One of the world’s leading cancer scientists last night warned that mobile phones could pose a health risk.
Dr Ronald Herberman – director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute – urged staff to keep phones away from their heads and only let children use them in emergencies.
He said his warning is based on an early, unpublished study into the links between mobile phones and brain cancers.
In a memo to 3,000 staff in the U.S., Dr Herberman warned: ‘We shouldn’t wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later.
‘I am convinced that there is sufficient data to warrant issuing an advisory to share some precautionary advice on cell phone use.’
He added that there is a ‘growing body of literature’ which links long-term mobile phone use with adverse health effects, including cancer.
If there is a health risk from phones, children are likely to be most vulnerable because their brains are developing and their skulls are thinner, Dr Herberman said.