The largest study ever conducted to examine the effects of cell phones on the health or development of adolescents is about to be conducted by a team of British researchers.

The research is meant to help fill in the wide gaps in understanding of how cell phones may affect the brain, especially in those whose brains are still developing. Currently, all research in this area has been focused on possible links between cell phones and the development of brain cancer in adults. This new study will focus on how cell phone use in children might affect their cognitive abilities.

According to the World Health Organization, there is a total of 4.6 billion cell phone subscriptions globally. Nearly 70 percent of British children between the ages of 11 and 12 have their own phones. 90 percent have their own phone by the time they are 14.

The study will follow 2,500 children aged 11-12 for two years and collect data on their cell phone use habits, including the activities they engage in while using the phone and the amount of time spent on the device. They will also measure cognitive development through a set of tests taken on classroom computers meant to measure abilities like attention and memory.

There are two decades of past studies that focus on the potential for adults to develop brain cancer from exposure to electromagnetic fields produced by cell phones. So far, no evidence has been generated in these studies to suggest that this potential is real, at least not in short term exposures of less than a decade.

In contrast, very little research has been done to show what affects cell phones could have on children. Children not only have much work left in their brain development but they are primed to have more lifelong exposure than adults in the last 20 years. This study seeks to help rectify the lack of knowledge as to how this exposure will impact future generations in more ways than just risks for brain cancer.