Using a mobile phone is not linked to an increased risk of brain tumours, researchers said today.
The largest study completed so far on mobile use and brain tumour risks suggested that there was no association between the two.
But the researchers said that mobile phones had only been in widespread use for about 10 years, meaning the long-term effects were still unknown.
The latest study, published online in the British Medical Journal, involved 966 people with glioma - the most common type of brain tumour - and 1,716 healthy volunteers who acted as a comparison. The two groups were interviewed about their use of mobile phones in the past.
The researchers - from the Universities of Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester and the Institute of Cancer Research in London -
found that those who reported regularly using mobile phones were not at a greater overall risk of developing glioma.
They also found no link between the risk of the tumour and the length of time since someone first started using a mobile or the number or length of calls that were made.
The team also found no link between using a mobile phone in rural areas and an increased risk of tumours.
Such a link was suggested in a Swedish study by Professor Lennart Hardell which was published last year.
However, the latest study did find a significant increased risk between the side of the head where people said they held the phone and where their tumour occurred. The researchers said that it was difficult to interpret this result.
PA