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Radio waves from mobile phones harm body
cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the
European Union, researchers said on Monday. The so-called Reflex study, conducted by 12 research groups in
seven European countries, did not prove that mobile phones are a risk to health but concluded that more research
is needed to see if effects can also be found outside a lab.
The $100 billion a year mobile phone industry asserts that there is
no conclusive evidence of harmful effects as a result of electromagnetic radiation.
About 650 million mobile phones are expected to be sold to consumers
this year, and over 1.5 billion people around the world use one.
The research project, which took four years and which was coordinated
by the German research group Verum, studied the effect of radiation on human and animal cells in a laboratory.
After being exposed to
electromagnetic fields that are typical for mobile phones, the cells showed a significant increase in single and
double-strand DNA breaks. The damage could not always be repaired by the cell. DNA
carries the genetic material of an organism and its different cells.
"There was remaining damage for future
generation of cells," said project leader Franz Adlkofer.
This means the change had procreated. Mutated cells are seen as
a possible cause of cancer.
The radiation used in the study was at levels between a Specific
Absorption Rate (SAR) of between 0.3 and 2 watts per kilogram. Most phones emit radio signals at SAR levels of
between 0.5 and 1 W/kg.
SAR is a measure of the rate of radio energy absorption in body
tissue, and the SAR limit recommended by the ICNIRP International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection is 2 W/kg. The study also measured other harmful effects on cells. Because of the lab set-up,
the researchers said the study did not prove any health risks. But they added that "the genotoxic and
phenotypic effects clearly require further studies ... on animals and human volunteers."
Adlkofer advised against the use of a mobile phone when an
alternative fixed line phone was available, and recommended the use of a headset connected to a cellphone
whenever possible.
"We don't want to create a panic, but it is good to take
precautions," he said, adding that additional research could take another four or five years.
Previous independent studies into the health effects of mobile phone
radiation have found it may have some effect on the human body, such as heating up body tissue and causing
headaches and nausea, but no study that could be independently repeated has proved that radiation had permanent
harmful effects.
None of the world's top six mobile phone vendors could immediately
respond to the results of the study.
In a separate announcement in Hong Kong, where consumers tend to
spend more time talking on a mobile phone than in Europe, a German company called G-Hanz introduced a new type
of mobile phone which it claimed had no harmful radiation, as a result of shorter bursts of the radio signal. |
