A claim that radiation from a mobile phone caused a fatal brain tumour is to be heard by an American court within 12 months.

The claim has been made against mobile phone manufacturer Motorola by the estate of Dr Dean Rittmann, a physician who died of a brain tumour after using a cellular phone for years.

The case promises to be a crucial test case, with many other similar claims including many in the UK waiting on the result.

One piece of research which may interest the prosecution shows that cellular phone radiation caused cancer in mice. The research, conducted by Dr Michael Repacholi, the director of the WHO project on EMF in Geneva, had been rejected by several scientific journals because it would cause a panic. It was finally published, after a two year delay, by the journal Radiation Research.

The study shows that the mice exposed to pulsed digital phone radiation had double the rate of cancer, compared to those who were not. The mice were exposed to rates set at 900 MHz for two 30 minute periods each day for nine to 18 months (Electromagnetic Hazard & Therapy 1997; 8: 1-3).

Researchers have found no link between magnetic fields from power lines and other electrical appliances and leukemia in children.

A research team from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland studied the homes and immediate environments of 638 children suffering from lymphoblastic leukemia (New Eng J of Med, 1997; 337: 1-7).

For more information on electromagnetic fields and mobile phones see WDDTY's Environment Handbook.