UK launches largest study of mobile phone effects on children's brains
Department of Health funding two-year Scamp study to see whether use of mobile phones has any effect on development
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| A child holding a mobile phone. Photograph: David Cheskin/PA |
The Department of Health has commissioned the world's biggest study into the effects of mobile phones' radio waves on childrens' brains, nine years after a government study said children should only use mobile phones when "absolutely necessary".
The Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones (Scamp) will examine about 2,500 schoolchildren at the ages of 11 and 12, collect data about how they use the phones and how much time they spend on them, and assess them two years later on mental functions such as memory and attention, which continue to develop into the teenage years.
While no study has ever shown harmful effects from the low-power radio waves, known as "non-ionizing radiation", generated by mobile phones, almost all have focused on adults.
The last advice on childrens' use of mobile phones came in the Stewart report in January 2005, in which Sir William Stewart suggested that as a precaution children under eight should not use mobile phones at all, and that older children should use it for texting rather than voice calls.
Since then ownership of mobile phones has continued to rise: an estimated 70% of 11- to 12-year-olds in the UK now own a mobile phone, rising to 90% by age 14.
The Scamp study will be led by Dr Mireille Toledano, of the faculty of medicine at Imperial College, who has written papers on investigations into claims of cancer links between low-power emissions from mobile phones and from power lines.
The Scamp study was commissioned by the Department of Health through the Research Initiative on Health and Mobile Telecommunications, which is funded jointly by the government and mobile phone operators.
Toledano said: "This advice to parents is based on the precautionary principle, given in the absence of available evidence, and not because we have evidence of any harmful effects.
"As mobile phones are a new and widespread technology central to our lives, carrying out the Scamp study is important in order to provide the evidence base with which to inform policy and through which parents and their children can make informed life choices.
"By assessing the children in year seven and again in year nine we will be able to see how their cognitive abilities develop in relation to changing use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies."
The study will by its nature include some examination of the effect of Wi-Fi capability, given that many children now use smartphones - which tend to have higher SAR (specific absorption rate) values, a measure of how much electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by the body during use, than older mobile phones.
But even that picture is complicated because older phones tend only to use GSM technology, which emits more radiation than the 3G technology of newer phones.
Current UK health guidelines, based on the 2005 Stewart report, say children under 16 should be encouraged only to use mobile phones for essential calls, and where possible to use a hands-free kit or to send text messages. When they do have to make calls, they are advised to keep them short.
Despite there being no convincing evidence that mobile phones affect adult health, experts have hypothesized that children could be more vulnerable to any effects due to their developing nervous systems and thinner skulls, which absorb higher levels of radio energy.
Professor Patrick Haggard, deputy director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London and chairman of the Scamp steering committee, said it was important to have a well-funded, large-scale study. "It has taken a long time to get to this. A longitudinal study, which looks at a lot people, is better but more expensive and hard to set up."
A lot of earlier studies were too small to rule out chance effects, he said. "It's good that the UK is leading in this. I hope that the public, parents and kids are prepared to give generously of their time."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has ranked forward-looking studies of the effects of mobile phones on children and adolescents as a "highest priority research need", but to date there are only two studies, both in Europe, focusing on childhood cancers and mobile phone use. One has reported no association and the other is ongoing.
Co-investigator Professor Paul Elliott, director of the MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health at Imperial College, said: "Scientific evidence available to date is reassuring and shows no association between exposure to radio frequency waves from mobile phone use and brain cancer in adults in the short term (less than 10 years of use). But the evidence available regarding long term heavy use and children's use is limited and less clear."
Another study, called Cosmos, which has a UK arm funded by the Department of Health, is currently investigating the possible long-term health effects of mobile phones on 290,000 adult users over a period of 20 to 30 years. The most recent study on this subject was conducted in Australia from 2006-7 with 250 participants, and published in 2010. It found no statistical effect.
Toledano said: "Scamp will complement this other research by focusing on the ongoing development of cognitive functions in the brain during adolescence.
"Cognition is essentially how we think; how we make decisions; and how we process and recall information. It is linked to intelligence and educational achievement and forms the building blocks of the innovative and creative potential of every individual and therefore society as a whole."
Children volunteering for the study will undertake classroom-based computerised tasks designed to measure cognitive abilities that underpin functions such as memory and attention. Together with their parents, they will also answer questions about their use of mobile phones and other devices, wellbeing and lifestyle.
Toledano added: "Taking part in Scamp is a fantastic opportunity for schools to bring 'live' science into their classrooms, show children how we conduct health research and, above all, for schools, pupils and parents to make a real contribution to the health of current and future generations."
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