EMR News
From "Maple Street Co-op News", June/July 2008
"Don't Call Me Baby"
Compiled by Leigh Robshaw
Let your child use a mobile phone regularly and you could unwittingly
be giving them a death sentence, according to new studies linking electromagnetic
radiation exposure and some brain tumours.
An article in the Canberra Times (27 March 2008) quoted Canberra
neurosurgeon, Vini Khurana who concluded after a 14-month investigation:
"It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications
than asbestos and smoking and directly concerns all of us, particularly
the younger generation, including very young children."
Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association chief executive Chris
Althaus refuted the findings, saying international studies showed mobile
phones cause no short or long-term health problems.
Dr Khurana said the effects of electromagnetic radiation from mobile
phones are compounded by simultaneous exposure to radio and TV transmitter
towers, cordless phone base stations, power lines and wireless computer
technology.
However, more research was required to determine if brain tumours were
actually caused by electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones.
Khurana recommended children only use mobile and cordless phones in
emergencies and said everyone should opt for landlines. He also suggested
setting mobile phones to speaker mode and holding them more than 20
centimetres away from the head.
"Electromagnetic radiation ... can heat the side of the head or pulse
it non-thermally and potentially ... interact with its organic electrical
content in the brain," he said.
Mirroring this concern is a new report from the Russian National Committee
on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (14 April 2008). This organisation
says the current safety standards for exposure to microwaves from mobile
phones have been developed for adults, not children.
According to the Committee: "The absorption of the electromagnetic energy
in a child's head is considerably higher than that in the head of an
adult (children's brains have higher conductivity, smaller size, thin
skull bones, smaller distance from the antenna, etc)."
The Committee said some of the health hazards faced by children using
mobile phones could be: disruption of memory and attention span, diminishing
learning abilities, increased irritability, sleep problems and increased
risk of epilepsy, as well as more remote risks such as brain tumours
and the degeneration of the nervous structures of the brain.
Sources:
• canberra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/general/mobiles-may-be-death-sentence/1210628.html
• www.emfacts.com/weblog/?p=885
[From "Maple Street Co-op News", June/July 2008; published by The Maple
Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552,
Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]