23 Jun 2010

UK study finds no childhood cancer link with cellphone towers

11:38 am on 23 June 2010

Research in Britain has found no link between a pregnant woman's exposure to mobile phone towers and a child's risk of developing childhood cancers.

The study - the largest of its kind - was carried out by researchers at the School of Public Health at Imperial College London and published in the British Medical Journal.

It obtained data on all registered cases of childhood cancer in children up to the age of four in Great Britain between 1999 to 2001.

Comparing proximity to cell phone towers for each cancer case and control subject, it found no association between the risk of early childhood cancers and exposure to the towers during pregnancy.

The paper estimates one day's exposure to a mast corresponds to about the first four seconds of local exposure to the head when using a mobile phone.

And it says previous studies reporting clusters of cancers around cell phone towers are difficult to interpret because of the small numbers of participants and possible selective interpretation.