Cell phones more dangerous than smoking?

The number of users is the first aspect to look at, says Dr. Khurana. Over 3 billion people worldwide use a cell phone, according to Dr. Khurana. Only about one billion people worldwide smoke, evidence to his claims. The smoking population incurs approximately five million worldwide smoking related deaths a year.

The doctor expresses no uncertainty about whether cell phones cause cancer. He states emphatically, "there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumors."

Government action is a necessity says Dr. Khurana, but he declines to elaborate on possible measures. The cell phone industry meanwhile scoffs at the research. Britain's Mobile Operators Association, a major telecomm collective commented that the new study was "a selective discussion of scientific literature by one individual."

In the U.S. last September, a research study by the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme indicated that there was no cell phone-cancer link. However, the normally conservative National Academy of Sciences reporting at the bequest of the Food and Drug Administration ruled that there was a possible link, but more research was needed. The National Academy of Sciences suggested studies on the effects of use on children and pregnant women and a comparative study of heavy users and the general population.