A new study from the UK suggests there is no association between risk of early childhood cancers and a mother’s exposure to a mobile phone base station during pregnancy. This is the first study to look at phone masts in Britain as a whole and is the largest of its kind.

They identified 1,397 British children aged 0-4 years registered with leukaemia or a tumour in the brain or central nervous system between 1999 and 2001. Each case was matched to four controls from the national birth register. Data on all mobile phone base station antennas across Britain from 1996-2001 were also obtained. Birth address was then used to estimate distance (in metres) from the nearest mobile phone base station. The researchers found no association between cancer risk in young children and mobile phone base station exposures during pregnancy.

The authors acknowledge that their focus was early childhood cancers and therefore did not include longer term or other potential health effects that have been associated with mobile phone use. However, they conclude: “The results of our study should help to place any future reports of cancer clusters near mobile phone base stations in a wider public health context.”

The Australian Science Media Centre assembled expert reaction to the study, which can be viewed here.