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Updated: 2004-12-20 13:21:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)
MUNICH/AMSTERDAM (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 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. 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 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.
