Children
Absorb Twice As Much Radiation From Mobiles
The Irish Examiner
Journalist: Mícheál Lehane
November 09, 2001
Children using mobile phones absorb as much as double the amount of radiation through their heads as adults, research has revealed.
A leading scientist found that young children under 10 years of age can absorb radiation across their entire brain.
The latest research was carried out by Dr Om Ghandi, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Utah.
"More radiation can go through. Since a child's ear is thinner, the telephone is closer to the head. Therefore, more is able to go past the ear and into the head. All it takes is two millimetres difference," Dr Ghandi said.
It is estimated that 87% of those between the ages of 10 and 19 in Ireland have mobile phones, if ownership figures are on par with those in Britain.
This means as many as 491,000 people in the 10-19 age group have a mobile phone.
Studies have shown that 40% of people in this category spend an average of 15 minutes per day talking on their phones.
"We have no specific figures for the number of phones owned by different age categories, but the figures are comparable with those in the UK," Irish Cellular Industry Association spokesperson, Grainne Macken, said.
Currently 1.8m people own mobile phones here, and this figure is expected to pass the 2m mark within the next three years.
"The number of Irish people who own mobile phones will increase, because if you look at Scandinavia, about 85% of people have mobiles. We're at 72% at the moment," Ms Macken said.
Dr Ghandi is carrying out further research, using life-size models, to evaluate the impact of radio waves given off by mobile phones.
However, years of extensive research has produced no clear evidence that low radiation levels can damage the brain.
"I think the aspect of a cellular phone, in helping you in an emergency, is very persuasive, but for conservation all the time, I see no need for that," Dr Ghandi said.
It's predicted that by 2005 a quarter of the world's population, or 1.5bn people, will own a cellular phone.