<OT> BR, fear about cellphones health effect resurfaces in UK?
Top scientists give up 'risky' mobile phones
Sunday Times, February 28 1999
by Cherry Norton
and Steve Farrar
SOME of Britain's leading scientists have curbed their use of
mobile phones because they fear they could damage their
health. The scientists have either drastically reduced the
amount of time they use their handsets or have resorted to
earpieces in an attempt to keep the microwave radiation away
from their brains.
Colin Blakemore, Waynflete professor of physiology at Oxford
University, is the most eminent scientist to have spoken out
about the potential risks of mobile phones, which are used by
13.5m people in Britain today.
In advance of the publication of a government-funded report
which will show for the first time that mobile phones can cause
short-term memory loss, Blakemore warned that there was
now strong evidence of an adverse effect on "cognitive
function, memory and attention".
Blakemore, who uses his mobile phone for less than 10 minutes
a day, said he had experienced an effect and warned there
could be serious implications if people used the phones while
driving.
"It is a transient effect. I have had the feeling that there has
been a gap in experience while I have been on the phone and
have not been aware of other things going on. This is a much
greater worry, especially when people are using the phone
while driving. You could turn the brain off, reducing attention
to the road," he said.
"The kind of radiation emitted by mobile phones can directly
affect nerve cells and where you put the phone is very close to
the areas involved in short-term memory."
Blakemore, who is a member of the non-ionising radiation
advisory committee for the National Radiological Protection
Board, the official body that controls the regulation of mobile
phones in Britain, said there was no evidence that the radiation
caused cancer.
The latest research was conducted by scientists at Bristol
Royal Infirmary using human volunteers for the first time. In
the experiments, overseen by Dr Alan Preece, volunteers had
transmitters attached to their heads. Half received microwaves
identical to those produced by most mobile phones, 915MHz,
for half-hour periods and the other half did not.
The volunteers were asked to perform simple psychological
tests designed to measure cognitive function and memory.
Preece found those who had not been subjected to the
radiation performed better.
The Bristol work, to be published next month in the
International Journal of Radiation Biology, follows a study
conducted by Dr Kjell Hansson Mild on 11,000 mobile phone
users in Norway and Sweden, which showed an increase in
headaches and fatigue. "It is the proximity to the head that
seems to be the problem," said Mild. "When the mobile phone
users switched to devices such as earpieces, 80% of the
symptoms disappeared."
Mild rarely uses a mobile phone. Other scientists said their
concerns over possible health risks had led them to restrict
their use. Professor Jim Penman, head of engineering at
Aberdeen University, said there were too many unanswered
questions on the health implications of microwave radiation.
"I now use an earpiece and microphone with the phone stowed
in my pocket - that way whatever else gets fried, it won't be
my brains," he said. "I am happy to take some sort of
precaution - why subject yourself to additional risk?"
Such earpieces are, however, relatively expensive, costing
between £20 and £35 - compared with prices as low as £10
for the phones themselves. Their potential health benefits have
never been promoted by manufacturers and few people use
them for that reason. So far the main market has been among
people who want to use a phone while driving without being
stopped by police.
Professor David Howard, head of electronics at York
University, said he had reduced the time he spent using his
mobile phone as it was known that electro-magnetic fields
could alter human tissue. "When there is a hint there might be
problems, my personal view is to be safe and the scientific jury
is still out," he said.
Scientists believe low-intensity microwave radiation emitted by
mobile phones affects the way certain message-carrying
chemicals move within the brain and inside individual nerve
cells. Because many of these key chemicals have electric
charges, their behaviour can be influenced by radiation,
preventing nerve cells from functioning normally. The cells
involved in short-term memory storage are close to the right
ear, as are those in the brain stem that are involved in the
regulation of blood pressure.
Other studies have revealed that the radiation can weaken the
barrier that prevents harmful chemicals from entering the brain
from the blood stream. While these conditions appear to
reverse soon after the microwave radiation is stopped, there
are mounting concerns that repeated exposure may have a
more permanent and damaging long-term effect.
Professor Ross Adey, a biologist specialising in microwave
radiation who has carried out two large studies on animals for
Motorola, one of the biggest mobile phone companies, uses his
phone for less than 10 minutes a month and holds it away from
his head.
"If it's against my head, then about 40% of the energy will go
into my head and into my hand. You should be able to use it in
a way that is sloping away from the head to reduce the
effects," he said.
Nevertheless, other experts believe there is no cause for
concern. Sir Richard Doll, the Oxford University scientist who
found the first strong evidence of a link between smoking and
cancer, does not use a mobile phone, but said: "There is no
evidence of a risk and they are useful if one is held up in
traffic," he said.
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