Do mobiles cause cancer?

British scientists claim that the phones do not cause disease in 10 years, although not confirmed at longer or children.

Mobile phones do not pose a health hazard in the short term, but it is still early to tell whether it can cause brain cancer in the long term or whether children face greater risks than adults. This is the conclusion of a study presented last Wednesday by British scientists.

The largest investigation in the United Kingdom about possible health problems from mobile technology has not found evidence that the use of cell phones in the short term affect brain function or could cause brain cancer after six years of research.

Professor Lawrie Challis, chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR, according to its acronym in Spanish) presented the results at a news conference. "We can not rule out, at this point, the possibility that cancer can occur in some years," since "most cancers take 10 years to appear."

In addition, Challis stressed that the British studies that were included in the report have not yet looked at children and that scientists in Britain have been averted, for ethical reasons, to expose minors to the radiofrequency fields generated by devices such as cellular telephones and satellite dishes.

However, according to Challis, it is possible that children are more susceptible than adults to radiation by radio and reported that already is conducting a second MTHR program in which 200,000 people in Denmark, Sweden and the UK.
MTHR The program was funded jointly by the British government and the telecommunications industry. The companies, however, merely "signed the checks," said the report's author.

For about 60 years, scientists around the world are studying the effects of radiofrequency fields on human health. Although the tests have so far escaped a technology roaming about the health risks, public concern increases as both children and adults are highly dependent on cell phones for everyday communication.