Mobile phones in eye cancer alert

Scientific research shows that mobile phone users may be more susceptible to eye cancer. A study by researchers from the University of Essen in Germany considered the cases of 118 patients suffering from an eye cancer known as uveal melanoma.

Scientists found that these patients were more likely to regularly use a mobile phone than a separate control group consisting of 475 healthy patients.

Dr Andreas Stang, who led the research, said the cancers, which grow in the iris and the base of the retina, could have been caused by mobile phone radiation.

The research comes soon after the UK government ordered that advisory leaflets about the possible health risks from using mobile phones should be distributed with every new phone sold.

However, Stang warned that the research undertaken at Essen was not comprehensive and that the sample studied was relatively small. Other possible causes of the cancers, such as ultra violet light radiation, were not considered.

The Federation of Electronics Industries, which represents the mobile phone companies, said that conclusions from the Essen research could not be accepted. It said that it believed the findings would have to be replicated in further research.