No mobile phone link to cancer: study

Research into other health risks posed by mobile phones is still underway

ADELAIDE, South Australia (CNN) -- A new study has found that mobile phone radiation is unlikely to increase the risk of cancer, challenging earlier research which suggested a possible link.

Researchers at Australia's Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science exposed 1,600 mice to varying degrees of mobile phone radiation over a two year period but found no increase in the cancer rate as a result.

An earlier study of mice exposed to mobile phone radiation conducted by the institute in the mid-1990s found a two-fold increase in lymphoma in genetically modified mice.

That study caused international alarm and prompted Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council to fund a more comprehensive trial.

This latest research is considered the largest and most comprehensive animal study of the issue.

The new study was designed to repeat the earlier work, with more mice and stricter control over how they were exposed to the radiation.

The mice were split into two groups, with one group comprising mice which had been genetically modified to have a tendency to develop cancerous tumors.

But despite this, neither the genetically enhanced mice, nor the non-modified mice showed any greater tendency to develop cancers.

Eye cancers

While the researchers say human trials need to be done to confirm their findings, the study looked for inherent cancer-causing effects which were likely to translated across species.

The Australian study is also part of a two-pronged research effort into mobile phones and cancer.

A parallel study is underway by an Italian research group funded by the European Commission.

That group is looking at other possible effects of exposure to mobile phone radiation, including headaches and sleep disorders. Findings from that research is expected in about 12 months.

An earlier German study of 500 people by the University of Essen found a three-fold increase in eye-cancers for mobile phone users.