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Cell Phones May Pose Risk To Kids
Toronto Star March 2005
ROBIN NOWACKI/AP FILE
A bioengineering professor from the University of
Washington has expressed concern about the impact of
cellphones on children because young skulls are thinner and
the growing brain may be more susceptible to radiation.
Cellphones may pose risk to kids
Long-term effects of radiation unclear
Little research has focused on children
DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE—Parents should think twice before giving in to a
middle-schooler's demands for a cellphone, some scientists
say, because potential long-term health risks remain
unclear. Researchers have speculated for more than 10 years
that the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cellphones
may damage DNA and cause benign brain tumours, said Henry
Lai, a bioengineering professor at the University of
Washington.
"We don't know very much about the health effects of
cellphone use on kids, but there are speculations," Lai
said. In Britain, the chairman of the National Radiological
Protection Board advised in January that parents should not
give mobile phones to children age 8 or younger as a
precaution against the potential harm of radiation from the
devices.
When you use a cellphone, 70 to 80 per cent of the energy
emitted from the antenna is absorbed by the head, Lai said.
Last week, a federal appeals court in Maryland reinstated
five class-action lawsuits claiming that the cellphone
industry has failed to protect consumers from unsafe levels
of radiation.
Several research studies have pointed to the potential
impacts of long-term absorption of cellphone-emitted
radiation but little of the research has focused on the
children. Lai said he was concerned about the impact on
children because young skulls are thinner and the growing
brain may be more susceptible to radiation. He also said
that because brain tumours usually take 30 to 40 years to
develop, children who use cellphones from their teen years
onward would have a longer period of time to see a
cumulative impact. "We don't know if kids are really more
susceptible," Lai said, but he encourages everyone to use a
headset to keep the antenna away from the brain, "even if
they're not cool.'' Most research on the subject has
stopped in the United States except for some work supported
by the cellphone industry, he added. Independent studies
continue in Europe. A Swedish study published in October
suggested that people who use a cellphone for at least 10
years might increase their risk of developing a rare benign
tumour along a nerve on the side of the head where they
hold the phone.
The study's subjects had been using cellphones for at least
10 years, nearly all analogue models that emit more
electromagnetic radiation than the digital models now on
the market. Digital phones emit radiation in pulses; the
older analogue varieties emit continuous waves. Since
cellphones exploded in popularity in the late 1990s, most
of those sold used digital technology.
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