On the contrary, the data analyzed suggest that the risk of developing brain tumors could decrease with increased use of wireless phones.
The use of mobile and landline wireless phones in young people is not related to an increased risk of brain tumors, according to the largest case study carried out to date in 14 countries, a study that has been coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal ).
The study, published in the journal ‘Environment International’, has analyzed the link between exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) from wireless devices (mobile and fixed) and brain tumors in young people and has not found a causal association between brain tumors and the use of these phones from exposure to radio frequency (RF) and extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields.
In recent decades, the possibility that Using mobile devices may increase the risk of brain tumors has been of growing public health concern, in particular due to the increase in its use by young people.
The study coordinated by ISGlobal, a center promoted by the La Caixa Foundation, has analyzed data from nearly 900 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 with brain tumors –The majority of the neuroepithelial type, mainly glioma– that they compared with 1,900 controls from 14 different countries, who coincided with the cases on the date of diagnosis, study region, sex and age.
Participants filled out a questionnaire with detailed information on the history of wireless device use, and mothers or fathers also completed a questionnaire on exposures prior to conception, during pregnancy, and in the first year of life.
To assess the quality of the data, the researchers carried out several methodological sub-studies: one consisted of obtaining records from the telephone operators to compare the number and duration of calls with those reported in the questionnaire, and another installed an application on the phone to record your actual use for four weeks.
They also calculated the level of RF and ELF exposure from the youths’ phones using algorithms.
The results do not provide evidence of a causal association between using wireless phones and brain tumors in young people, on the contrary, the data analyzed suggest that the risk of brain tumors could decrease with increased use of wireless phones, but “it is unlikely that these findings represent a preventive effect of exposure to these phones”, has pointed out the Spanish researcher Gemma Castaño, first author of the study.
“This is the largest study of brain tumors in young people done to date, but the number of people in subgroups may be too small to assess possible associations, for example, in specific time windows and age groups, and in different anatomical locations. of tumors, “he admitted.
“Currently, there is no conclusive scientific evidence that the levels of radiation emitted by mobile phones can increase the risk of brain cancer, so our results are consistent with the knowledge published so far,” said Elisabeth Cardis, study coordinator and chief of the ISGlobal Radiation program.
Animal tests reveal risks
But nevertheless, Studies in animals and cells have reported an increase in oxidative stress related to radiation emitted by telephones., and possible effects on genotoxicity and gene expression.
Two investigations with animals showed an increased risk of cardiac schwannomas -tumors derived from Schwann cells, which are part of the covering of nerves and are responsible for the production of myelin- and of tumors in cells of the nervous tissue, according to the ISGlobal, which suggests that “a possible mechanism by which radiofrequencies could affect cancer risk is in the promotion or progression of tumors, possibly accelerating an onset that would otherwise have occurred later.”
“Son more studies are needed to understand the relationship between radiation from devices and tumors, and other research is being done on the biological repercussions of radio frequencies emitted by telephones, “concluded Cardis.
Research centers from Germany, Australia, Austria, Canada, Korea, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and the Netherlands have participated in this study, funded in part by the European Commission. . (I)
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