British scientist reopens cell-phone cancer debate

Just when the cancer scare seemed to be slowing in the cellular handset community, another scientist has voiced concern that mobile phones may cause damage to health by accelerating the brain’s response times.

Dr. Alan Preece, head of Biophysics at Bristol Oncology Center in England, is among a group of scientists that is becoming increasingly convinced that radiation from cell phones triggers chemical processes in the body that may be harmful. Now there are six separate studies that indicate that response times speed up when people are exposed to radio frequency signals from mobiles phones. Speaking at a London conference on the health risks of mobile phones, Preece said we now have to accept there is an effect on the brain and that the chronic exposure to radio frequency signals might ultimately have a detrimental health effect.

The World Health Organization said last week that more research was needed before damage to health could be ruled out.

--Kelly Carroll, staff writer