Daily Mail June 2004
A scientist has warned that children who use mobile phones are at risk of suffering memory loss, sleeping disorders and other health problems.Dr Gerard Hyland, of the University of Warwick, said children are particularly at risk because their immune systems are less robust and are still developing.
Fears over the use of mobile phones has centred on "brain heating", but Dr Hyland said the real risk was with low intensity radiation, known as non-thermal radiation.
Dr Hyland, who is based in the physics department at the University of Warwick, said children were at risk because their skulls are smaller and thinner and radiation was able to penetrate.
'Radiation is known to effect the brain rhythms and children are particularly vulnerable,' he said.
'The body is an electro-chemical instrument with exquisite sensitivity. The effect of microwaves from a mobile phone is a bit like interference on a radio. It has an impact on the stability of cells in the body.
'The main effects are neurological, causing headaches, memory loss and sleeping disorders.'
He added: 'If mobile phones were a type of food, they simply would not be licensed because there is so much uncertainty surrounding their safety.'