Study: Cell Phones Exceed Exposure Limits For Children

While policymakers besieged by industry lobbyists move slowly in their study of the health effects of cell phone radiation, a new study finds that cell phones carried in the shirt or pants pockets exceed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exposure guidelines and that children absorb twice as much microwave radiation from phones as do adults.

The study is published in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine.

The paper notes that the industry-designed process for evaluating microwave radiation from phones results in children absorbing twice the cellphone radiation to their heads, up to triple in their brain’s hippocampus and hypothalamus, greater absorption in their eyes, and as much as 10 times more in their bone marrow when compared to adults.

Based on 'large man'

The existing process for measuring mobile phone radiation's effects on the human body is based on a large man whose 40 brain tissues are assumed to be exactly the same.

The researchers, who include three team members Environmental Health Trust, say a far better system relies on anatomically based models of people of various ages, including pregnant women, that can determine the absorbed radiation in all tissue types, and can account for the increased absorption in children.

It allows for cell phones to be certified with the most vulnerable users in mind—children—consistent with the “As Low As Reasonably Achievable” (ALARA) approach taken in setting standards for using radiological devices.

FCC sets standards

In the United States, the FCC determines maximum allowed exposures. Many countries, especially European Union members, use the “guidelines” of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), a non-governmental agency.

A number of recent studies have raised questions about cell phone radiation's effect on humans, but the studies have mostly focused on adults. Earlier this year the Environmental Health Trust convened a meeting of researchers in Turkey who reported what they called “stunning proof” that pulsed digital signals from cell phones disrupt DNA, impair brain function and lower sperm count.