The results of a large-scale study by the US National Institutes of Health have not shown that mobile phones can harm human health. Although rats were at increased risk of DNA damage and tumor development when exposed to radiofrequency radiation, experts point out that data from rodent experiments should not be extrapolated to humans. Writes about this publication Science Alert.
The experiment used about three thousand rats, which were placed in special chambers next to a radio emission source simulating 2G and 3G mobile phones. The animals were exposed for nine hours daily. At the same time, even the lowest levels of radiation exceeded the permitted doses, usually received by people using gadgets. Rodents have been shown to have an increased risk of developing tumors, but the researchers say it's unclear if this is caused by radiation.
As the scientists note, although the proportion of animals that developed schwannomas (tumors in nerve fibers) increased compared to rats in the control group, the difference may be due to statistical error. Pathologies were found not only in the brain, but also in a number of other organs, however, in this case, experts doubt that this was due to radiation. Even high doses of radio frequency radiation, according to the findings of the researchers, did not have a serious effect on the health of the experimental rodents.