Imperial College London has announced the launch of the UK arm of the COSMOS study which aims to follow the health of approximately 100,000 British mobile phone users (18+ years of age) for 20 to 30 years. COSMOS (Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health) is an international study also involving researchers from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands. In total COSMOS is targetting to follow the health of 250,000 European mobile phone users.

Professor Paul Elliott, principal investigator of the study said:

'Scientists have been looking at the effects of mobile phones on health for several years and so far, reviews of the research have been reassuring with respect to mobile phone use and health problems in the short term. However, as mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short time, we haven't been able to carry out long-term studies until now.'

Funding for the study comes from the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme, which is part funded by the UK mobile industry and managed by an independent scientific committee. Through four major mobile phone operators, the COSMOS project team will invite 2.4 million mobile phone users in the UK to take part in the study.

Click here for the Imperial College Announcement

Click here for the UK COSMOS web site