Health - Mobile use 'ups children's risk of brain cancer fivefold'

London (PTI): Cell phones are among the most favourite gadgets of today's youngsters. But, a new study has claimed that mobile use substantially raises the risk of brain cancer in children.
Researchers in Sweden have carried out the study and found that kids are five times more likely to get brain cancer later in life if they use mobile phones, leading British daily 'The Independent' reported.
According to them, kids are more at risk because their brains and nervous systems are still developing and as their heads are smaller and their skulls are thinner, the radiation penetrates deeper into their brains.
"People who started mobile phone use before the age of 20 have more than five-fold increase in glioma -- a cancer of the glial cells that support the central nervous system," lead researcher Lennart Hardell of University Hospital Orebro said.
Moreover, those who started using mobiles young were also five times more likely to get acoustic neuromas, benign but often disabling tumours of the auditory nerve, which can cause deafness, he said.However, at 20 the danger diminishes because then the brain is fully developed, the study suggested.
In their study, the Swedish researchers also analysed data from one of the biggest researches carried out into the risk that the radiation causes cancer.
By contrast, they found that people who were in their 20s before using handsets were only 50 per cent more likely to contract gliomas and twice as likely to get acoustic neuromas later in life. "This is a warning sign. It's very worrying. We should be taking precautions," Prof Hardell said, adding kids under 12 should not use mobiles except in emergencies and teenagers should use only hands-free devices.