Australian government announce multi-million dollar research into possible health effects of mobile phones

Australian government announce multi-million dollar research into possible health effects of mobile phones

September 26, 2013

The Australian government will contribute 5 million dollars over the next five years towards research into the possible health effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone technology.

This is the second 2.5 million dollar grant to be awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council in the space of a year and will go to researchers from Wollongong and Monash Universities to establish a Centre of Research Excellence for Population Health Research on Electromagnetic Energy.

Just last year, ICNIRP commissioner and researcher from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), Professor Rodney Croft, was awarded a similar grant to set up the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research.

Professor Croft, who will also play a large part in the new research project, said the general aim of the research was to understand whether “there’s a link between radiofrequency emissions that come from things like mobile phones, and health in general.”

“While there is currently no clear evidence that low-level electromagnetic energy is impacting our health, there is not enough information, particularly relating to children, to be sure that it doesn’t,”Professor Croft said.

“The ubiquity of mobile phones coupled with the fact that digital technology will play a huge role in our future means this research is critical, with risk assessment agencies such as the World Health Organization consistently calling for further research to ensure that we identify any potential risks.”

One arm of the research will involve the development of a sleep laboratory set up to study the effects of mobile phone signals on children’s brains while they sleep.

Researchers are recruiting 108 children for tests to start next year, which will expose children to a mobile phone, or the equivalent electromagnetic energy, and look for changes in the electrical activity in the brain during a normal night’s sleep.

“There’s a pretty strong consensus that there’s not a problem in adults, but people have only started doing research on children in the last five years and very little has come out of it,” Professor croft said.

“We’ve got no reason to believe that there’ll be a greater effect in children than in adults.

“But we just don’t understand well enough the maturational phases that children go through, so it’s possible there’s greater sensitivity.”

The research project will also try to determine the mechanisms by which electromagnetic energy from radio frequencies interacts with brain function, as well as addressing possible cancer risks.

Another research focus will be on debunking criticism by activists and the researchers will also look into the role electromagnetic energy plays in people who claim to be sensitive to wireless signals.

Professor Croft will also be working with international standards bodies to develop electromagnetic energy guidelines and with policy makers on better communicating potential risks to the public.

http://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/australian-government-announce-multi-million-dollar-research-into-possible-health-effects-of-mobile-phones