von The Future Is Black » 9. Oktober 2003 12:59
Mice to test mobile-phone cancer threat
8 October 2003
BREMEN - A German lab plans to simulate round-the-clock telephoning using 320 mice to test whether new mobile phones cause cancer.
However the rodents won't be able to dial out, or anywhere for that matter, project head Alexander Lerchl said.
Each mouse will spend 24 hours a day between two discs that create an electromagnetic field similar to that created by third-generation mobile phones.
The powerful new phones are expected to come to market next year when Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) service starts in Europe. The International University of Bremen has won a contract from Germany's Federal Radiation Agency to study the fields' effects.
The experiments would take two years, Lerchl said. The mice, which tend to sicken with leukaemia when exposed to dangerous environments, will receive daily check-ups, Professor Lerchl said. Phone makers assert the fields are harmless.
Bremen, a port city in the north of Germany, aims to be at the forefront of the UMTS launch. The new phones are so fast that they can send and receive pictures and web pages in short order, and will eventually supersede Europe's GSM digital phones.
DPA
Mice to test mobile-phone cancer threat
8 October 2003
BREMEN - A German lab plans to simulate round-the-clock telephoning using 320 mice to test whether new mobile phones cause cancer.
However the rodents won't be able to dial out, or anywhere for that matter, project head Alexander Lerchl said.
Each mouse will spend 24 hours a day between two discs that create an electromagnetic field similar to that created by third-generation mobile phones.
The powerful new phones are expected to come to market next year when Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) service starts in Europe. The International University of Bremen has won a contract from Germany's Federal Radiation Agency to study the fields' effects.
The experiments would take two years, Lerchl said. The mice, which tend to sicken with leukaemia when exposed to dangerous environments, will receive daily check-ups, Professor Lerchl said. Phone makers assert the fields are harmless.
Bremen, a port city in the north of Germany, aims to be at the forefront of the UMTS launch. The new phones are so fast that they can send and receive pictures and web pages in short order, and will eventually supersede Europe's GSM digital phones.
DPA