Cell phone linked to salivary gland tumors

Tel Aviv, Israel -- An Israeli scientist is investigating a possible link between heavy cell phone use and tumors of the salivary gland.

Dr. Siegal Sadetzki of Tel Aviv University investigated nearly 500 people who had been diagnosed with benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland and found that frequent cell phone users had a higher risk of developing tumors, the university said Thursday in a release.

Patients who used a cell phone heavily on the side of the head where the tumor developed were found to have a 50 percent greater risk of developing a tumor of the parotid salivary gland, compared to those who did not use cell phones.

The report was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"Unlike people in other countries, Israelis were quick to adopt cell phone technology and have continued to be exceptionally heavy users," Sadetzki said in a statement. "Therefore, the amount of exposure to radio frequency radiation found in this study has been higher than in previous cell phone studies."

Sadetzki recommends that people use hands-free devices at all times, hold the phones away from the body while talking and make fewer and shorter phone calls.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.