New research has shown that people who use a mobile phone for hours a day are 50 per cent more likely to develop mouth cancer than those who do not talk on them at all, . The study also suggests that mobile users who live in rural areas may be at an increased risk of cancer because handsets emit more radiation in order to locate fewer antennas.
Research author Dr. Siegal Sadetzki, who is a cancer specialist at Tel Aviv University, investigated nearly 500 people diagnosed with benign and malignant tumours of the salivary gland.
This study is regarded as significant as it was conducted on the Israeli population who were among the first to widely adopt mobile phone technology and are among its heaviest users.
Dr Sadetzki said: "Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users. Therefore, the amount of exposure to radio frequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies. This unique population has given us an indication that cell phone use is associated with cancer."
In the study, the patients were asked to detail their mobile phone use patterns in terms of how frequently they used them, and the average length of calls. As a control, the 500 patients have been compared to a sample of around 1,300 healthy subjects.
Dr Sadetzki found that those who had used the mobile phones against the side of their heads for many hours a day were 50 per cent more likely to develop a tumour of the parotid gland compared to infrequent users. The parotid gland is the largest salivary gland and is located behind the jaw and below the ear, where mobile phones are typically held.
The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Dr Sadetzki highlighted rural users as being slightly more at risk than those in cities, because there are fewer masts and the phones have to emit more radiation to ensure a clear connection.She also speculated that the greatest effects will be found in heavy users and children over a period of time
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