[Zardon]

a quite unsettling article I read lately on BBC news, I thought id share it with you guys. after the girl that died here recently caused by excessive mobile (cell phone to you in the USA) use. how many of you use a mobile ALOT???

A major study into the safety of mobile phones has concluded that they may affect the health of people who use them.
Research carried out by scientists in Finland suggests radiation from mobile phones causes changes in the brain.
It is the first time that scientists have looked at the effects of mobile phone radiation on human cells rather than those of rats.
The two-year study concluded that even low-level emissions from handsets are damaging.
Scientists from the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority found that exposing human cells to mobile phone radiation damaged the blood-brain barrier - a safety barrier in the body that stops harmful substances in blood from entering the brain.
They discovered that the exposure caused the cells in blood vessel walls to shrink which enabled molecules to pass into brain tissue.Professor Darius Leszcynski, who carried out the study, said the results came from laboratory tests on human cells and that further research was needed to see if the same effect actually happened in humans.
But speaking to BBC News Online, he said: "The blood-brain barrier has been shown to be affected by radiation in animal studies.
"There is a lot of uncertainty about whether this happens in humans. We have shown some biological effects."
Prof Leszcynski said these changes could have a serious impact on a person's health if they were found to happen in humans. If it did happen it could lead to disturbances, such as headaches, feeling tired or problems with sleeping. A study by a Swedish research group even suggested it could lead to Alzheimer's disease."
However, he added: "It is important to remember that our study has been done in the laboratory where we can detect even the smallest changes.
"We cannot say whether it happens in humans. We need further study looking at real people to see if the blood-brain barrier is affected.
"What is happening in the human brain is an absolute enigma. We don't know at all." Prof Leszcynski said mobile phones were still safe to use.
"At the moment, there is no scientific support for introducing any sort of limitation either on use of mobile phones or setting new safety limits.
"There is no need because we don't have any science to support it. All the guidelines in place at the moment are fine."
Prof Leszcynski will present his findings at a conference in Quebec, Canada, next week.
He said a study by French scientists, which will also be presented at the conference, found similar results in rats.
Dr Michael Clark, science spokesman at the National Radiological Protection Board, said the research did not show any impact on people's health.
"This is demonstrating a biological effect in cells in the lab."
Speaking to the BBC, he said: "It doesn't relate to a health effect. You can't go from a biological effect in a petrie dish to say that's a health effect."
He added: "The authors themselves are saying that this doesn't mean that mobile phones are unsafe or the guidelines are wrong."
More than 40 million people in Britain have mobile phones, many of them children.
Two years ago a government inquiry led by Sir William Stewart concluded that mobile phones posed no provable health risk.
But its report urged caution over the use of mobile phones by children until more was known about their impact on health.
In January, a new £7.4 million research programme was announced, backed by the government and the mobile phone industry, to be managed by an international committee of experts led by Sir William.
The programme includes 15 studies which will seek clear conclusions about the health hazards of mobile phones, in particular fears of an association between cellphone radiation and brain cancer.
The main purpose of the research will be to see whether "subtle biological changes" already known to be caused by mobile phones pose a risk.

[Impulse]

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[kinetic]

Thats frightening. I've got a company mobile and private healthcare so at least I won't have to wait for the chemotherapy!

[Judas]

i don't worry about it...seeing as i may only pick up a cell phone and use it 3 times a month..... give or take 5 times.....

[Ijustwannaknow]

hmmm it probably is true.

[Frodo301]

I despise cell phones as they make it far too easy to reach me when I'm in the middle of things unrelated to business. I'm forced to use them, but only when necessary. I saw a similar story on a news magazine show several years ago and have been wary of them every since.