Women are switching off their mobile phones in droves amid fears they are harming their health, a new study reveals. The study, one month after World Health Organisation experts warned of a link between mobile phone use and brain tumours, found one in four Australian women have cut back on their talk time.

Australia’s Biggest Health Check, an online survey of more than 30,000 women, also found an additional 21 per cent of respondents wanted to reduce their mobile phone use in the future.

The WHO warned in June that mobile phone users were at an increased risk of brain tumours. The debate over whether mobile phone emissions are carcinogenic has divided experts.

But University of Sydney oncologist Bruce Armstrong said the evidence shows a link to brain tumours. He urged women to try to limit mobile use to text messaging or to use landlines. “The fact that women are either cutting down on their mobile phone use or planning to cut down on their mobile phone use is quite consistent with that advice,” Professor Armstrong said. “It just indicates that people are seeing this as a risk.”

Tumour fear cuts chatter as woman switch off their mobile phones