Hold the phone!
There is a definitive link between long-term cellphone use and brain tumors, the World Health Organization found after a decade-long study.
The UN agency will soon reveal data that show the devices can cause cancer and will issue a public health message with the findings, The Daily Telegraph of Britain reported yesterday.
The groundbreaking results go against beliefs held by many scientists, phone companies, cancer charities — and even the WHO — that cellphone use is safe.
Now, researchers are urging immediate action to limit the risks.
“In the light of a number of studies which, though limited, suggest a possible effect of radio-frequency radiation, precautions are important,” Dr. Elisabeth Cardis, the head of the project told the Telegraph.
Researchers questioned 12,800 people in 13 countries — not including the United States — and talked to tumor sufferers as well as healthy cellphone users.
Researchers in six countries reported a rise in the risk of brain tumors, with one study reporting a 39 percent increase.
A leading cancer organization said it still considered cellphone use safe and had so far seen no reason to change its opinion.