Shock, horror - mobile phones NOT implicated in eye cancer

Because innocent verdicts in the ongoing 'cancerphone' debate tend not to get the media exposure that the original 'link' stories get, we're going to redress the balance. When any all-clear is sounded from now on we'll let you know.

'Link' stories are generally the ones that trigger a health scare. These are the headlines that say something like 'Researchers find possible link between telephones and sudden death'. These are often sourced from preliminary studies or small sample research and are really the opening shots of a possible scientific investigation.

But it's the accretive effect of these stories that lead the public at large to suspect a huge scientific cover-up - if the only stories on the subject are about 'links' constantly being established but with no subsequent government measures are being taken to remove the 'risk', the public not unnaturally starts protesting against mobile masts and to worry about children using phones.

This latest 'all clear' then is actually a text book case of how science should work.

Back in 2001 a team at the University of Essen in Germany found that regular mobile phone users appeared to be three times more likely to develop cancer of the eye.