On the association between glioma, wireless phones, heredity and ionising radiation.
Carlberg M, Hardell L. · 2012
View Original AbstractLong-term wireless phone use on one side of the head nearly tripled brain cancer risk after 10+ years in this Swedish study.
Plain English Summary
Swedish researchers analyzed brain tumor cases over six years and found that people who used mobile phones or cordless phones on the same side of their head where tumors developed had nearly 3 times higher risk of glioma (a serious brain cancer) after 10+ years of use. The risk was even higher for aggressive tumors and for people who started using wireless phones before age 20. This suggests long-term wireless phone use may increase brain cancer risk, especially when the phone is held against the same side of the head where tumors later appear.
Why This Matters
This Swedish research adds important evidence to the growing body of studies linking wireless phone radiation to brain tumors. The finding that ipsilateral use (phone held on the same side as the tumor) showed the strongest association supports a biological mechanism rather than coincidence. What makes this study particularly significant is the dose-response relationship - risk increased with both cumulative hours of use and years of exposure, exactly what you'd expect if radiation were truly causing these cancers. The highest risk among those who started using wireless phones before age 20 aligns with other research showing developing brains are more vulnerable to RF radiation. While the wireless industry often dismisses individual studies, this research from the independent Hardell group in Sweden represents some of the most rigorous long-term epidemiological work available, free from industry funding conflicts that have plagued other major studies in this field.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
We performed two case-control studies on brain tumours diagnosed during 1 January 1997 to 30 June 2000 and 1 July 2000 to 31 December 2003, respectively. Living cases and controls aged 20-80 years were included. An additional study was performed on deceased cases with a malignant brain tumour using deceased controls.
Pooled results for glioma yielded for ipsilateral use of mobile phone odds ratio (OR)=2.9, 95% confi...
In conclusion use of mobile and cordless phone increased the risk for glioma with highest OR for ipsilateral use, latency >10 years and third tertile of cumulative use in hours. In total, the risk was highest in the age group <20 years for first use of a wireless phone.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2012_on_the_association_between_1954,
author = {Carlberg M and Hardell L.},
title = {On the association between glioma, wireless phones, heredity and ionising radiation.},
year = {2012},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22939605/},
}