Click on the link to the BBC story and have your say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7452463.stm
Also see news article in today's Telegraph, see below.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2121298/Mobile-phone-addiction-Cli
nic-treats-children.html
And the New York Times article, How Much Radiation Does Your Phone Emit, contains a list of the highest and lowest radiation level mobile phones.
Kind Regards,
Eileen O'Connor
Radiation Research Trustee
http://www.radiationresearch.org
BBC news
Spain treats child phone addicts
Two children in Spain have been admitted to a mental health institution to be treated for addiction to their mobile phones, Spanish media report.
The children, aged 12 and 13, were sent to the clinic by their parents, who said they could not carry out normal activities without their handsets.
They were doing badly at school and lying to relatives in order to get money to spend on their phones.
They have been learning to cope without their phones for three months.
Dr Maite Utges, who runs the Child and Youth Mental Health Centre in Lleida, near Barcelona in north-eastern Spain, said it was the first time the clinic had treated children who were dependent on their mobile phones.
"They both showed disturbed behaviour and this exhibited itself in failure at school. They both had serious difficulties leading normal lives," she was quoted in Spanish papers as saying.
The children had owned their phones for 18 months, and their parents had made little effort to restrict their use before noticing how serious their dependence had become.
'Tip of iceberg'
Dr Jose Martinez-Raga, an expert in addictions, said children who developed a dependency on mobile phones, like those who over-used video games, often became irritable, withdrawn and antisocial, and their school performance deteriorated.
He warned these cases could be the "tip of the iceberg", and that mobile phone addiction "could definitely be a danger in the future".
Fears have been raised in a number of countries about the adverse effects mobile phone use may have on children.
Dr Utges recommended that parents not allow their children to have mobile phones until they reached 16 years of age.
Have you been affected by any of the issues in this story? Send us your comments by using the form below.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/7452463.stm
Published: 2008/06/13 09:35:04 GMT
© BBC MMVIII
TELEGRAPH
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2121298/Mobile-phone-addiction-Cli
nic-treats-children.html
Mobile phone addiction: Clinic treats children
By Graham Tibbetts
Last updated: 2:30 PM BST 13/06/2008
Two children are learning to live without their mobile phones after becoming so badly addicted to the technology they were admitted to a mental health clinic.
They were brought in after spending an average of six hours a day on their phones, talking, texting or playing games.
Their parents became concerned that the children, aged 12 and 13, were unable to carry out normal activities without their handsets. They were failing at school and deceiving relatives in an attempt to obtain more money for phone cards.
However, it may take a year to wean them off the "drug", said Dr Maite Utgès, director of the Child and Youth Mental Health Centre in Lleida, north-east Spain, where they have been treated for the past three months.
"It is the first time we have used a specific treatment to cure a dependence on the mobile phone," she said.
"They both showed disturbed behaviour and this exhibited itself in failure at school. They both had serious difficulties leading normal lives."
Both children had had their own phones for 18 months and were not controlled by their parents.
"One paid for their phone by getting money from the grandmother and other family members, without explaining what they were going to do with it," said Dr Utgès.
At least two cases of phone addiction have been reported in Britain where young people who were obsessed with their phones and became depressed when the number of incoming calls or messages dropped.
Story from Telegraph News:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2121298/Mobile-phone-addiction-Cli
nic-treats-children.html
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NY Times article on cell phones:)
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/how-much-radiation-does-your-phone-
emit/index.html?hp
New York Times
Back to front page »
June 11, 2008, 3:31 pm
How Much Radiation Does Your Phone Emit?
Cellphones emit varying levels of radiation, depending on make and model.
(Lisa Poole/Associated Press)
The technology news site CNET has compiled two interesting lists showing which cellphones give off the most and the least radiation.
In publishing the information, CNET editors note the data aren't meant to imply that cellphone radiation poses a risk, nor is it meant to say that the phones are safe. As I recently reported in my Well column last week, the data on cellphone safety is mixed, although a few recent international studies have suggested a link with three types of brain tumors. The Food and
Drug Administration also says there's not enough information to determine conclusively whether cellphones are safe or unsafe.
The charts focus on the specific absorption rate, or SAR, of a cellphone, which is a way of measuring the quantity of radio frequency energy that is absorbed by the body, according to CNET.
For a phone to pass F.C.C. certification, that phone's maximum SAR level must be less than 1.6 W/kg (watts per kilogram). In Europe, the level is capped at 2 W/kg, while Canada allows a maximum of 1.6 W/kg. The SAR level listed in our charts represents the highest SAR level with the phone next to the ear as tested by the F.C.C. Keep in mind that it is possible for the SAR
level to vary between different transmission bands and that different testing bodies can obtain different results. Also, it's possible for results to vary between different editions of the same phone (such as a handset that's offered by multiple carriers).
Four Motorola phones top the list, with the V195s putting out the maximum 1.6 W/kg. The popular BlackBerry Curve 8330 rounds out the No. 5 spot.
To see the full top 10 list, click here.
The list of lowest-radiation cellphones includes the LG KG800 and the
Motorola Razr V3x, which put out 0.135 W/kg and 0.14 W/kg, respectively. To
see all the lowest radiation phones, click here.
If you don't see your phone on the list, the site includes lists of
cellphones by brand name. My iPhone was listed under "other" brands, but I
was interested to learn that its SAR number is 0.974.
Ten highest-radiation cell phones (United States)
Editor's note: When a phone is discontinued by a manufacturer or a carrier,
it will be removed from this chart.
Manufacturer and model SAR level(digital)
1 Motorola V195s 1.6
2 Motorola Slvr L6 1.58
3 Motorola Slvr L2 1.54
4 Motorola W385 1.54
5 RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Sprint) 1.54
6 RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Verizon Wireless) 1.54
7 Motorola Deluxe ic902 1.53
8 T-Mobile Shadow (HTC) 1.53
9 Motorola i335 1.53
10 Samsung Sync SGH-C417 1.51
Ten lowest-radiation cell phones (United States)
Editor's note: When a phone is discontinued by a manufacturer or a carrier,
it will be removed from this chart.
Manufacturer and model SAR level
(digital)
1. LG KG800 0.135
2. Motorola Razr V3x 0.14
3. Nokia 9300 0.21
4. Nokia N90 0.22
5. Samsung SGH-G800 0.23
6. Samsung Sync SGH-A707 0.236
7. Nokia 7390 0.26
8. Samsung SGH-T809 0.32
9. Bang & Olufsen Serene (Samsung SGH-E910) 0.33
10. Motorola Razr2 V8 0.36
