Mobile phones may 'alter human DNA'
Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA, a laboratory study has suggested, but the European Union-funded Reflex research did not prove such changes were a risk to human health. Scientists behind the study said more research was needed to determine the actual effect of the phones on health.
A spokesman for the UK's National Radiological Protection Board said people should not be worried by the study's findings and that the study had not shown the biological changes led to disease, adding that even research looking at the effects of radiowaves on cells and DNA did not consistently find evidence of damage.
There is an ongoing debate over their safety, with fears over potential dangers linked to mobile phone masts and the handsets themselves being fuelled by ignorance and media hype. Studies such as this are important in establishing the scientific facts.
In 2000 a report commissioned by the UK Government concluded that there was no evidence of harm associated with using mobile phones but did recommend a precaution and said children should only use mobile phones in emergencies.
The mobile phone industry maintains there is no scientific evidence of harmful effects from electromagnetic radiation.
The four-year Reflex study, co-ordinated by the German research group Verum, studied the effects of radiation on animal and human cells in a laboratory.
The radiation used in the study was at Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) levels of between 0.3 and 2 watts per kilogram. The SAR is the rate at which the body absorbs emissions from the phone handset. Most phones emit radio signals at SAR levels of between 0.5 and 1 W/kg. Mobile phones cannot be sold to unless they fall within the SAR of 2 watts per kg.
The leader of the Reflex study, said definitive research would take another four to five years.
Other studies have suggested mobile phone radiation may have some effect on the 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.