Phones and health - the science

Analogue mobile phones have now been linked to brain cancer. The author looks at the current research on the phones in use. In the late 1970s a Californian research group found changes in calcium in chick brain cells exposed to analogue mobile signals but subsequent attempts to replicate the results have been inconsistent. Results from detailed work, coupled with large health studies like the EC-funded Interphone project on the occurrence of brain tumours in 30-59 year olds in 13 countries, may help to clarify things over the years.