The fear of cell phone radiation has assumed mythical proportions today, and it’s safe to say that we don’t know whether taking our phones to bed is killing us slowly like what those Whatsapp forwards claim. A 60-year-old British man, Neil Whittman believes that it is! That's why he's suing cellular giant Nokia for a significant compensation of around a million pounds for causing a tumour in his brain. The father of six believes that it was his heavy cellphone usage in the late 1990s that led to a humongous tumour on a nerve between his inner ear and brain. Whittman had developed an acoustic neuroma tumour the size of a golf ball and was left deaf in one ear after undergoing surgery to remove it.

Whittman who worked as a salesman in the 1990s said that he used a Nokia phone to communicate with his clients and that his job required him to be on the phone for long durations. He said in the days before it was illegal, he had the phone pressed to his ear even while he was driving. Speaking to Sunday Mirror, he said that he had no doubts that extensive cell phone usage caused a large tumour. “I spent almost five years glued to my phone hours at a time until I was diagnosed. I could feel the heat coming off it. I know this is going to be a real David and Goliath battle. It might take a while before it’s settled, but I won’t give up. This is for the future of my children and kids everywhere," he said.

The lawsuit makes Whittman the first Brit to sue a mobile phone company on these grounds. The case has been running for six years. With the publicity around the case, more people are bound to come forward. Even the doctor who operated on Whittman in 2001 believes that mobile phone use could have caused the tumour.

Should We Fear the Cellphone?

The link between mobile phone use and brain tumour has long been speculated. A large number of studies have conducted around the topic, assessing the potential health risks of mobile phones. Some of them also point to a higher risk of developing brain cancer, especially on the side of the head where the phone has been pressed against. However, these studies have failed to report an overall increase of cancer or a lower risk of tumours on the other side of the head. So far, all we have are speculations that cell phone use could be possibly linked to the tumours. But none of the studies has managed to establish a biological mechanism, which can conclusively say that phone radiation causes head cancer.

Studies say that short-term hazards of cell phones do have an effect on the electrical activity and functioning of the brain, sleep quality, heart rate and blood pressure. Headaches, dizziness, numbness in the thigh and heaviness in the chest have been reported by people who use mobile phones frequently. Keeping the phone close to the chest can even cause changes in the heart rate according to a study.

While short-term effects of cellphone use can be assessed, the same cannot be said about the long-term use since mobile phones were not widely in use until the early 1990s. An Indian study found some correlation between mobile phone use and DNA damage, which could have a long-term implication. Living close to mobile phone towers could also increase one's risk for developing neuropsychiatric problems. But so far, there is no consensus about the degree of cancer risk cellphones can pose.

(Reference: Mobile phone use and risk of brain tumours: a systematic review of association between study quality, source of funding, and research outcomes, Mobile phone use and possible cancer risk: Current perspectives in India)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 17, 2018 06:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).