Article 6
Melbourne Office Closes Floors After Mobile Phone
Yahoo News, May 11, 2006
SYDNEY (AFP) - The top two floors of a Melbourne building have been closed after seven office workers were diagnosed with brain tumors some fear may be linked to mobile phone transmitters on the roof, officials said.
The floors housing offices of a technical university were ordered evacuated Thursday after four staff members were found to have brain tumors over the past two weeks. Those tumors were in addition to three other cases among staff working on the floors, the first dating back to 2001, according to officials of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). A spokesman for the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Steve Somogyi, said telecommunications transmitters on the roof of the building had raised concerns in the past, but a 2001 study found no link between them and the first cancer cases.
But he said the university was not ruling anything out and would ensure further studies were carried out. “Clearly we’re very concerned with the health and safety of our staff. Therefore we have taken a number of key actions to ensure that our staff can continue to work in a healthy framework,” he said. NTEU secretary Matthew McGowan said the concentration of brain tumor cases among sta working together “Would appear to be much more than coincidence”. “What we know at this stage is that five of the cases occurred on the top floor and that’s a highly unusual concentration,” he said on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. “What we also know is that a majority of those people are long-term employees, they’ve been there for more than 10 years,” he said.
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Five of those affected were academic staff and the other two administrative workers. McGowan said it was not believed that students would have been affected because “They are in and out of the building” rather than working in the area long-term. He said at least five of the brain tumor cases were not malignant, but there were unconfirmed reports of “a couple of other people who’ve also had similar injuries” and possibly one person who died of their illness. Australia’s biggest telephone company, Telstra, maintains mobile phone towers on the building and issued a statement saying the equipment complied with health and safety standards and was regularly tested.
“The standards are set by Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and based on strict World Health Organisation guidelines,” it said. But the company pledged to cooperate with RMIT’s investigation “to address any staff concerns.”
Article 7
Men and Mobiles: Calls to Take Caution
MSN.com June 28, 2004
Mobile phones bring convenience and peace of mind, but the benefit of always being contactable may have a downside. New research shows men who regularly carry their mobiles near the groin, on a belt or in a pocket couldpotentially have their sperm count reduced by as much as 30 percent, ACA reports.
The study, conducted by Hungarian researchers, suggests male fertility could be a ected by the radiation emitted by mobile phones. It also found the sperm that did survive exposure to radiation showed abnormal movements.
Dr. Chris Merry, vice-president of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), says men shouldn’t panic; rather the findings serve as a warning to think carefully about what they do with their mobile phone.
“You want to be safe rather than sorry,” says Dr Merry. “Who knows if this will have long-term implications for Australia’s reproductive future? I think in the short term it’s probably better to keep your mobile phone in your jacket pocket or somewhere away from your groin.”
But Professor David de Krester, director of Andrology Australia, an organisation specialising in male fertility, is questioning the validity of the research, which studied 221 men over 13 months.
While the jury is still out, Dr Merry advises all of us to employ some cautionary measures when carrying our mobile phones. These include:
- Limiting the time you spend talking on your mobile phone;
- Store your mobile phone away from your groin area;
- Try storing your phone in your jacket pocket;
- If driving, try keeping your phone on the car seat next to you.
- Bear in mind mobiles still make regular transmission to maintain contact with radio towers even when they’re not in use
Article 8
Mobile Phone Radiation Harms DNA, New Study Finds
Mon Dec 20, 2004 04:38 PM GMT
MUNICH/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Radio waves from mobile phones harm body cells and damage DNA in laboratory conditions, according to a new study majority-funded by the European Union, researchers said on Monday. The so-called Reflex study, conducted by 12 research groups in seven European countries, did not prove that mobile phones are a risk to health but concluded that more research is needed to see if e ects can also be found outside a lab.
The $100 billion a year mobile phone industry asserts that there is no conclusive evidence of harmful e ects as a result of electromagnetic radiation.
About 650 million mobile phones are expected to be sold to consumers this year, and over 1.5 billion people around the world use one.
The research project, which took four years and which was coordinated by the German research group Verum, studied the effect of radiation on human and animal cells in a laboratory.
After being exposed to electromagnetic fields that are typical for mobile phones, the cells showed a significant increase in single and double-strand DNA breaks. The damage could not always be repaired by the cell. DNA carries the genetic material of an organism and its different cells.
“There was remaining damage for future generation of cells,” said project leader Franz Adlkofer.
This means the change had procreated. Mutated cells are seen as a possible cause of cancer.
The radiation used in the study was at levels between a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) of between 0.3 and 2 watts per kilogram. Most phones emit radio signals at SAR levels of between 0.5 and 1 W/kg.
SAR is a measure of the rate of radio energy absorption in body tissue, and the SAR limit recommended by the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection is 2 W/kg. The study also measured other harmful effects on cells. Because of the lab set-up, the researchers said the study did not prove any health risks. But they added that “the genotoxic and phenotypic effects clearly require further studies on animals and human volunteers.”
Adlkofer advised against the use of a mobile phone when an alternative fixed line phone was available, and recommended the use of a headset connected to a cellphone whenever possible.
“We don’t want to create a panic, but it is good to take precautions,” he said,adding that additional research could take another four or five years.
Previous independent studies into the health e ects of mobile phone radiation have found it may have some e ect on the human 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.
None of the world’s top six mobile phone vendors could immediately respond to the results of the study.
In a separate announcement in Hong Kong, where consumers tend to spend more time talking on a mobile phone than in Europe, a German company called G-Hanz introduced a new type of mobile phone which it claimed had no harmful radiation, as a result of shorter bursts of the radio signal.
Article 9
Mobile Phones Tumour Risk to Young Children
ZLondon Times, January 12, 2005
CHILDREN under the age of eight should not use mobile phones, parents were advised last night after an authoritative report linked heavy use to ear and brain tumours and concluded that the risks had been underestimated by most scientists.
Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), said that evidence of potentially harmful effects had become more persuasive over the past five years.
The news prompted calls for phones to carry health warnings and panic in parts of the industry. One British manufacturer immediately suspended a model aimed at four to eight-years old.
The number of mobiles in Britain has doubled to 50 million since the first government-sponsored report in 2000. The number of children aged between five and nine using mobiles has increased fivefold in the same period.
In his report, Mobile Phones and Health, Sir William said that four studies have caused concern.
One ten-year study in Sweden suggests that heavy mobile users are more prone to non-malignant tumours in the ear and brain while a Dutch study had suggested changes in cognitive function. A German study has hinted at an increase in cancer around base stations, while a project supported by the EU had shown evidence of cell damage from fields typical of those of mobile phones.
“All of these studies have yet to be replicated and are of varying quality but we can’t dismiss them out of hand,” Sir William said. If there was a health risk - which remained unproven - it would have a greater effect on the young than on older people, he added. For children aged between 8 and 14, parents had to make their own judgments about the risks and benefits. “I can’t believe that for three to eight year-olds they can be readily justified,” he said.
David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head teachers, called last night for a ban on mobiles in schools.
Mobile phone companies reacted furiously, saying that the report fanned public concern without presenting new research. The youth market is highly lucrative because teenagers are more likely to use video downloads and other services.
The World Health Organisation is preparing to publish an international report, drawing on hundreds of studies conducted over a decade, which many hope will give a definitive judgment on mobile phone safety.
The board’s report says that while there is a lack of hard information of damage to health, the approach should be precautionary. Sir William said: “Just because there are 50 million of them out there doesn’t mean they are absolutely safe.”
One school in the North East has begun using mobile scanners to prevent pupils using mobiles in class. “Outside college hours it is up to parents, but in our care if mobiles are found on children, they are confiscated and returned to the parents,” David Riden, vice principal of Tollbar Business and Enterprise College in New Waltham, said.
One group that appears to target young users is Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile, which derives much of its revenue from the 16s-35s market. It denies targeting under 16s but has cornered a large slice of the youth market with cheap voice and text messages.
HEALTH RISK
- Acoustic neuromas are benign tumours of the acoustic nerve
- A study in Sweden has shown that they are twice as common in mobile phone users
- They were also four times as common on the side of the head where the phone was held
- Acoustic neuromas occur in 100,000 people a year and can cause deafness
- They can be treated by surgery. In most cases the patient’s hearing is saved
- Brain tumours affect about 4,700 new patients a year in Britain
- They are becoming more common - the UK Brain Tumour Society says that incidence has increased by 45 per cent in 30 years
- The causes of primary brain tumours are unknown, so it is hard to identify specific risk factors
Article 10
New Cordless Phones Danger
News of the World, February 5, 2006 by Robbie Collin
Cordless handsets 100 times worse than mobiles, say experts.
Having a cordless phone in your house can be 100 times more of a health risk than using a mobile. The popular phones constantly blast out high levels of radiation - even when they are not in use. Landlines are widely thought a safer option than mobiles. But researchers in Sweden now warn cordless phones are far more likely to cause brain tumours than today’s mobiles.
Emissions from a cordless phone’s charger can be as high as six volts per metre - twice as strong as those found with a 100 metres of mobile masts. Two metres away from the charger the radiation is still as high as 2.5 volts per metre - that’s 50 times what scientists regard as a safe level.
Powerful
At a metre away the danger is multiplied 120 times - and it only drops to a safe 0.05 volts per metre when you are 100 metres away from the phone.
Because of the way cordless phones work, the charger constantly emits radiation at full strength even when the phone is not in use - and so does the handset when it is off the charger.
The most common cancers caused by such radiation are leukemias. But breast cancer, brain tumours, insomnia, headaches and erratic behaviour in kids have also been linked. Those with chargers close to their beds are subjected to radiation while they sleep.
Phone watchdog Powerwatch, using a testing device called the Sensory Perspective Electrosmog Detector, even found electromagnetic fields as strong as three volts per metre in a bedroom above a room holding a cordless phone.
The group’s director, Alasdair Philips said: “As ill-health e ects have been found at levels of only 0.06 volts per metre, this is very concerning. It’s likely everyone in a house with a cordless phone will be constantly exposed to levels higher than this.”
The shock Swedish report - by scientists Lennart Hardell, Michael Carlbery and Kjell Hansson Mild - is backed up by many medical experts who believe cordless phones are a health risk.
Harley Street practitioner Dr David Dowson said: “Having a cordless phone is like having a mobile mast in your house. I’d recommend anyone who has one to switch to a plug-in phone.”
But BT’s health advisor, John Collins, disagreed. He said: “There’s no conclusive scientific evidence linking the radiation to any of the symptoms experienced. The evidence is that it doesn’t do us any harm. We’re a responsible company and abide by all the guidelines set down by recognised experts.”
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