Researchers in a new study claim that mobile phones could damage unborn babies,
Radiation from mobile phones may affect the brain development of unborn babies, the lead author of a controversial animal study has claimed.
Researchers found that mice embryos exposed to radiation had behavioural abnormalities and pregnant mice placed in the vicinity of an active mobile phone gave birth to offspring which showed signs of hyperactivity, anxiety and poor memory.
Infant mice whose mothers were not exposed to the radiation were not affected the same way.
The changes were attributed to impaired development of neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
According to the US scientist who led the research, the same effects could potentially occur in humans.
Professor Hugh Taylor, from Yale University, believes mobile phones might even be partly responsible for rising rates of behavioural disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
However, other experts warned strongly against extrapolating the findings and assuming they were relevant to humans. One called the claims ”alarmist and unjustified”.
The research is reported in the Nature publication Scientific Reports.
Prof Taylor said: ”This is the first experimental evidence that fetal exposure to radiofrequency radiation from cellular telephones does in fact affect adult behaviour.
”We have shown that behavioural problems in mice that resemble ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are caused by cell phone exposure in the womb.
”The rise in behavioural disorders in human children may be in part due to fetal cellular telephone irradiation exposure.”
He added that more work was needed in humans to investigate the mechanisms involved and establish safe levels of mobile phone exposure during pregnancy.
ADHD is a development disorder characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness.
Between 3% and 7% of school-age children suffer from the disorder. Affected children tend to perform poorly at school and are at increased risk of delinquency.
Diagnosis of ADHD has increased at an average rate of 3% per year since 1997, making the condition ”a growing public concern,” according to the scientists.
In the study, 33 pregnant mice were exposed to radiation from a muted but active mobile phone positioned a short distance above their cage. The phone was placed on an uninterrupted call for 17 days, almost the whole of their pregnancy.
A comparison group of pregnant mice was kept under the same conditions but with the mobile phone switched off.
More than 160 adult offspring were were given a series of psychological and behavioural tests and had measurements taken of their brain electrical activity.
Co-author Tamir Aldad, also from Yale, pointed out that rodent pregnancies last only 19 days and mice are born with a less developed brain than humans.
Further research was needed to determine whether the potential risks of exposure to mobile phone radiation in pregnancy were similar for humans.
”Cell phones were used in this study to mimic potential human exposure but future research will instead use standard electromagnetic field generators to more precisely define the level of exposure,” said Dr Aldad.
Other experts also urged caution.
Professor Eric Taylor, a child psychiatrist from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, said: ”This paper does not show any link between radiofrequency exposure and ADHD. The rate of ADHD problems has been steady for more than 20 years (any increase is due to greater recognition), so mobile phones are an unlikely cause.
”Taking animal studies and extrapolating directly to humans requires much more care. The exposure of the animals was very great, and the researchers’ tests of animal memory should not be directly equated to human attention; different species can react differently.”
Professor Katya Rubia, a neuroscientist also from the Institute of Psychiatry, said: ”The extrapolation of the behavioural and brain effects of prenatal mobile phone exposure in mice to human ADHD and its increase in our society is alarmist and unjustified.
”Some enhancement in motor activity in mice is not translatable to the complex human ADHD behaviour characterised by impulsiveness, inattention and motor activity. ADHD is not associated with memory problems, or with decreased anxiety, and the key brain deficits are in the basal ganglia rather than the frontal lobe.”
Dr Mischa de Rover, a psychologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands, said: ”Good animal data is of crucial importance as a starting point for human studies but should never be used as a basis for risk assessment in humans.”
Ruari Quinn says today there are no cuts on the horizon for Ireland’s elderly people
Ruairí Quinn TD said that there will be no cutbacks in entitlements to the elderly and they were “not anywhere on the horizon, nor are they contemplated”,
He said whatever future budgetary decisions were made would be communicated to the House in the normal way.
“Having completed our first year in office, it is the intention of the Government, over the next four years, to implement the programme for government and to extend free GP care to every citizen in the State . . . among the things we will do.”
Mr Quinn was replying to Independent TD Finian McGrath, who asked if the Government was preparing to get rid of free travel, gas and electricity units for pensioners. Saying that he wanted “to raise the plight of our senior citizens during this major economic crisis”, Mr McGrath said everyone acknowledged the massive contribution they had made to the State.
“They have worked hard and paid their taxes,” he added.
He asked why the Government was ignoring its commitment to give priority to investment for older people in community and residential settings. He said the programme for government also stated that funding would be provided for residential places and homecare packages.
He asked why the Government reduced the gas and electricity subsidy for senior citizens by between 18 per cent and 12 per cent and why the means-tested winter fuel allowance was reduced by six weeks.
Mr Quinn said he seemed to recall that up until the dying days of the previous administration, Mr McGrath was a fairly enthusiastic supporter. This Government, Mr Quinn added, had been obliged to introduce a range of measures which were distasteful and painful, but, sadly, were necessary.
Ireland’s TDs have repeated the call for people not to pay the
€100 household charge
TDs who oppose the household charge have again called on the public not to pay the levy before the end of March deadline.
Sinn Féin TD Jonathan O’Brien said the Household Charge was neither just nor fair for the Irish people and TDs who oppose the household charge have told the public not to pay the levy.
The call came during a demonstration outside Leinster House in Dublin, in protest at the charge.
Earlier, inside the Dáil, Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn rejected Opposition calls for the Government to withdraw the household charge, saying ordinary citizens would end up paying the price for what he called the irresponsible stance taken by some elected representatives.
He told a Sinn Féin TD Jonathan O’Brien that he was inciting people not to pay the charge and therefore to break the law.
The minister said it was not constructive for any member of the Dáil to encourage people not to pay the charge. He added that deputies had a duty to uphold the law.
Deputy O’Brien said a large section of the population, including himself, had decided not to register to pay the charge, and asked the minister if it was now time to scrap the tax.
The Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central said he had been elected to implement just and fair laws, but the household tax was neither.
Legislation to be available in Irish and English
Irish and English versions of the legislation governing the new household charge are currently with the printers and should be available next week, according to information provided to the Office of the Irish Language Commissioner.
An Coimisinéir Teanga, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, has told Nuacht that while the English version is already available in electronic format on the internet, printed versions are not available yet in either language.
Acts of the Oireachtas must by law be printed and published simultaneously in both official languages as soon as possible after their enactment.
However, the law does allow for initial publication in one language in electronic format, according to the commissioner.
The High Court yesterday allowed a challenge to the legislation enacting the Household Charge as it has not yet been published in Irish.
Asked about the challenge, Socialist Party TD Joe Higgins said the focus of their campaign against the charge was to urge the boycotting of it.
Earlier the Fianna Fáil environment spokesperson Niall Collins said it is now quite clear that there is a potential for the legislation to unravel as a result of the challenge.
Deputy Collins said the High Court action has brought doubt and confusion to people’s minds, which needs to be cleared up.
He said it is worrying for the Government that only 15% of households have so far paid and said it shows that the coalition got it wrong in not including more exemptions to the charge.
The €100 charge must be paid by 1.6 million eligible household before the 31 March deadline or else face fines.
Mayo Women have settled their case over alleged house defects
Two women have settled a High Court action in which they claimed they were unable to sell their four-year-old house because of allegedly serious structural defects.
Claire Moloney (38) and Patricia Feeley (37) had sued Erris Homes Ltd, Belmullet, Co Mayo, over alleged negligence and breach of contract in the construction of the house ( like above) at Summerfield, Dublin Road, Castlebar, Co Mayo.
They also sued engineer James Maloney, Childers Heights, Ballina, Co Mayo, over allegedly negligently certifying the house as being built in accordance with good building practice when it allegedly was not. It was claimed the house was suffering from serious subsidence after cracks and dampness appeared in its walls.
The court heard the women bought the one-year-old house for €132,000 in 2002 with the intention of selling it three years later at a profit.
When they put it up for sale in 2005, they got two offers of €210,000 but the prospective purchasers pulled out when they saw the cracks in the walls, it was claimed. On the third day of the case yesterday, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy was told it had been settled and she struck out the proceedings.
No comments:
Post a Comment