'Mobile phones don't cause cancer' - study

There is no link between mobile phone use and an increased risk of cancer, according to a report published today.

A team at the Danish Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen was given access to customer records of Danish mobile operators Sonofone and TDC. They then identified around 420,000 early mobile phone adopters - those who first subscribed between 1982 and 1995.

Using the national cancer register, the incidence of the illness in this group until 2002 was compared to the rest of the population. The results showed absolutely no difference in the incidence of cancer between the groups.

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Professor Joachim Schüz, who co-authored the report, told silicon.com that although it could not be "set in stone" that mobile phones use is not linked to cancer, the results are "providing a very strong message".

However, Schüz acknowledged there are some limitations to the research as it doesn't consider the effect of mobile phone use on children or heavy users. Both are areas the Institute is currently looking into.

The research covers the entire adult population of Denmark over a 21-year period. It is the largest study into this subject (involving more than four million people) to date, and uses figures taken over a longer period than any other study.

There have been concerns about the health risks of mobile phones for several years due to the electromagnetic fields they emit.