Mobiles
Are Damaging Our Children
The Scotsman
Journalist: Kate Foster
November 25, 2000
Parents
have been warned that scientists have now linked the use of mobile phones to
memory loss, sleeping disorders and epilepsy among children.
The
new research suggests that mobiles could have much wider implications for ill
health than previously believed, after conflicting government advice on
whether or not they cause brain cancer, and prompted a warning that they
should only be used by children in emergencies.
The
study has renewed concern over the long-term effects on young people, with
recent studies showing that a million children in Britain aged under 15 have a
mobile phone, as do more than two-thirds of Scottish 15 to 24 year-olds.
The
cancer link to mobiles has previously focused on their brain warming effect,
but now Dr Gerald Hyland says his work suggests the real risk lies in the
wider effects of low intensity radiation from mobile phones into the heads of
users.
Known
as non-thermal radiation, this is particularly dangerous to children because
they do not have fully developed immune systems and, as previous studies have
warned, their skulls are thinner than those of adults and are more vulnerable
to the rays.
Dr
Hyland, who is based in the physics department at Warwick University and at
the International Institute of Biophysics, in Neuss-Holzheim, Germany, said:
"The body is an electro-chemical instrument with exquisite sensitivity.
The effect of microwaves from a mobile phone is a bit like interference on a
radio. It has an impact on the stability of cells in the body.
"The
main effects are neurological, causing headaches, lack of concentration,
memory loss and sleeping disorders. It can also cause epilepsy in children.
Children are particularly vulnerable because they are still developing their
immune systems and are less robust than adults."
Dr
Hyland's research, published in the latest edition of the respected medical
publication The Lancet, follows his analysis of more than 100 earlier studies
involving tens of thousands of people. He compared the biological effects of
very low intensity phone radiation with a variety of health complaints.
He
said: "If mobile phones were a type of food, they simply would not be
licensed because there is so much uncertainty surrounding their safety. Mobile
phones should not be given to children indiscriminately. They should be used
only for emergencies. A spopkeswoman for the National Radiological Board,
which is the government regulator of the mobile phone industry, said:
"There
is still research ongoing into the issue and nothing proven to date but
there's no reason why children should not be discouraged from using them as
accessories."
The
Scottish executive is due to produce two information leaflets in December to
address concerns about mobile phone, and these will warn those aged under 16
against excessive use. A spokeswoman said: "The leaflets will give
information to families who are concerned about mobile phone use."
A
Cellnet spokesman said there was still no evidence of any risk from mobile
phones but added that the mobile phone industry had taken seriously the
findings of the Stewart inquiry on this issue in May. The inquiry urged
parents to discourage children from using mobile phones, though it failed to
find conclusive evidence that they damage health.
The
latest health worry comes as the Scottish executive moved to allay public
fears about mobile phone masts by announcing proposals to tighten up planning
controls on their spread throughout the country.
Sam
Galbraith, the environment minister, yesterday announced new measures which
will, for the first time, bring all new ground-based masts, not just those
above 15 metres , under local authority planning controls.
