Further aspects on cellular and cordless telephones and brain tumours.
Hardell L, Mild KH, Carlberg M. · 2003
View Original AbstractBrain tumors developed 70% more often on the same side of the head where people held analog cell phones.
Plain English Summary
Swedish researchers studied 1,617 brain tumor patients and compared their cell phone use to healthy controls. They found that people who used older analog cell phones had a 30% increased risk of brain tumors overall, with the risk jumping to 70% when the tumor developed on the same side of the head where they held the phone. The pattern was strongest for acoustic neuromas (a type of brain tumor near the ear), where analog phone users showed a 340% increased risk.
Why This Matters
This Swedish case-control study provides some of the strongest evidence linking cell phone radiation to brain tumors, particularly because it shows a clear dose-response relationship and anatomical correlation. The fact that tumors developed preferentially on the same side of the head where people held their phones strongly suggests a causal relationship rather than coincidence. What makes this research particularly compelling is that it examined real-world exposure patterns over several years, not just laboratory conditions. The higher risks associated with analog phones (which operated at higher power levels than modern digital phones) also supports a biological mechanism. While modern phones emit less radiation than the analog devices studied here, they're used far more frequently and for longer durations than phones were in the late 1990s when this data was collected. The science demonstrates that location matters when it comes to EMF exposure and health effects.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
We included in a case-control study on brain tumours and mobile and cordless telephones 1,617 patients aged 20-80 years of both sexes diagnosed during January 1, 1997 to June 30, 2000.
They were alive at the study time and had histopathology verified brain tumour. One matched control ...
In total use of analogue cellular telephones gave an increased risk with odds ratio (OR)=1.3, 95% co...
There was a tendency of a shorter tumour induction period for ipsilateral exposure to microwaves than for contralateral, which may indicate a tumour promotor effect.
Show BibTeX
@article{l_2003_further_aspects_on_cellular_2164,
author = {Hardell L and Mild KH and Carlberg M.},
title = {Further aspects on cellular and cordless telephones and brain tumours.},
year = {2003},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12527940/},
}