Mobile phone radiation can cause cancer: WHO

It's official: mobile phone radiation can actually lead to cancer, according to an extensive study by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

WHO's International Agency for Research of Cancer team that worked on the study included 31 scientists from 14 countries. The results, which found that exposure to mobile phones are "possibly carcinogenic to humans", aren't entirely surprising, but sobering.

"The type of radiation coming out of a cell phone is called non-ionising. It is not like an x-ray, but more like a very low-powered microwave oven," the team said.

"What microwave radiation does in most simplistic terms is similar to what happens to food in microwaves, essentially cooking the brain. So in addition to leading to a development of cancer and tumours, there could be a whole host of other effects like cognitive memory function, since the memory temporal lobes are where we hold our [mobile] phones."

This news speaks against the line of most major mobile phone manufacturers. Before the announcement hit, CNN reported:

"The [mobile] phone industry maintains that there is no conclusive evidence that cell phone radiation impacts users' health and often cites WHO stance on the topic."

More details are expected to follow soon, but the WHO finding does not mean that all mobile phone users will develop cancer because of extensive usage. Unfortunately, it will also take years to see the results of extensive mobile phone radiation exposure given that the phones didn't come into widespread consumer use until the last 10 to 15 years.

Via ZDNet US