Long term use Mobile Phone

and Brain Tumor Risk

Presented to
Prof. Dr. Eduard Heindl
By
Swapna Nelli
Agenda
Introduction
Radiation cause Brain Tumors
Case control study in Sweden
Health Hazard linked to Cell phone use
Helpful proposal to Mobile phone users
Conclusion

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Introduction
Population of the world 7.018 billion

Mobile phone users 4.6 billion

Advantages

Is there any health risk of using mobile

phones?
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Radiation cause Brain Tumors
Ionizing Radiation
Exposures are from X-rays, A-bombs,
radioactivity
Only “known” environmental cause of brain
tumors (since 1974 or earlier)
Energy sufficient to break molecular bonds
For example, DNA
• Broken DNA creates free radicals
– Free radicals cause further DNA damage thought to cause
cancer
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Radiation cause Brain Tumors
Ionizing Radiation
Increased risk of brain tumors
Age: Children at greater risk than adults
– Risk increases with power (Watts)
– Risk increases with time
Excess risk, 30 or more years (all ages)
Brain Cancer: double
Meningioma: 70%

Latency time (from exposure to diagnosis)

Brain Cancer: 20 to 30 years
Meningioma: 30-40 years
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Radiation cause Brain Tumors
Non-ionizing Radiation: Wireless Phones
Exposures from cellphones, cordless phones,
walkie-talkies, baby monitors
Risk of brain tumors
Energy cannot break molecular bonds
Creates free radicals; increases lifetime of
free radicals

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Radiation cause Brain Tumors
Non-ionizing Radiation: Wireless Phones
Increased risk of brain tumors
Age: Younger have higher risk
• Greater than 5 years of cell phone use
– 70+% for 20-29 years olds (7 cases, 94.8% confidence)
– 35% for all ages, 20-80 years (160 cases, 97% confidence)
– Risk increases with power (Watts)
– Risk increases with time
Tumor on same side of head as where digital cell phone was
used
• 26+% increased risk of brain cancer (97 cases, 99.91%
confidence)
Latency time
Much shorter latency time than ionizing radiation
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Case control study in Sweden
Introduction
Late 1980’s
Stefan Lönn, Anders Ahlbom, Per Hall,
Maria Feychting and the Swedish
Interphone Study Group
Materials and Methods
Case ascertainment
Control selection
Data collection
Classification of exposure
Statistical analysis
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Case control study in Sweden

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Case control study in Sweden
Outcome of case-control study
The odds ratio was 0.8 (95% confidence interval: 0.6, 1.0) for
Glioma and 0.7 (95% confidence interval: 0.5, 0.9) for
Meningioma.
No studies to date have had an exposure time long enough to
properly address the potential adverse late health effects of
mobile phone use.
Tumor depends on not only the duration of call as well the type
of phone, age of the person gendor of the person and place also

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Health Hazard linked to Cell
phone use
Harm your blood cells
Damage your DNA
Cause nerve-cell damage
Possibly accelerate and contribute to onset of autism, and trigger
Alzheimer’s disease
Damage your eyes
Cause sleep disruptions, fatigue and headaches
Contribute to salivary gland tumors
Cause decreased bone density in the pelvic region
Lead to electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Affect your heart rate and blood pressure

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Helpful proposal to Mobile
phone users
Limit the use of cell phones
Children should not be allowed to use a cell phone
Do not put the cell phone in a pocket or a belt
Do not use the cell phone in enclosed metal spaces
Do not make a call when the signal strength is weak
Do not use the cell phone when battery is low
Purchase a phone with a low SAR
Use text instead of talk
Use landlines
Keep cell phone off most of the time
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References
J.C. Lin (ed.), Advances in Electromagnetic Fields in Living Systems,
Health Effects of Cell Phone Radiation, Volume 5
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/161/6/526.full
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs193/en/
http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/57/7/518.full.pdf+html
http://mobile-devices-phones.knoji.com/how-to-reduce-the-risk-of-vulnerable-
to-longterm-damage-to-our-health-with-cell-phone-usage/
http://www.psrast.org/mobileng/mobilstarteng.htm
Sadetzki et al. Long-Term Follow-up for Brain Tumor Development after Childhood
Exposure to Ionizing Radiation for Tinea Capitis; RADIATION RESEARCH 163, 424–432
(2005)
Hardell et al., Pooled analysis of two case-control studies on the use of cellular and cordless
telephones and the risk of benign brain tumours diagnosed during 1997-2003;
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 28: 509-518, 2006

Hardell et al., Case–control study of the association between the use of cellular and
cordless telephones and malignant brain tumors diagnosed during 2000–2003; Environ Res.
2006 Feb;100(2):232-41 14
ashajsh

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