Case-control study on cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for acoustic neuroma or meningioma in patients diagnosed 2000-2003.
Hardell L, Carlberg M, Hansson Mild K. · 2005
View Original AbstractLong-term cell phone use more than doubled brain tumor risk, with the highest risks appearing after 15 years of regular use.
Plain English Summary
Swedish researchers studied 413 people with benign brain tumors and 692 healthy controls to examine whether cell phone and cordless phone use increases brain tumor risk. They found that older analog phones quadrupled the risk of acoustic neuroma (a nerve tumor affecting hearing) and doubled the risk of meningioma (a brain membrane tumor), with risks increasing dramatically after 10-15 years of use. Even digital phones showed elevated risks, suggesting long-term phone use may contribute to brain tumor development.
Why This Matters
This Swedish study adds compelling evidence to concerns about long-term cell phone use and brain tumors. The science demonstrates particularly striking results for acoustic neuromas, with analog phone users showing 4 times higher risk that jumped to over 8 times higher risk after 15 years of use. What makes this research significant is its focus on latency periods - the time between exposure and disease development. The reality is that brain tumors can take decades to develop, making these long-term findings especially relevant. While analog phones are largely obsolete, this study's findings on digital phones (doubling acoustic neuroma risk) remain highly relevant to today's smartphone users. The evidence shows that even cordless home phones contributed to increased risks, highlighting how pervasive our daily RF exposure has become.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate Case-control study on cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for acoustic neuroma or meningioma in patients diagnosed 2000-2003.
We performed a case-control study on the use of cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for br...
We report the results for benign brain tumors with data from 413 cases (89% response rate), 305 with...
In the multivariate analysis, analogue phones represented a significant risk factor for acoustic neuroma.
Show BibTeX
@article{l_2005_casecontrol_study_on_cellular_2167,
author = {Hardell L and Carlberg M and Hansson Mild K.},
title = {Case-control study on cellular and cordless telephones and the risk for acoustic neuroma or meningioma in patients diagnosed 2000-2003.},
year = {2005},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15956809/},
}