In March 2008, Australian neurosurgeon Dr Vini Khurana published a review of existing research into whether mobile phones cause brain tumours. We know that some people are concerned about mobile phones and health, so we want to set the record straight about his findings.
There were articles about the review in the Canberra Times on March 27th 2008 and in the Independent on Sunday on March 31st. However, neither article points out that Dr Khurana failed to follow the accepted process for publishing a scientific review. It’s standard practice for a review to be scrutinised by other experts to ensure it was properly carried out and the findings are reliable. Respected scientific journals won’t publish findings unless they’ve undergone such a peer review. Dr Khurana’s paper wasn’t peer reviewed and was published on his own website.
The World Health Organisation and more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific reviews have found no adverse health effects from exposure to low-level radio frequency from mobile phones.
Yet Dr Khurana’s review concludes that, based on current scientific evidence, governments and the mobile phone industry should take immediate action to reduce radio frequency exposure from mobile phones. Dr Khurana believes the public health threat from mobile phones may be greater than that from asbestos or smoking.
Dr Khurana carried out this review alone and it presents only his view. It contains no new research findings and does not take into account the varying scientific quality of the different studies discussed.
Brain tumours are relatively rare. More are diagnosed now than in the past but, as the Cancer Research UK website points out: “this is mostly because we are living longer and brain tumours are more common in older people”. It’s also easier to diagnose tumours now thanks to advances in medicine.
More research is needed into longer-term mobile phone use, and a major study of head and neck tumours involving 13 countries is already underway. This is known as the INTERPHONE study and is coordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Dr Khurana’s review in a nutshell:
- Claims that mobile phone use “has broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking”
- Not peer reviewed
- Published on his own website
- Contains no new findings
- Contradicts the World Health Organisation and more than 30 independent expert reviews spanning seven years