Cellphone use possible cancer risk

The director of a leading US cancer research institute has sent a memo to thousands of staff warning of possible higher risks from mobile phone use.



Ronald Herberman, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, said users should not wait for definitive studies on the risk but should take action now.



He warned that children should use mobiles in emergencies only and that adults should try to keep the phone away from the head.



No major academic study has confirmed a link to higher brain-tumour risks.



Last year, a major six-year research study in the UK, said there were no short-term adverse effects to brain and cell function from mobile phone use.



The UK Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme said there was a hint of a higher cancer risk in the long term and that its research would look into the effects over a 10-year period.