholm and first reported by Microwave News last night, constitute the first report from Sweden’s involvement in the Interphone study, an international collaboration coordinated by WHO’s cancer research institute. Other participating countries are Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom.
Authors of the study urged caution.
“The Swedish results need to be confirmed in additional studies before firm conclusions can be drawn,” Sweden’s Institute of Environmental Health said in a press statement. “Other centers within the Interphone study where a sufficient number of longer-term mobile-phone users can be included-primarily the Nordic-will contribute valuable data. This Swedish study, and eventually other Interphone reports, will be reviewed by the scientific community, and a coherent solution will gradually emerge. It can also be expected that these results will stimulate experimental research, which will also contribute information of importance for the interpretation of the findings.”
Around 150 acoustic neuroma patients and 600 healthy individuals (controls) participated in the Swedish study.
