- LONDON -- Recent studies
suggesting cellphone radiation may pose a health hazard have prompted UK
experts to warn parents against giving mobile phones to young children.
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- A report issued on Tuesday by the UK's National Radiological
Protection Board (NRPB), a government advisory body, calls for a "precautionary
approach" to cellphone use. The study acknowledges that there is no
firm evidence that cellphone radiation is harmful but warns that the possibility
also cannot be ruled out.
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- "I don't think we can put our hands on our hearts
and say mobile phones are safe," said Sir William Stewart, chairman
of the NRPB, at a press conference in London on Tuesday.
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- The NRPB report repeats concerns first raised in an influential
study into cellphone health affects published in 2000 by the Independent
Expert Group on Mobile Phones, also set up by the UK government and led
by William Stewart. However, the new report adds that scientific research
published since 2000 provides fresh evidence that cell phone radiation
may be harmful to users.
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- DNA Damage
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- This research includes a European study published in
December 2004 indicating that radiation from cellphones may damage DNA,
a Swedish study from April 2004 showing a correlation between mobile phone
use and auditory nerve tumours and Dutch research from October 2003, linking
cellphones to impaired brain function.
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- But the NPRB report says these studies must be replicated
by other research laboratories before any conclusion can be reached.
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- Zenon Sienkiewicz, principle scientist at NRPB, notes
that complicating factors will also have to be investigated, such as whether
some people are more susceptible to cellphone radiation than others. "All
we're saying in the report is let's not close our minds," he told
New Scientist. "
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- Stewart says parents should not give cellphones to children
under eight years old because they may be particularly susceptible to any
ill effects of cellphone radiation. This is because they have smaller heads,
meaning the radiation can affect a greater part of their brain, and less
fully developed nervous systems.
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- Service Suspended
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- "If there are risks - and we think that maybe there
are - then the people who are going to be most affected are children, and
the younger the children, the greater the danger," Stewart said.
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- Shortly after the report was published, UK company Commun8,
which launched a mobile phone service aimed at children, announced that
it would suspend operations.
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- But other representatives of the industry took a positive
view of the report. "The key point of the NRPB advice is that there
is no hard information linking the use of mobile telephony with adverse
health effects," said Mike Dolan executive director of the UK Mobile
Operators Association.
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- The NPRB report also recommends that older children and
adults consider limiting their phone use and sending text messages instead
of making voice calls whenever possible.
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- The rate of cellphone development is another cause for
worry, according to the report. Third generation (3G) phones typically
produce more radiation than older handsets, but there have been few studies
of the health effects of these devices specifically. The board also said
further research should be carried out into the effects of wireless networking
technology such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
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- © Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.
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- http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6872
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