Dr Hardell has worked as a specialist oncologist and a cancer epidemiologist and is a retired Professor at the Department of Oncology, Örebro University Hospital, Sweden. He is now working for the Environment and Cancer Research Foundation.
Dr Hardell has a long career as a clinical and medical research doctor. He has a focused interest in environmental risk factors for cancer that he has studied in epidemiological investigations. He was a Research Fellow at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA in 1985. Over the years Dr Hardell has been awarded several scientific prizes for his research. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was the first to show an increased risk of cancer in persons exposed to phenoxy herbicides and contaminating dioxins. His research group has also conducted studies on the relationship between persistent organic pollutants and cancer risks, such as PCB and the risk for malignant lymphoma.
In recent years, much of Dr Hardell’s research has focused on the use of mobile phones and cordless phones and the risk of brain tumours. His research has contributed to the cancer classification of different agents such as TCDD, PCB, the herbicide glyphosate, and radio frequency fields. He has published more than 380 peer-reviewed scientific articles.