Recent research on mobile phones and their negative effects on people’s health, leading even to certain types of brain cancer, has stirred criticism from the mobile industry.

Dr. Vini Khurana, one of the world’s top neurosurgeons, concluded in a study last week that using mobile phones for 10 years could double the risk of brain cancer. “This danger has far broader public-health ramifications than asbestos and smoking,” he told the Independent of London.

Dr. Khurana reviewed more than 100 previous studies on the effects of mobile handsets and concluded people should avoid using cell phones whenever possible and called on governments and industry to take “immediate step” to reduce radiation exposure through the devices.

“In the years 2008-2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up time to begin to definitively observe the impact of this global technology on brain tumor incidence rates,” he said.

Dr. Khurana based his assessment on the fact that three billion people now use the phones worldwide, which is three times higher than people who smoke. Smoking kills some five million globally each year.

Dr. Jack Rowley, director of research for the GSM Association said Dr. Khurana’s research represents a “very selective review of [existing] literature” rather than an original study.

Dr. Rowley goes even further telling silicon.com sister site ZDNet.co.uk that Dr. Khurana’s research had failed to mention some studies failed to establish a connection between mobile phone usage and brain tumors.

“If you look at the data from the animal studies it mentions in his paper, he [refers to] an Australian study in 1999 but doesn’t mention two failed confirmation studies. He also fails to mention many of the other long-term animal studies, which found no overall increased cancer risk,” pointing at studies carried out with funding by the GSM Association and the European Commission.

Dr. Rowley also added that the study “does not present a balanced analysis” of the published science, and “reaches opposite conclusions to the World Health Organization and more than 30 other independent expert scientific reviews.”