Abstract

Overview

The Cohort Study on Mobile Phones and Health (COSMOS) investigates the potential risks of brain tumors from mobile phone use.

Background

Concerns regarding the carcinogenic potential of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from mobile phones continue with each new technology generation. Previous studies were often limited by biases such as differential recall and crude exposure assessment methods.

Methods

• Enrollment of participants occurred across Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK between 2007 and 2012.
• Data from lifetime mobile phone use were collected via a baseline questionnaire.
• Participants were monitored through cancer registries to track glioma, meningioma, and acoustic neuroma diagnoses.
• Adjustments were made in the estimates of phone usage through regression calibration to counter non-differential exposure misclassification.

Results

Following over 1.8 million person-years of observation among 264,574 participants, the adjusted hazard ratios (HR) indicated no significant increase in tumor incidence related to the cumulative hours of mobile phone use or long-term (over 15 years) usage.

Conclusions

Extensive analysis from the COSMOS cohort study suggests that the amount of mobile phone use is not linked with an increased risk of developing glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma.