Hat zu häufiger Gebrauch von Mobiltelefonen einen frühen Alterungsprozess zur Folge?
Laut einem Artikel der Kuwait News vom 17. Mai weist eine neue Studie daraufhin, dass zu häufiger Gebrauch von Mobiltelefonen gesundheitliche Probleme im Hinblick auf den Alterungsprozess zur Folge haben könnte. Die Studie, die von Forschern der Kairoer Universität unter Leitung von Professor Dr. Fadhil Mohammad Ali, Professor für Bio- und Radiophysik, durchgeführt wurde, behauptet, unsere heutige Technologie, die Kurz- und Mikrowellen nutzt, stelle eine Gefahr für die menschliche Biologie und die Körperfunktionen dar. Die Studie, die insgesamt über einen Zeitraum von 15 Jahren lief, gliederte sich in drei Phasen und untersuchte elektromagnetische sowie elektrische Felder in gewissen Bereichen wie Wohnungen und Büros in der Nähe von Hochspannungsmasten und Industrieanlagen, in denen starker elektrischer Strom im Einsatz ist.
Aus: FGF-Infoline vom 25.05.2005
USA -
ROTHMAN ET AL. (1996A)
Design. A cohort study was
conducted of mortality among cellular telephone subscribers residing
in one of four
metropolitan areas (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington DC). Cohort
members included single
phone, noncorporate customers who had activ e accounts as of January
1, 1994. Social
Security numbers (SSN) were sought for 770,390 subscribers. The SSN was
the primary
matching variable for linkage to the Social Security Administration’s Death
Master
File for deaths
occurring in 1994 and the first quarter of 1995. An attempt was made to
classify
subscribers as to
whether they used handheld (portable) or nonhandheld (mobile car or bag)
cellular
telephones. Car and
bag telephones have antennas that are not located next to the user’s
head. Mortality
rates were computed by type of telephone (handheld vs. nonhandheld) and
mortality
rate ratios were
computed contrasting portable (handheld) with mobile (car or bag) phone
users. In this
early paper Rothman et al. (1996a) used the term “mobile” to describe
nonhandheld
car or bag cellular
telephones, whereas today “mobile” is often used synonymously to
mean handheld
cellular telephones.
Results. After excluding
514,106 (67%) records because of duplicate SSNs, incorrect SSNs,
potential corporate
accounts, missing dates of birth or gender, and deaths prior to 1994 (N =
416), and requiring
identical identification information from at least two sources (e.g., credit
bureaus
and subscriber
listings), 255,868 persons were selected for mortality linkage: 23% used a
nonhandheld
telephone, 19% used a handheld telephone, and for 58% the type of phone was
unknown. A total of
408 deaths were identified. The overall mortality rate was lower for
handheld cellular
telephone users than for nonhandheld cellular telephone users (RR =0.89,
95% CI 0.5-1.5).
Mortality rates for users of both types of telephones were much lower than
corresponding rates
for the general population.
Strengths. The cohort design
and linkage approach eliminate the possibility of interviewer and
recall bias. The
use of subscriber lists is a valid approach to identify exposed cohort members.
Comparisons of
mortality rates between handheld phone users and nonhandheld phone users are
more appropriate
than comparisons with the general population.
Weaknesses. The follow-up was
very short, about 15 months. Total mortality is a non-specific
outcome to evaluate
possible cancer risks associated with cellular telephone use. The total
numbers of deaths
was small and the number of deaths due to brain cancer was unknown. Exposure
assessment was
imprecise in that duration and frequency of use were not known. The low
mortality rate
compared with the general population suggests that a healthy subgroup was
selected
and/or that deaths
were underascertained. The percentage of unknown phone types
(58%) was high.
Summary. This was the first
epidemiologic study to evaluate the potential cancer risks associated
with cellular
telephone use and provided useful information with regard to the methodologic
issues involved in
evaluating this association (Rothman et al. 1996b; Funch et al. 1996).
However, the
limited follow-up, small number of deaths, and inadequate exposure assessment
renders the study non-informative with regard to cancer risks.