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 The Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile
Phones, or SCAMP, project will focus on cognitive functions such as
memory and attention, which continue to develop into adolescence -
just the age when teenagers start to own and use personal phones.
While there is no convincing evidence that radio waves from mobile
phones affect health, to date most scientific research has focused
on adults and the potential risk of brain cancers.
Because of that, scientists are uncertain as to whether children's
developing brains may be more vulnerable than adults' brains -
partly because their nervous systems are still developing, and
partly because they are likely to have a higher cumulative exposure
over their lifetimes.
"Scientific evidence available to date is reassuring and shows no
association between exposure to radiofrequency waves from mobile
phone use and brain cancer in adults in the short term - i.e. less
than 10 years of use," said Paul Elliott, director of the Centre for
Environment and Health at Imperial College London, who will co-lead
the research.
 "But the evidence available regarding long term heavy use and
children's use is limited and less clear."
Mobile phone use is ubiquitous, with the World Health Organisation
estimating 4.6 billion subscriptions globally. In Britain, some 70
percent of 11 to 12 year-olds now own a mobile phone, and that
figure rises to 90 percent by age 14.
COGNITIVE ABILITIES
Elliott and the study's principal investigator, Mireille Toledano,
aim to recruit around 2,500 11 to 12 year-old school children and
follow their cognitive development over two years whilst collecting
data on how often, for what, and for how long they use mobile or
smart phones and other wireless devices.
Parents and pupils who agree to take part in the study will answer
questions about the children's use of mobile devices and wireless
technologies, well-being and lifestyle. Pupils will also undertake
classroom-based computerised tests of the cognitive abilities behind
functions like memory and attention.
"Cognition is essentially how we think, how we make decisions, and
how we process and recall information," said Toledano, who is also
at Imperial College's centre for Environment and Health.
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"It is linked to intelligence and educational achievement and forms
the building blocks of the innovative and creative potential of
every individual and therefore society as a whole."
The World Health Organisation says a large number of studies have
been performed over the past two decades to assess whether mobile
phones pose a potential health risk, and to date, no adverse health
effects have been established.
Still, the electromagnetic fields produced by mobile phones are
classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as
"possibly carcinogenic to humans", and the global health agency has
said more research into the issue is vital.
Current British health policy guidelines say children under 16
should be encouraged to use mobile phones for essential purposes
only, and where possible use a hands-free kit or text.
But Toledano said this advice was "given in the absence of available
evidence - and not because we have evidence of any harmful effects".
"As mobile phones are a new and widespread technology central to our
lives, ... the SCAMP study is important ... to provide the evidence
base ... through which parents and their children can make informed
life choices," she said.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
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