Radiation from new and old cell phones could affect the brain development of unborn babies, according to the lead author of a controversial new animal study.
In the study, pregnant mice were placed near an active cell phone and ended up giving birth to offspring that displayed signs of anxiety, poor memory and hyperactivity, while infant mice whose mothers were not exposed to the radiation showed no such symptoms. The changes have been blamed on impaired development of neutrons that sit in the prefrontal cortex of the brain and the US scientist who led the research claims that the same effect could possibly occur in humans.
Yale University’s Professor Hugh Taylor believes that cell phones could even be partly to blame for the increase of behavioral disorders such as the likes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Other experts however claim that it is a mistake to extrapolate the findings and assume they are in any way relevant to people, with one labeling such claims “alarmist and unjustified”.
“This is the first experimental evidence that fetal exposure to radio frequency radiation from cellular telephones does in fact affect adult behavior,” claims Taylor. “We have shown that behavioral problems in mice that resemble ADHD are caused by cell phone exposure in the womb. The rise in behavioral disorders in human children may be in part due to fetal cellular telephone irradiation exposure.”