WASHINGTON-A newly published study says the risk for brain tumors is higher for digital mobile-phone subscribers in rural areas than for those living in cities, but Swedish researchers urge caution in interpreting the findings due to low numbers in some calculations.
The study, led by Prof. Lennart Hardell of the University Hospital of Orebro in Sweden, is to be published in the June issue of the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
In mobile-phone networks, the power level of wireless transmissions becomes stronger as the distance between base stations and subscribers increases. The power level is lower in cities, where base stations tend to be located closer together.
“Clearly, our results support the notion that exposure may differ between geographical areas … From a precautionary perspective, users of cellular telephones should select phones with low SAR [specific absorption rate], since differences in SAR between phone types may be larger than output levels depending on whether the users live in urban or rural areas,” stated the researchers.
Hardell was the lead expert in an $800 million brain cancer suit against Motorola Inc. and others that a federal judge dismissed in 2002 on scientific grounds.
Government health officials in the United States and abroad say research to date has not conclusively shown an association between cell phones and brain cancer, but they have called for additional studies to address research in which adverse biological effects from low-level radio frequency radiation have been observed.
Meantime, a handful of health suits against the mobile-phone industry have been revived in U.S. courts.
