Japan’s mobile-phone carriers said interim findings from research they sponsored found radio-frequency radiation from base stations does not affect human cells, according to an NTT DoCoMo Inc. press release.
The research, funded by DoCoMo, KDDI Corp., Vodafone K.K. and Tu-Ka Cellular Tokyo Inc., was conducted by Mitsubishi Chemical Safety Institute Ltd. as well as by Prof. Junji Miyakoshi of Hirosaki University and Prof. Toshio Nojima of Hokkaido University. The findings are expected to be announced at the Biolectromagnetics Society’s annual meeting, June 19-24, in Ireland. Meantime, the scientific data has been submitted to the BEMS Journal for publication.
Using four human cell lines, two containing established infant and fetal fibroblast cells and two containing cerebral tumor tissues, and examining about 20,000 genes in the human genome, researchers found no effect on cell proliferation, gene expression profile or DNA single-strand breaks, according to the DoCoMo release. The four Japanese wireless carriers, which began investigating health implications in late 2002, said the results appear to indicate the safety of radio waves, given the transmissions used in the experiment were up to 10 times stronger than the limit set forth in RF radiation protection guidelines for base stations.
While the World Health Organization and government health officials around the world generally agree cell phones and base-station radiation do not pose an imminent health risk to consumers, WHO and others have called for continued research to address uncertainty raised by some studies with findings of genetic damage and other biological effects from RF energy.
