Cellphone users in rural areas could be at greater risk of developing brain tumours than those living in the city, according to a controversial new Swedish study.
The research claims that digital cellphone users who live in the countryside for at least three years increase their chances of developing a malignant brain tumour by a factor of three.
One explanation for this is that transmitter base stations tend to be more spread out in rural areas as compared with towns, say the authors, led by Lennart Hardell at the University of Örebro in Sweden. As a result, the phones have to emit more powerful signals to enable them to link with their nearest stations, thereby exposing the user to more powerful radio waves.
In recent years some studies have claimed to have shown connections between cellphone use and a type of brain cancer - called acoustic neuromas.
But repeated attempts by scientists in a number of different countries have consistently failed to find conclusive proof of an adverse health effect from cellphone use. So this new study, which claims to be the first to find a “geographical” effect, is likely to be contentious.
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