Cellphone radiation study finds mixed effects in rodents, without clear implications for human health.
A senior scientist involved in the 10-year study said, "I have not changed the way I use a cellphone, no."
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
The long-awaited results of a $25 million National Institutes of Health study on the effects of cellphone radio-frequency radiation exposure on animals is out, and the results are mixed. They showed a higher risk of tumors, DNA or tissue damage, and lower body weight in some groups of rodents, but no obvious ill effect in others and no clear implications for human health.
John Bucher, a senior scientist involved in the 10-year study, was cautious in his interpretation of the results in a conference call with journalists Friday. Given the inconsistent pattern of the findings, the fact that the subjects were rats and mice rather than people and the high level of radiation used, he said, he could not extrapolate from the data the potential health effects on humans.