According to new research carried out in Sweden by cancer specialist Professor Lennart Hardell, users of cellphones were two and a half times more likely to have a temporal tumour on the side of the head where they held the phone than non-cellphone users. The risk rose to three times greater for tumours of the auditory nerve which connects the ear to the brain. Because of the need to look at patients who had used mobiles for ten or more years, the research concentrated on analogue phone users. Prof. Hardell warned however that digital users could face similar risks, but that these were not likely to show until at least 2005. Many observers hold the view, which is backed up by research, that because of the pulsed nature of digital handsets they are likely to be more biologically invasive.
These latest studies fly in the face of cellular industry sponsored research published earlier this year showing no link with tumours. The findings were however criticised in many quarters as they related to types of tumours which are normally found so deep in the brain, any link with mobile use could have been ruled out from the word go, without the need for a study.
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