My brother called me several months ago and asked, “do you know if cell phones cause brain tumors?” He was calling from his cell phone with a hands free headset while driving.

“I don’t know.” I said, “but, I will look into it.”

Several years ago, one Swedish study had claimed that there was an increase risk of contracting brain cancer among rural cell phone users. The fear was accentuated by the fact that there was a reporting of greater cell phone use on the same side of the head as the cancer. Further studies did not support these findings.

A study reported in this month’s issue of British Medical Journal laid these fear to rest. A detail study of 966 brain cancer patients found no relationship between gliomas (brain cancer) and cell phone use. More so, there was no increase risk among users of analogs phone which tend to emit greater power than digital phones which are used today.

Just a few days ago, I told my brother that he need not worry about a tumor, but rather he needed to worry about an accident while using a cell phone.

Two studies, one from Canada and one from Australia, found that drivers using cell phones had a higher risk of having a motor vehicle accident and accidents resulting in injury. In fact, the risk of accident and risk of injury was four times higher compared with drivers not using a cell phone.

Oh yes, I told my brother “A hands free cell phone did not reduce the risk of accidents.”