Cell phone radiation linked to tumours in rats

New Delhi: It has come to light that high levels of cell phone radiations are linked to tumours in male rats.

A new study has found out that male rats, when exposed to cellphone radiations, develop tumours in tissues around their heart. The findings also exposed that female rats and mice have no such effects on the subjection of radiations emitted by mobile phones.

Trying to settle the debate over whether mobile phones' radiations are harmful or not, the researchers conducted the animal study.

Intriguingly, the results were not extrapolated to humans. However, it gave rest to the ongoing debate and made the fact clear that safety limits on cellphone radiation can be non-harmful.

About 6 percent of male rats, whose entire bodies were exposed to radiations developed schwannomas - a rare type of a tumour near their hearts. Meanwhile, there were no such tumours found in rats not exposed to radiations.

It was noted that unlike ionizing radiations - emitted from gamma rays, X-rays, and radon - that can break chemical bonds and subsequently cause cancer, radio-frequency devices like mobile phones and microwaves emit non-ionizing radiation.

According to some previous studies, these radiations produce energy in the form of heat and frequent exposure to them can alter brain cell activity.

In the new study, rats and mice were exposed to higher levels of radiation for longer periods of time than what people experience with even the highest level of cellphone use, and their entire bodies were exposed all at once.

In the draft report, it was speculated that the effect likely only showed up in the male rats because they were larger, and likely absorbed more radiation than the female rats or mice.

The study, however, raised that there was no reason found to believe that cellphone radiations harm humans in any form.

The study is published in a draft report by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP), a part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.