COULD mobile phones damage the health of children before they have even been conceived?
Yes, says John Aitken of the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. He claims to have preliminary evidence that radio waves of the frequency used by mobile phones can damage sperm DNA in mice. “It won’t affect you, but it could affect your children,” he says.
Aitken’s team exposed 22 mice to 900-megahertz radiation at an estimated rate of 90 milliwatts per kilogram of bodyweight – less than most people receive from mobile phones – for 12 hours a day for one week. A sensitive technique called quantitative PCR found more…
