A Sydney neurosurgeon says new research suggesting children who use mobile phones are more likely to get brain cancer is significant.
The Swedish study found there was a five-fold increase in the risk of developing two types of brain tumour in people who started using mobile phones before the age of 20.
It found children and teenagers are more at risk of radiation from mobile phones than adults, because their brains and nervous systems are still developing.
Neurosurgeon with the Sydney Children's and Prince of Wales Hospitals, Dr Marc Coughlan, says the findings are concerning.
"That's based on if you look at a whole lot of other tumours that we've got experience with." he said.
"We know that radiotherapy and other forms of radiation induce tumour formation, so I'm definitely of the opinion that there is some sort of link, although it could be quite tenuous."
