Telcos play down mobiles link to cancer

The World Health Organisation is set to place mobile phone use on a list of possible causes of cancer, along with diesel fuel, coffee and Asian pickled vegetables.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an agency within the WHO, said there was enough scientific evidence to draw a link between radiation produced by mobile phones and malignant glioma, a brain and spinal cord cancer that is often incurable.

Glioma causes headaches, seizures and blindness.

The agency’s working group chairman, Jonathan Samet, said 31 scientists from 14 countries analysed hundreds of scientific articles and the evidence was strong enough to list mobiles as a possible cancer source.

A spokeswoman for Telstra said the company had researched the issue for almost 30 years and safety measures built into modern phones were still valid.

“We will continue to liaise with the authorities to ensure any new research outcomes are taken into account," she said.

A spokesman for Vodafone Hutchison Australia said in a statement he understood why people would be concerned by the new classification.

An Optus spokeswoman supported more research but wouldn’t say if the company had a position on the latest research.

The Australian Financial Review