Scientists link eye cancer to mobile phones Jonathan Leake,
Science Editor THE SUNDAY TIMES: NEWS, January 14 2001, BRITAIN
MOBILE phones have been linked to human cancer in a scientific
study for the first time. The research suggests there is a
threefold increase in eye cancers among people who regularly use
the devices. The results will cause concern within the mobile
telecoms industry. The radiation emitted from mobile phones has
long been known temporarily to alter the workings of brain cells
but there was previously no evidence of permanent damage to
health. If confirmed by subsequent research, the finding could
lead to thousands of costly lawsuits by people with eye and
possibly brain cancers. More than 20m people in Britain have
mobile phones. The research, published in the journal
Epidemiology, was carried out by a team from the University of
Essen, in Germany. It investigated a form of eye cancer called
uveal melanoma, in which tumours form in the layer that makes up
the iris and base of the retina.