Using cell phone for more than 15 hours increases the risk of brain cancer by threefold, a new research shows.
Researchers at The Bordeaux University warned that those in the field of sales and business are particularly at more risk since they constantly communicate with their clients over the phone.
For the study, the researchers examined 253 cases of glioma and 194 cases of meningioma reported in four French departments between 2004 and 2006. They found that people who spend 900 hours on the phone are more likely to develop brain tumors.
After comparing the participants with a group of 892 healthy individuals, the results showed that people who used their cell phones constantly had three times higher chances of developing brain tumors.
The research noted that those with high risk used cell phones between two and 10 years and an averaged individual used cell phones for five years.
"The carcinogenic effect of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in humans remains controversial. However, it has been suggested that they could be involved in the aetiology of some types of brain tumors," researchers wrote in the study, reports MedicalXpress.
According to the researchers, the findings "support previous findings concerning a possible association between heavy mobile phone use and brain tumors."
"It is difficult to define a level of risk, if any, especially as mobile phone technology is constantly evolving," researchers noted. "The rapid evolution of technology has led to a considerable increase in the use of mobile phones and a parallel decrease of [radio wave intensity] emitted by the phones."
"Studies taking account of these recent developments and allowing the observation of potential long-term effects will be needed," researchers concluded.
The findings were published in the British Occupational and Environmental Medicine Journal.
