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Study: Cell phones scramble DNA
Published: December 20, 2004, 11:21 AM PST
By Reuters
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 whether 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 more than 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 0.3 watts to 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 International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection is 2 W/kg.
The study also measured other harmful effects on cells.
Because of the lab setup, 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
cell phone 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 immediately responded 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.
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| User: "Tadapope" |
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| Title: Re: Study: Cell phones scramble DNA |
21 Dec 2004 11:10:05 AM |
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I caught my Aleve fornicating with my Celebrex on top of my cellphone and
I threw them all out the back door and
my pet goat ate it all.
What do you think will happen to the goat from eating all that?
Tangents are infinite in all of nature in
all universes constantly and at random.
* D OUOSVAVV M *
*PUBLIUS ENIGMA*
Oh Joy!
Tom
The Psychedelic Pope
Patron Saint of the Internet
http://www.apple2.org.za/gswv/me/
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