Aug 30, 2007

Using a mobile phone can trigger human cell division, according to a scientific study which raises new possibilities of a link between handsets and cancer.

The research by Israeli scientists revealed that just 10 minutes of exposure to the radiation put out by mobile phones stimulated an enzyme which controls cell division and differentiation.

The effect was not caused by heating, the researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot said.

Scientist Rony Seger said: "The significance lies in showing that cells do react to cellphone radiation in a non-thermal way.

"The radiation that we used was very low-energy and our sensitive thermostats did not register a change in the temperature of the cell medium."

In the experiment, published in New Scientist, researchers exposed rat and human cells and cell membranes to low-level electromagnetic radiation at 875 megahertz, a frequency similar to that used in GSM phones.

Despite using a signal with a power far lower in intensity than the average handset, after just 10 minutes of exposure an enzyme which regulates cell division and differentiation was activated.

The enzymes pathway has been linked to several cancers but "transient and reversible activations", such as the one observed by the researchers, is unlikely to cause cancer, according to Simon Arthur at the University of Dundee.

Dariusz Leszczynski of the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Helsinki, Finland, said: "It doesn't automatically mean that it will be harmful, but we will need to study it further."