The minister responsible for consumer protection, Paul Magnette, will not authorise the marketing in Belgium of mobile phones intended for children. “With this type of phone children can actually be exposed to mechanical dangers or the risks of radiation. In fact scientists all recognise that it is necessary to limit children’s exposure to cumulative amounts of radiation, even if not much is yet known about how sensitive they are to radio waves.”
Archive for the ‘Cell Phones’ Category
Belgian minister says no to cell phones for children.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after magnetic resonance imaging and following mobile phone use
Monday, February 9th, 2009Pak J Biol Sci. 2008 Apr 15;11(8):1142-6.
Mercury release from dental amalgam restorations after magnetic resonance imaging and following mobile phone use.
Mortazavi SM, Daiee E, Yazdi A, Khiabani K, Kavousi A, Vazirinejad R, Behnejad B, Ghasemi M, Mood MB.
Department of Medical Physics, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
In the 1st phase of this study, thirty patients were investigated. Five milliliter stimulated saliva was collected just before and after MRI. The magnetic flux density was 0.23 T and the duration of exposure of patients to magnetic field was 30 minutes. In the 2nd phase, fourteen female healthy University students who had not used mobile phones before the study and did not have any previous amalgam restorations were investigated. Dental amalgam restoration was performed for all 14 students. Their urine samples were collected before amalgam restoration and at days 1, 2, 3 and 4 after restoration. The mean +/- SD saliva Hg concentrations of the patients before and after MRI were 8.6 +/- 3.0 and 11.3 +/- 5.3 microg L(-1), respectively (p < 0.01). A statistical significant (p < 0.05) higher concentration was observed in the students used mobile phone. The mean +/- SE urinary Hg concentrations of the students who used mobile phones were 2.43 +/- 0.25, 2.71 +/- 0.27, 3.79 +/- 0.25, 4.8 +/- 0.27 and 4.5 +/- 0.32 microg L(-1) before the amalgam restoration and at days 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Whereas the respective Hg concentrations in the controls, were 2.07 +/- 0.22, 2.34 +/- 0.30, 2.51 +/- 0.25, 2.66 +/- 0.24 and 2.76 +/- 0.32 microg L(-1). It appears that MRI and microwave radiation emitted from mobile phones significantly release mercury from dental amalgam restoration. Further research is needed to clarify whether other common sources of electromagnetic field exposure may cause alterations in dental amalgam and accelerate the release of mercury.
PMID: 18819554 [PubMed - in process]
Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children.
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter # 337
Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cell Phone Use and Behavioral Problems in Children.
Original Article
Epidemiology. 19(4):523-529, July 2008.
Divan, Hozefa A. a; Kheifets, Leeka a; Obel, Carsten b; Olsen, Jorn a
Abstract:
Background: The World Health Organization has emphasized the need for research into the possible effects of radiofrequency fields in children. We examined the association between prenatal and postnatal exposure to cell phones and behavioral problems in young children.
Methods: Mothers were recruited to the Danish National Birth Cohort early in pregnancy. When the children of those pregnancies reached 7 years of age in 2005 and 2006, mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the current health and behavioral status of children, as well as past exposure to cell phone use. Mothers evaluated the child’s behavior problems using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results: Mothers of 13,159 children completed the follow-up questionnaire reporting their use of cell phones during pregnancy as well as current cell phone use by the child. Greater odds ratios for behavioral problems were observed for children who had possible prenatal or postnatal exposure to cell phone use. After adjustment for potential confounders, the odds ratio for a higher overall behavioral problems score was 1.80 (95% confidence interval = 1.45-2.23) in children with both prenatal and postnatal exposure to cell phones.
Conclusions: Exposure to cell phones pre-natally, and, to a lesser degree, post-natally, was associated with behavioral difficulties such as emotional and hyperactivity problems around the age of school entry. These associations may be non-causal and may be due to unmeasured confounding. If real, they would be of public health concern given the widespread use of this technology.
(C) 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
