Study: No Health Effects in Cellphone Use

A six-year British study found cellphones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects in short-term use.

The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Program said in its 2007 Report that it found no association between short-term cellphone use and brain cancer, said study leader Lawrie Challis, Emeritus Professor of Physics at The University of Nottingham in England. In addition, studies on volunteers also showed no evidence that brain function was affected by cellphone signals.

However, the report said the situation for longer-term exposure is less clear because studies so far have only included a limited number of participants who have used their cellphones for 10 years or more. The committee recommends more research be conducted concerning long-term use.

The results are so far reassuring but there is still a need for more research, especially to check that no effects emerge from longer-term phone use from adults and from use by children, Challis said in a statement.

The study also confirmed cellphone use while driving, whether hand-held or hands-free, causes impairment in performance.