No health risk for kids from mobile phones

Berlin — Radiation from mobile phones has no short-term health impact on children and teenagers, a new German government study showed earlier this week.

The study — which measured radiation levels in over 3,000 youngsters aged eight to 17 over a 24-hour period — showed that there was no direct link between exposure to radiation and health complaints such as headaches and dizziness.

Nevertheless, radiation may still result in longer-term health risks for children as their nervous and immune systems are not fully developed, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) said in a statement.

"We still do not know what long-term effects the electromagnetic fields from mobile phones have on children and youngsters," a BfS spokesman said.

As a precautionary measure, the BfS urges caution in the use of wireless technology, especially for children.

Half of eight to 12-year-olds and 90 percent of the teenagers said they owned a mobile phone.

AFP/Expatica