The relentless proliferation of microwave wireless technology in Brighton really worries me.

The latest of thousands of independent scientific papers showing widespread health damage from this technology - a study of "the worst type of brain tumours" by research team Hardell et al - is analysed by Lloyd Morgan, a Director of the US central brain tumour registry (see www.powerwatch.org.uk).

The study examined 905 cases of such brain tumours in subjects aged 20 to 80 and diagnosed between 1997 and 2003, with 2,162 controls.

The teams' previous 12 studies found increased risks from wireless (mobile, analog and DECT) phones.

He continues: "The survival statistics for these tumours are very grim (eg, one year survival is 29 per cent) and the devastating effects, even if there is survival, can be heartbreaking including loss of physical, emotional and mental abilities."

The study found the risk increased by an average of 25 per cent below 1,000 hours of phone use, to 130, 270 and 490 per cent for 2-3,000 hours for DECT, cell and analog phones respectively, and by 20 per cent (all types) for one to five years use, to 80 per cent (DECT), 140 per cent (analog) and 180 per cent (mobile) after ten years.

Morgan states: "The most troubling aspect of the Hardell study is that of the early latency times it is demonstrating with regards to cellphone exposure.

"It is well known the time from exposure to a carcinogen to the diagnosis of a tumour takes decades (25-40 years), yet we are seeing an increased risk of brain cancer for as short as one to five years Could the implication be that what we are seeing is actually the tail of a 25-40 year latency time distribution?"

I am reminded of the words of Dr Leif Salford, head of a major study into cell phone use in Sweden in the late Nineties, who said: "Brain damage from intensive cell phone use is a probability rather than a possibility".

With researchers worldwide warning particularly against cell phone use by under-16s, I see a very grim future for today's children.

  • Gary Kemp, Dyke Road Drive, Brighton