ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2010
Mobile phone base stations and early childhood cancers: case-control study.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Birth and death notification via mobile devices: a mixed methods systematic review.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Non-ionizing radiation and cancer: A review on current evidence, mechanistic insights, and public health implications.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2026Review
- Using large and complex datasets for small-area environment-health studies: from theory to practice.International journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Small-area methods for investigation of environment and health.International journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Possible Effects of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure on Central Nerve System.Biomolecules & therapeutics · 2019Review
- The challenge of opt-outs from NHS data: a small-area perspective.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2018Article
- Effect of Exposure to 900 MHz GSM Mobile Phone Radiofrequency Radiation on Estrogen Receptor Methylation Status in Colon Cells of Male Sprague Dawley Rats.Journal of biomedical physics & engineering · 2017Article
- Exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic waves alters acetylcholinesterase gene expression, exploratory and motor coordination-linked behaviour in male rats.Toxicology reports · 2017Article
- Development of an RF-EMF Exposure Surrogate for Epidemiologic Research.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2015Article
- What input data are needed to accurately model electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations?Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2015Article
- Childhood brain tumor epidemiology: a brain tumor epidemiology consortium review.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2014Review
- Looking at the other side of the coin: the search for possible biopositive cognitive effects of the exposure to 900 MHz GSM mobile phone radiofrequency radiation.Journal of environmental health science & engineering · 2014Review
- Nanometer-scale elongation rate fluctuations in the Myriophyllum aquaticum (Parrot feather) stem were altered by radio-frequency electromagnetic radiation.Plant signaling & behavior · 2014Article
- Microwaves in the cold war: the Moscow embassy study and its interpretation. Review of a retrospective cohort study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2012Review
- Review of research on residential mobility during pregnancy: consequences for assessment of prenatal environmental exposures.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2012Review
- Children's health and RF EMF exposure. Views from a risk assessment and risk communication perspective.Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2011Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the risk of early childhood cancers associated with the mother's exposure to radiofrequency from and proximity to macrocell mobile phone base stations (masts) during pregnancy.
designCase-control study.
settingCancer registry and national birth register data in Great Britain.
participants1397 cases of cancer in children aged 0-4 from national cancer registry 1999-2001 and 5588 birth controls from national birth register, individually matched by sex and date of birth (four controls per case).
main outcome measuresIncidence of cancers of the brain and central nervous system, leukaemia, and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and all cancers combined, adjusted for small area measures of education level, socioeconomic deprivation, population density, and population mixing.
resultsMean distance of registered address at birth from a macrocell base station, based on a national database of 76,890 base station antennas in 1996-2001, was similar for cases and controls (1107 (SD 1131) m v 1073 (SD 1130) m, P=0.31), as was total power output of base stations within 700 m of the address (2.89 (SD 5.9) kW v 3.00 (SD 6.0) kW, P=0.54) and modelled power density (-30.3 (SD 21.7) dBm v -29.7 (SD 21.5) dBm, P=0.41). For modelled power density at the address at birth, compared with the lowest exposure category the adjusted odds ratios were 1.01 (95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.18) in the intermediate and 1.02 (0.88 to 1.20) in the highest exposure category for all cancers (P=0.79 for trend), 0.97 (0.69 to 1.37) and 0.76 (0.51 to 1.12), respectively, for brain and central nervous system cancers (P=0.33 for trend), and 1.16 (0.90 to 1.48) and 1.03 (0.79 to 1.34) for leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (P=0.51 for trend).
conclusionsThere is no association between risk of early childhood cancers and estimates of the mother's exposure to mobile phone base stations during pregnancy.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.