Cells phones are associated with causing brain tumors, a report issued by the International Electromagnetic Field Collaborative has concluded. The report, which was endorsed by 43 scientists from 13 countries, reviewed all evidence on cell phone use and brain health, and concluded:

• There is a risk of brain tumors from cell phone use;
• Telecom funded studies underestimate the risk of brain tumors, and;
• Children have larger risks than adults for brain tumors.

The report found that the most compelling research linking cell phone usage to brain tumors was noted in a Swedish study published in 2009. It found a 420 percent increased risk of brain cancer among people who started using digital mobile phones and cordless phones as teenagers. Older analogue mobile phones, which are now mostly off the market, were found to cause a 700 percent greater risk of cancer.

The study also highlighted 11 flaws in an upcoming Interphone study on the safety of cell phones. It said that the study eliminated subjects who use portable phones, even though those devices also emit microwave radiation as cell phones do. Also, it excluded many types of brain tumors from the study as well as subjects who died or were too ill be interviewed. The Interphone study also did not include children and young adults, who are more vulnerable, it said.

Here are some quotations from the report:

"Exposure to cellphone radiation is the largest human health experiment ever undertaken, without informed consent, and has some 4 billion participants enrolled. Science has shown increased risk of brain tumors from use of cellphones, as well as increased risk of eye cancer, salivary gland tumors, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia. The public must be informed." Lead study author, Lloyd Morgan.

"It is indisputable that exposure to radiofrequency radiation at cell telephone frequencies produces biological changes that are consistent with potential adverse effects on human health and development. Moreover, these biological effects are consistent with recent epidemiological studies of long-term cell phone users that have shown increased risks for tumor development. What should be a major concern for scientists and non-scientists alike is industry's misleading and scientifically inaccurate use of available data. Industry's claims of studies negating one another, their misuse of "weight of evidence," and their overt support of studies designed to produce negative data, all in the name of increasing the profit line, are shameful and should not be tolerated." Jerry L. Phillips, PhD, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; United States

"Independent research findings, including our own, show that cell phone damages the DNA of brain cells and sperms in animal models. Research lavishly funded by industry to counteract the results from the independent science should be taken with caution." Narendra P. Singh, Research Associate Professor, University of Washington; United States

"The scientific data show, with a high degree of confidence, that mobile phone exposure is associated with an increased brain tumor risk. The age group below 20 years is facing the greatest risk, for malignant (deadly) brain tumors, of about 400 percent, compared to non exposed. When we take the long latency period of up to some decades into account, and the fact that large parts of our society and especially more and more teenagers and even children are using mobile phones on a daily basis, we may well expect a brain tumor epidemic. From a public health perspective there is an urgent need not only for a wake-up call for our society, but for measures that are able to combat this public health threat effective now. " Gerd Oberfeld, Dr (MD), State Government Salzburg and Speaker for Environmental medicine for the Austrian Medical Association, Vienna; Austria

The report gave eight recommendations of ways to reduce exposure to cell phone radiation:

• 1. When on a call, use a wired headset (not a wireless headset such as a Bluetooth), or use in speaker-phone mode, or send text messages.

• 2. Keep the cellphone away from your body (particularly pant/trouser or shirt pockets) or use a belt holster designed to shield the body from cellphone radiation, when not in use (stand-by mode).

• 3. Avoid use in a moving car, train, bus, or in rural areas at some distance from a cell tower (AKA mast or base station) as any of these uses will increase the power of the cellphone's radiation.

• 4. Use the cellphone like an answering machine. Keep it off until you want to see who has called. Then return calls, if necessary, using steps 5 and 1.

• 5. Use a land-line phone, if available, instead of a cellphone.

• 6. Avoid use inside of buildings, particularly with steel structures.

• 7. Do not allow your children to sleep with a cellphone beneath their pillow or at the bedside.

• 8. Do not allow your children under 18 to use a cellphone except in emergencies.

The full report can be Downloaded here