Mobile Phones and Brain Tumours: A study report by Neurosurgeon Dr. Khurana from Australia.

Summary of the reports gives us a take home message!
KEY MESSAGES OF Dr. Khurana's WORK:

Data presented in the 69 pages long report compellingly suggest that the link between mobile phones and brain tumours should no longer be regarded as a myth. Individual and class action lawsuits have been filed in the USA, and at least one has already been successfully prosecuted, regarding the cell phone-brain tumour link.

The "incubation time" or "latency" (i.e., the time from commencement of regular mobile phone usage to the diagnosis of a malignant solid brain tumour in a susceptible individual) may be in the order of 10-20 years. In the years 2008- 2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up time to begin to definitively observe the impact of this global technology on brain tumour incidence rates.

There is currently enough evidence and technology available to warrant Industry and Governments alike in taking immediate steps to reduce exposure of consumers to mobile phone-related electromagnetic radiation and to make Mobile Phones and Brain Tumours consumers clearly aware of potential dangers and how to use this technology sensibly and safely.

It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger generation, including very young children.


The Abstract of the report:

* Mobile phones are an integral part of Society, with billions of users worldwide across a wide age spectrum. Although the availability of a mobile phone can contribute to the convenience and safety of an individual's life, the question arises as to whether "excessive" use of a mobile phone can pose a health risk through exposure of a "heavy" user to low but repeated and eventually prolonged levels of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) at a relatively close proximity ("near-field") to the brain, our key electricalorgan. Given the widespread use of mobile phones by children and *****s alike, the presence of any health risk posed by long-term near-field radiation will inevitably set the stage for the emergence of a global public health problem.

Precautionary but strong Recommendations:

At this time, precautionary but strong recommendations for members of the General Public include (whenever feasible or possible):

(i) using a regular "land-line" in preference to a hand-held mobile or cordless phone;

(ii) using a hand-held phone on "speaker phone" mode held > 20 cm away or "in-vehicle hands-free speaker" mode as opposed to the typical "mobile phone-to-ear" use;

(iii) minimising the use of current Bluetooth devices and unshielded headphone accessories for mobile phones;

(iv) minimising the amount of time spent using mobile and cordless phones for all *****s; and

(v) restricting the use of mobile and cordless phones by children to emergency situations.

For members of the Telecommunications Industry, the author recommends expediting the development and promotion of safe, practical and ubiquitous EMR/radiofrequency shielding devices for mobile and cordless phones and their Bluetooth and headset accessories, and further refinement of the hands-free "speaker phone" option. For members of the Health and Scientific Communities, the author recommends the objective reanalysis of all previous large-scale population studies that reported finding
"no link between mobile phones and brain tumours", particularly from the perspectives of whether those "apparently negative or inconclusive studies" examined:

(i) groups of Mobile Phones and "heavy" mobile phone users followed for greater than 10 years;

(ii) the occurrence of the key mobile telephony-associated brain tumours, namely acoustic neuroma (vestibular Schwannoma) and astrocytoma, in the study population; and

(iii) the relationship between the side of the brain tumour and the "preferred side" for mobile phone usage among "heavy" users in whom a brain tumour developed. Further large-scale studies taking all of these perspectives into account are recommended and encouraged by the author in order to definitively validate or refute the conclusions of this paper. Finally, the aforementioned precautions should be communicated to all at-risk persons using mobile phones.