8,700 Studies Reviewed. 87.0% Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body

Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.

Cancer & Tumors

Long-term Mobile Phone Use and Acoustic Neuroma Risk.

No Effects Found

Pettersson D, Mathiesen T, Prochazka M, Bergenheim T, Florentzson R, Harder H, Nyberg G, Siesjö P, Feychting M. · 2014

View Original Abstract
Share:

Long-term mobile phone use showed no significant increase in acoustic neuroma risk, even among users with over 680 hours of calling time.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Swedish researchers studied 451 people with acoustic neuromas (benign brain tumors near the ear) and 710 healthy controls to see if long-term mobile phone use increases tumor risk. They found no significant association between phone use and acoustic neuroma development, even among the heaviest users who talked for over 680 hours total. The study suggests that any apparent connection in previous research may be due to detection bias rather than phones actually causing tumors.

Study Details

There is concern about potential effects of radiofrequency fields generated by mobile phones on cancer risk. Most previous studies have found no association between mobile phone use and acoustic neuroma, although information about long-term use is limited.

We conducted a population-based, nation-wide, case-control study of acoustic neuroma in Sweden. Elig...

Ever having used mobile phones regularly (defined as weekly use for at least 6 months) was associate...

The findings do not support the hypothesis that long-term mobile phone use increases the risk of acoustic neuroma. The study suggests that phone use might increase the likelihood that an acoustic neuroma case is detected and that there could be bias in the laterality analyses performed in previous studies.

Cite This Study
Pettersson D, Mathiesen T, Prochazka M, Bergenheim T, Florentzson R, Harder H, Nyberg G, Siesjö P, Feychting M. (2014). Long-term Mobile Phone Use and Acoustic Neuroma Risk. Epidemiology 25(2):233-41, 2014.
Show BibTeX
@article{d_2014_longterm_mobile_phone_use_3303,
  author = {Pettersson D and Mathiesen T and Prochazka M and Bergenheim T and Florentzson R and Harder H and Nyberg G and Siesjö P and Feychting M. },
  title = {Long-term Mobile Phone Use and Acoustic Neuroma Risk.},
  year = {2014},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24434752/},
}
PubMed: 24434752

Cited By (42 papers)

Quick Questions About This Study

No, a 2014 Swedish study found no significant link between heavy cell phone use (680+ hours) and acoustic neuroma risk. Even the heaviest users showed only a 1.46 odds ratio, which wasn't statistically significant and dropped to 1.14 when researchers verified tumor diagnoses.
This Swedish study found no evidence that acoustic neuromas develop more often on the side where people hold their phones. The odds ratio for tumor-side phone use was 0.98, suggesting no increased risk, and researchers identified considerable bias in previous laterality studies.
The 2014 Pettersson study found cordless phones showed similar patterns to cell phones - no significant acoustic neuroma risk. Cordless phones actually had slightly higher odds ratios than mobile phones, but neither reached statistical significance, suggesting no real tumor risk from either device.
Yes, Swedish researchers suggest phone use might increase the likelihood that existing acoustic neuromas get detected rather than causing them. This detection bias could explain apparent connections in previous studies, as phone users may seek medical attention sooner for hearing symptoms.
No, the Swedish study found longer phone use actually showed weaker associations with acoustic neuromas. After 10+ years of regular use, the odds ratio was only 1.11, lower than shorter-term use, contradicting the idea that longer exposure increases tumor risk.