Media claims that Interphone found people who used mobile phones for at least 30 minutes a day have a 40 per cent increased risk of cancer are incorrect, AMTA said about a weekend newspaper report.

The Sunday Telegraph claimed that Interphone had found no increased risk of cancer overall, but “those who talk at least 30 minutes a day are up to 40 per cent more likely to develop glioma, the most common type of brain cancer”.

The British government’s National Health Service (NHS) has criticised some media outlets for their similar ‘misleading’ reporting of the results of the INTERPHONE study.

“The research in question was a well-conducted analysis of several international studies that actually found no plausible evidence of a link between cancer and mobile phone use. Some newspapers have selectively quoted a few results in this research that suggest a significant link, but this is misleading in the context of the overall results. The researchers themselves explain these few anomalous results, and conclude that there are no conclusive signs of an increased risk of brain tumours.”

“Overall, this study does not provide evidence that mobile phones cause cancer, a finding echoed by the majority of studies on the matter, although sadly not by most newspapers,” the NHS said.

The NHS explain that a number of media reports appeared before the publication of the research paper itself, and may have been influenced by a series of alleged internet leaks that selectively used data taken out of its correct scientific context.

“While there is a need for further research into longer-term mobile phone use, this study certainly does not support the clear-cut claims of some newspapers that ‘talking for 30 minutes a day’ increases the risk of brain tumours. While there are a few spikes in results, these individual results should be interpreted in the context of the data as a whole. ”

Similarly the Interphone study says:

“Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation.”

Claims of an increased risk from using a mobile for 30 minutes a day are based on data the Interphone researchers say is implausible and in error. The Interphone researches themselves say there are errors in the high use data group, and clearly state this in the press release and Interphone paper.

For example a few participants registered using a mobile for 12 or more hours per day. This was simply implausible 10 years ago and very unrealistic today.

When these participants are removed from the data set, the Interphone researchers report the association is no longer found.

This is why new research that tracks actual phone use has commenced.

The researchers warn against focusing on the extreme values and say that interpretation should be based on the overall balance of the evidence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issues its new fact sheet after Interphone’s recent release. It, too, cautions against jumping to the conclusion that those who use phones for more than 30 minutes a day have a greater risk of cancer.

'A retrospective case-control study on adults, INTERPHONE, coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was designed to determine whether there are links between use of mobile phones and head and neck cancers in adults. The international pooled analysis of data gathered from 13 participating countries found no increased risk of glioma or meningioma with mobile phone use of more than 10 years. There are some indications of an increased risk of glioma for those who reported the highest 10% of cumulative hours of cell phone use, although there was no consistent trend of increasing risk with greater duration of use. Researchers concluded that biases and errors limit the strength of these conclusions and prevent a causal interpretation.'

It is worth noting the views of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the issue of mobile phones and health. The WHO’s fact sheet on mobile phones and health, which was updated in May 2010, says:

A large number of studies have been performed over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. To date, no adverse health effects have been established for mobile phone use.