Browsing by Author "Feychting, Maria"
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- ItemCall-related factors influencing output power from mobile phones.(2006-11-19) Hillert, Lena; Ahlbom, Anders; Neasham, David; Feychting, Maria; Järup, Lars; Navin, Roshan; Elliott, PaulMobile phone use is increasing but there is also concern for adverse health effects Well designed prospective studies to assess several health outcomes are required In designing a study of mobile phone use it is important to assess which factors need to be considered in classifying the exposure to radiofrequency fields RF A pilot study was performed in Sweden and in the UK 2002 to 2003 to test the feasibility of recruiting a cohort of mobile phone users from a random population sample and from mobile phone subscription lists for a prospective study As one part of this pilot study different factors were evaluated regarding possible influence on the output power of the phones By local switch logging information on calls made from predefined subscriptions or dedicated handsets were obtained and the output power of phones during calls made indoors and outdoors in moving and stationary mode and in rural as well in urban areas were compared In this experiment calls were either 1 1 5 or 5 min long The results showed that high mobile phone output power is more frequent in rural areas whereas the other factors length of call moving stationary indoor outdoor were of less importance Urban and rural area should be considered in an exposure index for classification of the exposure to RF from mobile phones and may be assessed by first base station during mobile phone calls or if this information is not available possibly by using home address as a proxy
- ItemChildhood brain tumours and use of mobile phones: comparison of a case-control study with incidence data.(2012-07-27) Aydin, Denis; Feychting, Maria; Schüz, Joachim; Röösli, Martin; ,The first case control study on mobile phone use and brain tumour risk among children and adolescents CEFALO study has recently been published In a commentary published in Environmental Health S derqvist and colleagues argued that CEFALO suggests an increased brain tumour risk in relation to wireless phone use In this article we respond and show why consistency checks of case control study results with observed time trends of incidence rates are essential given the well described limitations of case control studies and the steep increase of mobile phone use among children and adolescents during the last decade There is no plausible explanation of how a notably increased risk from use of wireless phones would correspond to the relatively stable incidence time trends for brain tumours among children and adolescents observed in the Nordic countries Nevertheless an increased risk restricted to heavy mobile phone use to very early life exposure or to rare subtypes of brain tumours may be compatible with stable incidence trends at this time and thus further monitoring of childhood brain tumour incidence rate time trends is warranted
- ItemEpidemiologic evidence on mobile phones and tumor risk: a review.(2009-08-14) Ahlbom, Anders; Feychting, Maria; Green, Adele; Kheifets, Leeka; Savitz, David A; Swerdlow, Anthony J; ,This review summarizes and interprets epidemiologic evidence bearing on a possible causal relation between radiofrequency field exposure from mobile phone use and tumor risk In the last few years epidemiologic evidence on mobile phone use and the risk of brain and other tumors of the head in adults has grown in volume geographic diversity of study settings and the amount of data on longer term users However some key methodologic problems remain particularly with regard to selective nonresponse and inaccuracy and bias in recall of phone use Most studies of glioma show small increased or decreased risks among users although a subset of studies show appreciably elevated risks We considered methodologic features that might explain the deviant results but found no clear explanation Overall the studies published to date do not demonstrate an increased risk within approximately 10 years of use for any tumor of the brain or any other head tumor Despite the methodologic shortcomings and the limited data on long latency and long term use the available data do not suggest a causal association between mobile phone use and fast growing tumors such as malignant glioma in adults at least for tumors with short induction periods For slow growing tumors such as meningioma and acoustic neuroma as well as for glioma among long term users the absence of association reported thus far is less conclusive because the observation period has been too short
- ItemFeasibility of future epidemiological studies on possible health effects of mobile phone base stations.(2007-03-20) Neubauer, Georg; Feychting, Maria; Hamnerius, Yngve; Kheifets, Leeka; Kuster, Niels; Ruiz, Ignacio; Schüz, Joachim; Uberbacher, Richard; Wiart, Joe; Röösli, MartinThe increasing deployment of mobile communication base stations led to an increasing demand for epidemiological studies on possible health effects of radio frequency emissions The methodological challenges of such studies have been critically evaluated by a panel of scientists in the fields of radiofrequency engineering dosimetry and epidemiology Strengths and weaknesses of previous studies have been identified Dosimetric concepts and crucial aspects in exposure assessment were evaluated in terms of epidemiological studies on different types of outcomes We conclude that in principle base station epidemiological studies are feasible However the exposure contributions from all relevant radio frequency sources have to be taken into account The applied exposure assessment method should be piloted and validated Short to medium term effects on physiology or health related quality of life are best investigated by cohort studies For long term effects groups with a potential for high exposure need to first be identified for immediate effect human laboratory studies are the preferred approach
- ItemImpact of random and systematic recall errors and selection bias in case--control studies on mobile phone use and brain tumors in adolescents (CEFALO study).(2011-05-23) Aydin, Denis; Feychting, Maria; Schüz, Joachim; Andersen, Tina Veje; Poulsen, Aslak Harbo; Prochazka, Michaela; Klaeboe, Lars; Kuehni, Claudia E; Tynes, Tore; Röösli, MartinWhether the use of mobile phones is a risk factor for brain tumors in adolescents is currently being studied Case control studies investigating this possible relationship are prone to recall error and selection bias We assessed the potential impact of random and systematic recall error and selection bias on odds ratios ORs by performing simulations based on real data from an ongoing case control study of mobile phones and brain tumor risk in children and adolescents CEFALO study Simulations were conducted for two mobile phone exposure categories regular and heavy use Our choice of levels of recall error was guided by a validation study that compared objective network operator data with the self reported amount of mobile phone use in CEFALO In our validation study cases overestimated their number of calls by 9 on average and controls by 34 Cases also overestimated their duration of calls by 52 on average and controls by 163 The participation rates in CEFALO were 83 for cases and 71 for controls In a variety of scenarios the combined impact of recall error and selection bias on the estimated ORs was complex These simulations are useful for the interpretation of previous case control studies on brain tumor and mobile phone use in adults as well as for the interpretation of future studies on adolescents
- ItemIncidence trends of adult primary intracerebral tumors in four Nordic countries.(2003-12-03) Lönn, Stefan; Klaeboe, Lars; Hall, Per; Mathiesen, Tiit; Auvinen, Anssi; Christensen, Helle C; Johansen, Christoffer; Salminen, Tiina; Tynes, Tore; Feychting, MariaBrain tumors are some of the most lethal adult cancers and there is a concern that the incidence is increasing It has been suggested that the reported increased incidence can be explained by improvements in diagnostic procedures although this has not been totally resolved The aim of our study was to describe the incidence trends of adult primary intracerebral tumors in four Nordic countries during a period with introduction of new diagnostic procedures and increasing prevalence of mobile phone users Information about benign and malignant primary intracerebral tumor cases 20 79 years of age was obtained from the national cancer registries in Denmark Finland Norway and Sweden for the years 1969 98 and estimates of person years at risk were calculated from the information obtained from national population registries Annual age standardized incidence rates per 100 000 person years were calculated and time trends analyses were carried out using Poisson regression The overall incidence of all intracerebral tumors ranged from 8 4 11 8 for men and 5 8 9 3 for women corresponding to an average annual increase of 0 6 for men 95 confidence interval CI 0 4 0 7 and 0 9 for women 95 CI 0 7 1 0 The increase in the incidence was confined to the late 1970s and early 1980s and coinciding with introduction of improved diagnostic methods This increase was largely confined to the oldest age group After 1983 and during the period with increasing prevalence of mobile phone users the incidence has remained relatively stable for both men and women
- ItemIncidence trends of malignant parotid gland tumors in Swedish and nordic adults 1970 to 2009.(2012-08-08) Shu, Xiaochen; Ahlbom, Anders; Feychting, Maria
- ItemAn international prospective cohort study of mobile phone users and health (Cosmos): design considerations and enrolment.(2011-02-18) Schüz, Joachim; Elliott, Paul; Auvinen, Anssi; Kromhout, Hans; Poulsen, Aslak Harbo; Johansen, Christoffer; Olsen, Jørgen H; Hillert, Lena; Feychting, Maria; Fremling, Karin; Toledano, Mireille; Heinävaara, Sirpa; Slottje, Pauline; Vermeulen, Roel; Ahlbom, AndersThere is continuing public and scientific interest in the possibility that exposure to radiofrequency RF electromagnetic fields EMF from mobile telephones or other wireless devices and applications might increase the risk of certain cancers or other diseases The interest is amplified by the rapid world wide penetration of such technologies The evidence from epidemiological studies published to date have not been consistent and in particular further studies are required to identify whether longer term well beyond 10 years RF exposure might pose some health risk
- ItemThe INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population.(2007-09-12) Cardis, Elisabeth; Richardson, Lesley; Deltour, Isabelle; Armstrong, Bruce; Feychting, Maria; Johansen, Christoffer; Kilkenny, Monique; McKinney, Patricia; Modan, Baruch; Sadetzki, Siegal; Schüz, Joachim; Swerdlow, Anthony; Vrijheid, Martine; Auvinen, Anssi; Berg, Gabriele; Blettner, Maria; Bowman, Joseph; Brown, Julianne; Chetrit, Angela; Christensen, Helle Collatz; Cook, Angus; Hepworth, Sarah; Giles, Graham; Hours, Martine; Iavarone, Ivano; Jarus-Hakak, Avital; Klaeboe, Lars; Krewski, Daniel; Lagorio, Susanna; Lönn, Stefan; Mann, Simon; McBride, Mary; Muir, Kenneth; Nadon, Louise; Parent, Marie-Elise; Pearce, Neil; Salminen, Tiina; Schoemaker, Minouk; Schlehofer, Brigitte; Siemiatycki, Jack; Taki, Masao; Takebayashi, Toru; Tynes, Tore; van Tongeren, Martie; Vecchia, Paolo; Wiart, Joe; Woodward, Alistair; Yamaguchi, NaohitoThe very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency RF fields A multinational case control study INTERPHONE was set up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and more specifically whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones glioma meningioma acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours The study was conducted in 13 countries Australia Canada Denmark Finland France Germany Israel Italy Japan New Zealand Norway Sweden and the UK using a common core protocol This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population INTERPHONE is the largest case control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2 765 glioma 2 425 meningioma 1 121 acoustic neurinoma 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7 658 controls Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results
- ItemLocation of gliomas in relation to mobile telephone use: a case-case and case-specular analysis.(2011-06-22) Larjavaara, Suvi; Schüz, Joachim; Swerdlow, Anthony; Feychting, Maria; Johansen, Christoffer; Lagorio, Susanna; Tynes, Tore; Klaeboe, Lars; Tonjer, Sven Reidar; Blettner, Maria; Berg-Beckhoff, Gabriele; Schlehofer, Brigitte; Schoemaker, Minouk; Britton, Juliet; Mäntylä, Riitta; Lönn, Stefan; Ahlbom, Anders; Flodmark, Olof; Lilja, Anders; Martini, Stefano; Rastelli, Emanuela; Vidiri, Antonello; Kähärä, Veikko; Raitanen, Jani; Heinävaara, Sirpa; Auvinen, AnssiThe energy absorbed from the radio frequency fields of mobile telephones depends strongly on distance from the source The authors objective in this study was to evaluate whether gliomas occur preferentially in the areas of the brain having the highest radio frequency exposure The authors used 2 approaches In a case case analysis tumor locations were compared with varying exposure levels in a case specular analysis a hypothetical reference location was assigned for each glioma and the distances from the actual and specular locations to the handset were compared The study included 888 gliomas from 7 European countries 2000 2004 with tumor midpoints defined on a 3 dimensional grid based on radiologic images The case case analyses were carried out using unconditional logistic regression whereas in the case specular analysis conditional logistic regression was used In the case case analyses tumors were located closest to the source of exposure among never regular and contralateral users but not statistically significantly In the case specular analysis the mean distances between exposure source and location were similar for cases and speculars These results do not suggest that gliomas in mobile phone users are preferentially located in the parts of the brain with the highest radio frequency fields from mobile phones
- ItemLong-term mobile phone use and acoustic neuroma risk.(2014-02-03) Pettersson, David; Mathiesen, Tiit; Prochazka, Michaela; Bergenheim, Tommy; Florentzson, Rut; Harder, Henrik; Nyberg, Gunnar; Siesjö, Peter; Feychting, MariaThere is concern about potential effects of radiofrequency fields generated by mobile phones on cancer risk Most previous studies have found no association between mobile phone use and acoustic neuroma although information about long term use is limited
- ItemLong-term mobile phone use and brain tumor risk.(2005-03-04) Lönn, Stefan; Ahlbom, Anders; Hall, Per; Feychting, Maria; ,Handheld mobile phones were introduced in Sweden during the late 1980s The purpose of this population based case control study was to test the hypothesis that long term mobile phone use increases the risk of brain tumors The authors identified all cases aged 20 69 years who were diagnosed with glioma or meningioma during 2000 2002 in certain parts of Sweden Randomly selected controls were stratified on age gender and residential area Detailed information about mobile phone use was collected from 371 74 glioma and 273 85 meningioma cases and 674 71 controls For regular mobile phone use the odds ratio was 0 8 95 confidence interval 0 6 1 0 for glioma and 0 7 95 confidence interval 0 5 0 9 for meningioma Similar results were found for more than 10 years duration of mobile phone use No risk increase was found for ipsilateral phone use for tumors located in the temporal and parietal lobes Furthermore the odds ratio did not increase regardless of tumor histology type of phone and amount of use This study includes a large number of long term mobile phone users and the authors conclude that the data do not support the hypothesis that mobile phone use is related to an increased risk of glioma or meningioma
- ItemMobile phone use and brain tumors in children and adolescents: a multicenter case-control study.(2011-08-17) Aydin, Denis; Feychting, Maria; Schüz, Joachim; Tynes, Tore; Andersen, Tina Veje; Schmidt, Lisbeth Samsø; Poulsen, Aslak Harbo; Johansen, Christoffer; Prochazka, Michaela; Lannering, Birgitta; Klæboe, Lars; Eggen, Tone; Jenni, Daniela; Grotzer, Michael; Von der Weid, Nicolas; Kuehni, Claudia E; Röösli, MartinIt has been hypothesized that children and adolescents might be more vulnerable to possible health effects from mobile phone exposure than adults We investigated whether mobile phone use is associated with brain tumor risk among children and adolescents
- ItemMobile phone use and incidence of glioma in the Nordic countries 1979-2008: consistency check.(2012-02-09) Deltour, Isabelle; Auvinen, Anssi; Feychting, Maria; Johansen, Christoffer; Klaeboe, Lars; Sankila, Risto; Schüz, JoachimSome case control studies have reported increased risks of glioma associated with mobile phone use If true this would ultimately affect the time trends for incidence rates IRs Correspondingly lack of change in IRs would exclude certain magnitudes of risk We investigated glioma IR trends in the Nordic countries and compared the observed with expected incidence rates under various risk scenarios
- ItemMobile phone use and risk of glioma in 5 North European countries.(2007-03-13) Lahkola, Anna; Auvinen, Anssi; Raitanen, Jani; Schoemaker, Minouk J; Christensen, Helle C; Feychting, Maria; Johansen, Christoffer; Klaeboe, Lars; Lönn, Stefan; Swerdlow, Anthony J; Tynes, Tore; Salminen, TiinaPublic concern has been expressed about the possible adverse health effects of mobile telephones mainly related to intracranial tumors We conducted a population based case control study to investigate the relationship between mobile phone use and risk of glioma among 1 522 glioma patients and 3 301 controls We found no evidence of increased risk of glioma related to regular mobile phone use odds ratio OR 0 78 95 confidence interval CI 0 68 0 91 No significant association was found across categories with duration of use years since first use cumulative number of calls or cumulative hours of use When the linear trend was examined the OR for cumulative hours of mobile phone use was 1 006 1 002 1 010 per 100 hr but no such relationship was found for the years of use or the number of calls We found no increased risks when analogue and digital phones were analyzed separately For more than 10 years of mobile phone use reported on the side of the head where the tumor was located an increased OR of borderline statistical significance OR 1 39 95 CI 1 01 1 92 p trend 0 04 was found whereas similar use on the opposite side of the head resulted in an OR of 0 98 95 CI 0 71 1 37 Although our results overall do not indicate an increased risk of glioma in relation to mobile phone use the possible risk in the most heavily exposed part of the brain with long term use needs to be explored further before firm conclusions can be drawn
- ItemMobile phone use and risk of parotid gland tumor.(2006-09-21) Lönn, Stefan; Ahlbom, Anders; Christensen, Helle C; Johansen, Christoffer; Schüz, Joachim; Edström, Staffan; Henriksson, Gert; Lundgren, Jan; Wennerberg, Johan; Feychting, MariaHandheld mobile phones were introduced in Denmark and Sweden during the late 1980s This makes the Danish and Swedish populations suitable for a study aimed at testing the hypothesis that long term mobile phone use increases the risk of parotid gland tumors In this population based case control study the authors identified all cases aged 20 69 years diagnosed with parotid gland tumor during 2000 2002 in Denmark and certain parts of Sweden Controls were randomly selected from the study population base Detailed information about mobile phone use was collected from 60 cases of malignant parotid gland tumors 85 response rate 112 benign pleomorphic adenomas 88 response rate and 681 controls 70 response rate For regular mobile phone use regardless of duration the risk estimates for malignant and benign tumors were 0 7 95 confidence interval 0 4 1 3 and 0 9 95 confidence interval 0 5 1 5 respectively Similar results were found for more than 10 years duration of mobile phone use The risk estimate did not increase regardless of type of phone and amount of use The authors conclude that the data do not support the hypothesis that mobile phone use is related to an increased risk of parotid gland tumors
- ItemMobile phone use and the risk of acoustic neuroma.(2004-10-11) Lönn, Stefan; Ahlbom, Anders; Hall, Per; Feychting, MariaRadiofrequency exposure from mobile phones is concentrated to the tissue closest to the handset which includes the auditory nerve If this type of exposure increases tumor risk acoustic neuroma would be a potential concern
- ItemMobile phones, brain tumors, and the interphone study: where are we now?(2011-12-14) Swerdlow, Anthony J; Feychting, Maria; Green, Adele C; Leeka Kheifets, Leeka Kheifets; Savitz, David A; ,In the past 15 years mobile telephone use has evolved from an uncommon activity to one with 4 6 billion subscriptions worldwide However there is public concern about the possibility that mobile phones might cause cancer especially brain tumors
- ItemMobile phones, radiofrequency fields, and health effects in children--epidemiological studies.(2011-11-29) Feychting, MariaIn 2004 when WHO organized a workshop on children s sensitivity to electromagnetic fields very few studies on radiofrequency fields were available With the recent increase in mobile phone use among children and adolescents WHO has identified studies on health effects in this age group as a high priority research area There are no empirical data supporting the notion that children and adolescents are more susceptible to RF exposure but the number of studies is still relatively small There are a few cross sectional studies on well being cognitive effects and behavioral problems and some cohort studies mainly of maternal use of mobile phones during pregnancy Cancer outcomes have been studied in relation to environmental RF exposure e g from transmitters and only one study on mobile phone use in children and adolescents and brain tumor risk has been published Several methodological limitations need to be taken into consideration when interpreting the findings of the epidemiological studies The cross sectional design does not allow determination of the temporal sequence of exposure and outcome and for several outcomes there is a large potential for reversed causality i e that the outcome causes an increased RF exposure rather than the opposite Biases such as recall errors in self reported mobile phone use lack of confounding control e g of other aspects of mobile phone use than RF fields trained behaviors and pubertal development makes causal interpretations impossible Future studies need to include prospectively collected exposure information incident outcomes and proper confounding control Monitoring of brain tumor incidence trends is strongly recommended
- ItemMobile telephones and brain tumours.(2011-10-21) Ahlbom, Anders; Feychting, Maria