Abstract

Overview

The study investigates the connection between mobile phone usage and brain cancer mortality by analyzing data from 88 countries over a period from 1990 to 2015. This data includes brain cancer death rates from the World Health Organization and mobile phone subscription rates from the World Bank.

Findings

• The study finds a statistically significant positive correlation between mobile phone subscription rates and brain cancer death rates 15–20 years later.
• This relationship is robust against various specification tests but shows sensitivity to the exclusion of country-specific time trends.
• Falsification tests reveal few associations with other cancer types or ischemic heart disease, suggesting specificity to brain cancer.

Conclusion

The findings suggest a potential epidemiological concern where higher mobile phone subscriptions could correlate with increased brain cancer mortality rates decades later. This calls for further research into cellular technology's long-term health impacts, with a cautious approach recommended for public health. Critical analysis also points to the need for careful interpretation and controls for confounding factors.