MOBILE phone radiation causes headaches and interrupts vital sleeping patterns, according to research funded by some of the world’s biggest phone manufacturers.
Researchers from the US and Sweden discovered during the study that participants exposed to mobile phone radiation experienced headaches, change of moods, confusion and trouble sleeping.
In their findings, published in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS), the researchers said 38 of the 71 participants showed symptoms of mobile phone radiation.
“The study indicates that during laboratory exposure to 884 MHz wireless signals, components of sleep, believed to be important for recovery from daily wear and tear, are adversely affected,” the researchers said in the PIERS article.
“Moreover, participants that otherwise have no self-reported symptoms related to mobile phone use appear to have more headaches during the actual radiofrequency exposure as compared to sham exposure.”
The researchers from Wayne State University in the US and Sweden’s Karolinska Institute found mobile phone radiation extended the period of time it took for participants to fall asleep – and even then they were still affected.
“Under the (radiofrequency) exposure condition, participants exhibited a longer latency to deep sleep,” the researchers said.
The Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), made up of industry giants like Nokia and Motorola, funded the study.
A MMF spokesperson was quoted by UK newspaper The Independent as saying the “results were inconclusive” and “the researchers did not claim that exposure caused sleep disturbance”.
Study leader Bengt Arnetz told the newspaper that mobile phone radiation decreased participants’ ability to wind down and fall asleep.
“We did find an effect from mobile phones from exposure scenarios that were realistic,” Professor Arnetz said.
