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IRISH INDEPENDENT, Saturday, 24 February, 2007

"MOBILES ’PUT KIDS AT RISK OF AUTISM AND BRAIN TUMOURS’" [by] Breda Heffernan

Sábado 24 de febrero de 2007 · 1648 lecturas

IRISH INDEPENDENT, Saturday, 24 February, 2007
(Metro ed. page 16)

"MOBILES ’PUT KIDS AT RISK OF AUTISM AND BRAIN TUMOURS’" [by] Breda Heffernan

Parents who give their children mobile phones are ’tempting fate’ and exposing them to a raft of potential health problems from brain tumors to autism, an international expert has warned. American researcher Dr George Carlo told a conference in Dublin yesterday that he has conducted research which proves that radio waves emitted by mobile phones are causing cellular damage to users. And the scientist says a new study he has conducted, to be published next month, shows a link between electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones and masts and autism. He called on parents not to give children under the age of 12 mobile phones as their DNA and cell membranes are especially vulnerable. Dr Carlo, chairman of the non-profit Science and Public Policy Institute in Washington, was given more than 20m [euro] by the American mobile phone industry in 1993 to investigate possible health risks. After six years of research, he and 200 other scientists from around the globe concluded that manufacturers need to warn the public about the dangers posed by mobiles. Speaking at the Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association meeting yesterday, Dr Carlo said his online database set up in 2002 to record incidents from people who believe they have suffered adverse health effects received more than 1 million hits in its first six months and over 30,000 complaints were logged.

HEADACHES In early cases, people were linking their symptoms, which ranged from headaches to sleeplessness, to holding the phone up against their head. However, in the past two years, the vast majority of complaints (up to 90%) have come from people who believe their ailments are due to living next to mobile phone masts.

There are now 2.4 billion people around the world using mobile phones with this figure set to rise. "The big problem is that the wireless infrastructure we have is leading us to a point of no return. As more people use cell phones and Wi-Fi and as we have absolutely stupid experiments of putting Wi-Fi in schools, background radiation is increasing," warned Dr Carlo. He said that rather than relying on masts and antennas, people should put pressure on Government and industry to eliminate health risks by replacing masts with fibre optic cables. He urged people to perform a simple experiment to see first-hand the dangers of mobile phone radiation. When the mobile has only one bar of signal strength, locate the nearest mast and then line up a number of your friends between the phone and the mast. "The bars will go up and up that is because we are great conductors for radiowaves," said Dr Carlo.

LOSS

The conference also heard from severeal dozen members of the public who claim to have suffered hearing loss, irregular hearbeats and sleeplessness from mobile phone msts near their homes. John Cummins, from Cahir, Co Tipperary, said he and his wife Bridget had both suffered hearing loss while their daughter Rebekah suffered a brain seizure at the age of 12. Doctors could not explain their health complaints. "At night we get a humming effect in our eardrums but when we’re away from home we don’t get it. "In three streets around the mast over 20 people have had cancer in the last four or five years and there have been two cases of MS and Parkinson’s."