Once and For All?

The biggest study to date on the possible link between cell phones and brain cancer suggests cell phone usage is not associated with the disease, says Henry Scowcroft at the Cancer Research UK Science Update blog. The study, published in the British Journal of Medicine, tracked more than 350,000 people — the researchers followed people for an average of 10 years, which still was not a long enough period of time to detect any measurable long-term risk for brain cancer with cell phone usage, Scowcroft says. More studies still need to be done, particularly about cell phone use in children, he says, but adds, "let's remember that there is currently no proven way in which electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones can damage DNA or affect cell growth in a way that could plausibly lead to cancer."