No Rise in Cancer Since Cellphones Launched

A report from New Zealand's Wellington School of Medicine has found no increase in the incidence of cancer tumours since the introduction of cell phones to the country back in 1987. The research, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal was based on collecting data from the New Zealand Cancer Registry between 1987 and 1998 on cancer incidence in people aged between 20 and 69. Corresponding data on cell phone usage was also collected.

The objective of this study was to determine whether incidence rates of head and neck malignancies in New Zealand have varied since the introduction of cellular telephones in 1987. In particular, we sought to compare trends in tumour rates in anatomical sites that receive high, medium and low levels of cellular telephone radiation (based on dosimetry data).

The graphs for high, medium and low exposure sites did not display any significant changes in trend patterns for either gender over the years 1986 to 1998.

The report concluded that incidence rates for malignancies arising in the head and neck, including those sites that hypothetically receive the highest levels of radio frequency radiation during cellular telephone use, have not changed materially since the introduction of cellular telephones to New Zealand. However, ecological studies of this nature are limited in many ways and the report authors, Angus Cook, Alistair Woodward, Neil Pearce, Cara Marshall called for a stronger study design to establish more exactly any elevation in risk."

Posted to the site on 6th June 2003