Research conducted by the Copenhagen’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health(CDEPH) in Denmark found no relation between brain tumors and the use of cellphones. The researchers divided Danish adults who are born after 1925(age of 30 or more) into groups of cellphone subscribers and non-subscribers. The study showed no difference in cancer rates among the two groups, and reported that nearly 360,00 cellphone users in Denmark had no increased risk of brain cancer due to cellphone use. Although the research is quiet reassuring, experts on the issue are cautious to draw any final conclusions.

On May, 2011, the World Health Organization(WHO) announced that the radiation emitted from cellphones had the possibility of causing brain cancer by increasing glioma. Thus, the agency placed cellphone use in the “carcinogenic hazard” category which includes lead, engine, exhaust and chloroform. In response to the WHO’s announcement, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, otherwise known as The Wireless Association or CTIA, called for more extensive research. In fact, after the initial news, many universities and groups around the world have begun to collect research to verify the truth behind the “cellphone scare.” Soon after, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Communication Commission asserted to have found no evidence of a link between cellphones and cancer, yet the fears of the connection persisted. 

According to the New York Times, in October 2011, the researchers from the CDEPH announced that they discovered no evidence of “increased number of glioma in temporal lobes of the brain, the part of the body most directly exposed to cellphone radiation.” The cancer rates in people who had been using cellphones for about 10 years were similar to that of people who had not cellphones. Furthermore, the research eliminated potential areas for error related to selection of people and biases common in other researchers by using “a computerized data of registries and digitized subscribers”.

However, some critics, such as Hazel Nunn, the head of Health Evidence and Information at Cancer at U.K., say that the latest information “is encouraging news, but it doesn’t mean we’re at the end of the road.” People cannot be completely relieved from the cellphone scare for several reasons. First of all, brain tumors can take decades to develop, and the research in Denmark was not long enough to consider the long-term risk of cellphone radiations. Moreover, the study counted cellphone subscriptions rather than the actual use by the individuals, while excluding the subscriptions by corporations and heavy cellphone users who had been using cellphones for 15 years or longer.

On the other hand, Nunn adds that there was no biological evidence for how cellphones might cause cancer, as the radiation produced by cellphones cannot directly damage DNA. Cellphones emit radio waves similar to those of microwaves. However, radio frequencies caused by cellphones are not strong enough to damage human cells.

Despite the increasing awareness of the issues regarding cellphones and cancer, the scientists find it hard to conduct accurate research because three-quarters of world’s population, more than 5 million people, use cellphones. Are people now free from the cellphone scare? It is anyone’s guess.