Children who use cell phones for more than 10 years are twice as likely to get brain cancer, according to a report in the London Telegraph.
People who have used their phone for a decade are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a tumor on a nerve connecting the ear to the brain, according to a group of scientists who have surveyed the results of 11 different studies, the paper reported.
Kjell Mild, of Orbero University in Sweden, who led the research, said that children should not be allowed to use cell phones because their thinner skulls and developing nervous system make them particularly vulnerable.
His study comes just a month after a separate piece of research, jointly funded by the government and the mobile phone industry, found there was only a “very faint hint” of a link between long-term use of mobile phones and brain tumours.
Most scientists have had difficulty researching this area as mobile phone usage did not become widespread until the late 1990s.
Professor Mild told the Telegraph that the danger may be even greater than his study suggests because 10 years is the minimum period needed by cancers to develop.
“I find it quite strange to see so many official presentations saying that there is no risk. There are strong indications that something happens after 10 years,” he said.
Click here for the Telegraph’s story.