Latest research on mobile phones
On May 23 2011 a think tank of experts convened at a workshop in Turkey, “Science Update: Cell Phones and Health", and presented recent mobile phone research findings.
According to recent research published in a statement from the Environmental Health Trust, the pulsed digital signals from mobile phones disrupt DNA, impair brain function and lower sperm count.
A Greek research team has discovered that exposure to a mobile phone's electromagnetic field for as little as six minutes a day can affect bone formation in foetuses. They also found that rats exposed to mobile phone radiation had impaired memory.
Prof. Nesrin Seyhan, WHO and NATO advisor, also found that just four hours of exposure to RF-EMF disrupts the ability of human brain cells to repair damaged genes.
Children are increasingly heavy users of cell phones; at higher frequencies, children absorb more energy from external radio frequency radiation than adults because their tissue has a higher conductivity than adults'. The researchers conclude limiting cell phone and cordless phone use by young children and teenagers to the lowest possible level.
It is interesting to note that the researches do not distinguish between mobile phone and cordless phone usage as both systems rely on electromagnetic fields.
So what to do in our phone-obsessed society?
It is not clear from the research if the use of BlueTooth devices reduces or eliminates the dangers of mobile phone usage. However, it does seem that using headphones when talking on mobiles and cordless phones will reduce the amount of radiation that enters the brain. The researchers also recommend young children and adolescents call less and text more.
This issue has periodically arisen over the last decade or so and each time the mobile phone companies and health departments assure us that everything is OK and that there is nothing to worry about. And collectively we accept that, happy about the convenience and freedom that mobile telephony has brought. But, it is not good: the problem will not simply go away.
30/5/11
Related to - Recent health research
By Mark O'Brien