New results in UMTS research at Jacobs University: No evidence of elevated damage through radiation

Scientists at Jacobs University in collaboration with researchers from the University of Wuppertal carried out a long-term test to study potential health hazards caused by UMTS fields of the strength common to mobile phones. Mice with a genetically determined elevated likelihood of developing leukemia, which were exposed to the UMTS radiation, showed no evidence of a harmful impact. The project under the lead of Alexander Lerchl, Jacobs Professor of Biology, is part of the German Mobile Telecommunication Research Program of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection and is now published in the current issue of Radiation Resarch (doi=10.1667%2FRR0857.1).

[ Jun 29, 2007]  320 mice in total with a genetic predisposition to develop leukemia if exposed to harmful environmental factors were used in the study and were tested throughout their lifespan, which is approximately 1,5 years. While half of the mice were exposed to an UMTS field of 0.4W/kg, the other half was used as a control group with mock exposition. No significance in desease rate could be detected between the two groups of the test animals. In fact, the number of mice affected by leukemia was slightly higher in the control group than the exposed group.

“The study design, with such high number of experimental animals and a radiation level five times higher than the threshold level permitted for humans, hint at a high improbability for human health hazards caused by UMTS exposition,” comments Alexander Lerchl on the results. The experiment thus provides supportive evidence for previous studies on different radiation frequencies. Nevertheless, the professor of biology cautions on the interpretation of the results, as far as transferability of the effects from mice to humans is concerned. However, according to Prof. Lerchl, the importance of the current research lies in the temporal proximity of the experiment to the ongoing area-wide introduction of the UMTS technology and the ensuing dicussions.

UMTS ("Universal Mobile Telecommunications System") designates the new revolutionary transmission technology, characterized by high-speed data transmission (two megabit per second) opening new possibilities for mobile phone applications, such as transmitting high quality photos, city maps or even movies. The simultaneous use of various transmission frequencies creates an electromagnetic fields, which critics describe as possible causes of metabolism disturbances, sleep disorders, heart malfunctions, and even cancer. The former GSM-network has been increasingly replaced by the new technology since the end of 2002.