Experts Warns That Research Into Risks Of Mobile Phone Radiation Might Cease
Heise
Journalist: Robert W. Smith
November 30, 2006

Responding to issues raised by future novel uses of mobile phones an expert of the Radiation Protection Commission has warned against cutting back on research into the possible risks posed by electromagnetic radiation. "Children and adolescents in particular are using mobile phones more and more extensively," Norbert Leitgeb of Graz University of Technology said during a meeting of experts in Stuttgart, Germany, on Wednesday. What risks, if any, mobile phone use for extended periods of time, such as when watching TV programs, might pose researchers could to date not answer definitively, Mr. Leitgeb said during the conference organized by the Research Association for Radio Applications.

Although no conclusive proof of adverse health effects of electromagnetic radiation on human beings had as yet been found, research had to continue, he declared. "Unfortunately, the motivation of mobile operators to investigate the possibility is definitely ebbing," Mr. Leitgeb observed. Funding by the German federal government and the industry for the German Mobile Telecommunication Research Program would end next year, he added. The research association had managed to engage Mr. Leitgeb as expert for the workshop "Do children represent an especially sensitive group of EMF exposed people?"

The possible effects of electromagnetic radiation on human health have been the subject of fierce debate for some time now. The results of a study published a short while ago by the German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) point to the phenomenon of "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" having a non-biological cause. US scientists on the other hand claim to have detected a link between intense mobile-phone use and a reduced reproductive capacity in males.

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