Study finds no link between mobile phones and tumours

Reports on the potential health risks of mobile phones continue to be churned out, with the latest finding that they do not cause tumours.

The Danish study, one of the most comprehensive, was reported in the UK newspaper The Independent. It was said to have found no link between how often mobile phones are used and the risk of developing brain tumours.

Then again, the scientists said that, although they could not establish a link between the two, they could not rule out the possibility of long-term health problems and even head cancers.

Researchers questioned over 1,200 respondents, of whom 822 were healthy and 427 had brain tumours. When they compared the two groups, they found the risk of developing a brain tumour was not related to the frequency of mobile phone calls or the number of years they had been used.

Most large-scale epidemio-logical studies have failed to find a link between ill health and excessive mobile phone use, The Independent said.

Nevertheless, an official inquiry into the health risks of mobile phones in Britain has recommended that children under the age of eight should not be allowed to use phones and older children between eight and 14 should only use them when absolutely necessary.

When the UK National Radiological Protection Board study concluded, some months ago, that children under eight should not have mobiles, local and foreign mobile phone operators underscored that no adverse health effects have been established.

Nevertheless, despite the "lack of hard evidence" on the harmful aspect of mobile phones, the local companies had stressed that it was their policy not to market the phones directly to children.