[escepticos] moviles danninos

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Informacion reciente sobre el tema de la inocuidad (o no) de los telefonos
moviles..., de la Univ. de Bristol (GB) (8 abril 1999)

SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO MOBILE PHONES: NEW RESEARCH BY BRISTOL
UNIVERSITY TEAM

Scientists working at Bristol University and the Bristol Royal Infirmary
(BRI), led by Dr Alan Preece, have reported the results of their
investigation into the health effects of mobile phones in the International
Journal of Radiation Biology, published today.
A series of experiments were carried out on human volunteers to test for the
short-term effects of exposure to mobile phone-type transmissions. Dr Alan
Preece, commenting on the journal article, reports: ?There appears to be no
effect on short-term memory or attention from short exposures (30 minutes)
to the microwave effects of mobile phones. But there was one noticeable
effect: the experimental subjects reacted faster in one test involving a
visual choice after the transmissions.

?This can be interpreted as a measurable effect on the brain which is
particularly noticeable from an analogue phone transmission. This effect
could be a slight warming of the brain leading to increased blood flow, or
alternatively a change in protein synthesis (which is caused by a reaction
of the body?s defence mechanism), leading to the same effect.?

The Bristol team is calling for further studies to examine long-term effects
in heavy users of mobile phones. They have already started new research into
measuring the possibly increased cortical brain blood flow.

 Miss Joanne Fryer
University of Bristol
joanne.fryer en bristol.ac.uk
+ 44 117 928 8086

Notes for editors
1.The double-blind tests were carried out on twice the usual number of
subjects by two different groups in two different locations in the Bristol
Oncology Centre and Bristol Royal Infirmary, and analysed double-blind by
two different statisticians using a range of available statistical methods.
2.Dr Preece and his team tried to simulate a ?near worst case?example of
short-term exposure to the microwaves generated and received in mobile phone
use.
3.The microwaves received by a user vary according to where the user is and
the strength of signal received. In areas of good reception the microwave
?dose? will be light. In areas of poor reception it will be very much
greater.
4.Their simulation tried to mimic under controlled and measured laboratory
conditions the latter situation.
5.Volunteers were asked to perform simple standardised tasks which required
either short-term memory recall or mental alertness. They were asked to do
these under three onditions:
?when exposed to microwaves typical of analogue phones;
?when exposed to microwaves typical of digital phones;
?when exposed to no microwaves at all.
6.The volunteers did not know which set of conditions they were experiencing
at the time of the test.
7.The results showed that there was no short-term memory loss in an exposure
of 30 minutes.
8.The results showed that there was an apparent improvement in performance
when subjects were exposed to
microwaves of any kind. There was a particularly strong
statistical effect when the subject was exposed to microwaves of the kind
associated with analogue phones.
9.The effect seems to be associated with an increase in brain blood flow.
This is now being investigated by the team in a new series of experiments.
10.The effect may be due to a slight warming caused by the microwaves. If
that is the case, the effect is unlikely to be harmful. In general the human
body is well adapted to temperature changes in this range.
11.If, however, warming is not a result of the microwaves emitted by the
phones,the effect observed may be due to changes in protein synthesis (the
creation of heat shock proteins).
12.Heat shock proteins are usually caused by the body?s defence mechanisms,
brought into action by a threat from disease or damage from an injury. If
heat shock proteins are being created, urgent further investigation will be
needed.
13.Dr Preece as a medical physicist does not wish to speculateabout the risk
to health. He can only comment on the work which the team themselves have
done. As a research group they are trying to understand what is going on and
will continue the work. When that is reported in properly validated test
results, it will be for others, such as neurologists, to make their
assessments of the likely consequences.


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