UN Urges Study Into Mobile Phone Risks
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- United Nations experts say more research needs to be done into possible links between
diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease and long-term exposure to mobile phones, power lines and radar.
"There are key issues that still need to be resolved because there have been suggestions that electromagnetic fields
(EMFs) may produce cancers or memory loss or other neurodegenerative diseases," said Dr. Michael Repacholi,
manager of the Electromagnetic Fields Project of the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO has announced that over $100 million will be devoted to EMF-centered research initiatives conducted over
the next four years in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Repacholi spoke during a WHO news conference held Friday in Geneva. Experts from 17 countries met in the Swiss city
last week to evaluate current research into the possible health effects of EMF-producing technologies.
"If there is a risk, we want to know how big the risk is so we can balance that with the benefits that come from the
technology," Repacholi explained.
Public concern has been raised in recent years over suggestions that the repeated use of mobile phones, with their
radiating antennae held close to the head, might trigger brain cancers, leukemias and lymphomas.
Repacholi says that, right now, "there is no scientific evidence" for such a relationship. However, he says "mobile phones
have only been around for less than 10 years now and the incubation period for cancer is at least 10, maybe 15 years."
He says further, long-term studies are needed before scientists could assess possible links, if any, between mobile phones
and cancer.
Some studies have already suggested that children who live close to EMF-emitting power lines have an approximately
50% higher risk of leukemia. Repacholi says the WHO is "calling for a concerted effort to research this area" over the
coming years.
He said further research may also be needed to discover if EMF exposure suppresses production of the hormone
melatonin, which some experts believe helps fight the proliferation of certain types of breast cancer cells. Repacholi says
that right now there is only "mixed evidence" of a possible link between EMF exposure and breast cancer.
Finally, the WHO experts say more study is necessary to help verify suspected connections between low-level EMF
exposure and heightened risks for illnesses of the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease.
Overall, Repacholi says current evidence "indicates that you need quite high levels of (electromagnetic) fields before you
start getting any adverse health impact."
He believes that "we don't need at the moment any protective measures above what international standards have already
suggested. These are protecting against high levels." |
