Swedish studymobile phones to brain damage in rats

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Neuroscience: A Swedish study links mobile phones to brain damage. In rats,

anyway.

 

by Elizabeth Svoboda February 2004

 

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/medicine/article/0%2C12543%2C573349%2C00.html

 

The safety of cellphones has been called into question, again. This time

the scientific community is paying very close attention.

 

Last summer neurosurgeon Leif Salford and colleagues at Lund University in

Sweden published data showing for the first time an unambiguous link between

microwave radiation emitted by GSM mobile phones (the most common type

worldwide) and brain damage in rats. If Salford's results are confirmed by

follow-up studies in the works at research facilities worldwide, including

one run by the U.S. Air Force, the data could have serious implications for

the one billion?plus people glued to their cellphones.

 

The findings have re-ignited a longstanding debate among scientists and

cellphone manufacturers over cellphone safety.

 

Many of the hundreds of studies performed during the past decade suggest

cellphone use may cause a host of adverse effects, including headaches and

memory loss. Other studies, however, have shown no such effects, and no

scientific consensus exists about the effect of long-term, low-level

radiation on the brain and other organs. A comprehensive $12 million federal

investigation of cellphone safety is currently under way but will take at

least five years to complete.

 

Meanwhile, the research world is scrambling to replicate Salford's

surprising results. His team exposed 32 rats to 2 hours of microwave

radiation from GSM cellphones. Researchers attached the phones to the sides

of the rats' small cages using coaxial cables -- allowing for intermittent

direct exposure -- and varied the intensity of radiation in each treatment

group to reflect the range of exposures a human cellphone user might

experience over the same time period. Fifty days after the 2-hour exposure,

the rat brains showed significant blood vessel leakage, as well as areas of

shrunken, damaged neurons. The higher the radiation exposure level, the more

damage was apparent. The controls, by contrast, showed little to no damage.

If human brains are similarly affected, Salford says, the damage could

produce measurable, long-term mental deficits.

 

The cellphone industry so far has been quick to dismiss the data, saying

emissions from current mobiles fall well within the range of radiation

levels the FCC deems safe (body-tissue absorption rates of under 1.6 watts

per kilogram). " Expert reviews of studies done over the past 30 years have

found no reason to believe that there are any health hazards whatsoever, "

says Mays Swicord, scientific director of Motorola's Electromagnetic Energy

Programs. Dr. Marvin Ziskin, chair of the Institute of Electrical and

Electronics Engineers' Committee on Man and Radiation, is similarly

skeptical. " The levels of radiation they used seem way too low to be

producing the kinds of effects they're claiming. "

 

Salford is the first to admit that it's too early to draw any conclusions,

but contends the unusual results deserve a closer look. " The cellphone is a

marvelous invention; it has probably saved thousands of lives, " he says.

" But governments and suppliers should be supporting more autonomous

research. " Meanwhile, Salford advises users to invest in hands-free headsets

to reduce radiation exposure to the brain.

 

 

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? pic on url

Researchers at Sweden's Lund University say these rat-brain cross-sections

show first-ever evidence of brain damage from cellphone radiation. While the

controls (example, top) appear healthy, the test subjects (bottom), which

were exposed to a 2-hour dose of cellphone radiation of varying intensities,

are heavily spotted with proteins (dark patches) leaked from surrounding

blood vessels, and show signs of significant neuronal damage.