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Mobile phones and babies playing with them

12 replies

lemonice · 07/06/2005 09:24

Is there any proven risk to infants in handling mobile phones?

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Hayls · 07/06/2005 09:26

I think so...can't remember where or when or how i heard it but I certainly don'y let my 16mo dd play with mine.
Not much help, am i?

triceratops · 07/06/2005 09:28

I can imagine that the paints and colourings are not suitable for baby toys. The batteries and lcd displays definately contain toxic chemicals, the whole thing is full of heavy metals. And the baby might chew off one of the small parts and choke.

I have let ds play with my phone while supervised but I have seen people giving their old phones to babies as toys which I think is dangerous.

beansmum · 07/06/2005 09:30

there is a risk to the phone, ds never gets anywhere near mine!

lemonice · 07/06/2005 09:32

I was thinking more in the manner in which babies are given car keys to occupy them, ie supervised not as a toy as such...

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lemonice · 07/06/2005 09:55

I was told by bil that even a phone which is wtiched off is dangerous as it rearranges baby dna...

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triceratops · 07/06/2005 17:30

Sounds like rubbish to me. Why would a babys dna be any more suceptable than an adults? I would guess that your BIL is not a genetecist. If they are on the phone a lot it might affect their brain patterns through the thermal effect but most infants I know never use up their free minutes

lemonice · 07/06/2005 17:49

Thanks triceratops - he spends far too much time on the internet picking up information like this

I am still hoping someone will come forward with a similar view to his or some more contradicitions please..

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Mud · 07/06/2005 17:51

"rearranges babies' DNA" - really?

and in the dictionary under gullible, see

ladymuck · 07/06/2005 17:53

Well this wasn't an April Fool item...

ladymuck · 07/06/2005 17:54

But I have to confess that I did a Google, as I wanted to see what website could put forward such a view . Wasn't expecting BBC News!

lemonice · 07/06/2005 17:57

Interesting, I thought it might be a bit more er leftfield than that..it doesn't say anything about phones which are switched off as far as I can see..

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robinia · 07/06/2005 18:02

There was some research in the news a while back which suggested that babies and young children were more susceptible to the "radiation" (or whatever it is) that mobile phones emit because their skulls are thinner. Not proven yet that this in turn causes problems (although there is some suggestion of tumours in the area around the ear being more common in regular mobile users) and not sure how this could apply if the phone was switched off.

eg.
"The findings show that parents are ignoring official health warnings about the hypothetical risks of mobile phone radiation on developing brains. Psychologists are also concerned that overprotective parents are "mollycoddling" young children and denying them the freedom needed to develop into mature teenagers." (telegraph 20.4.05)

and
"In the meantime, Sir William recommends that a precautionary approach be taken, especially with regard to children. The report states that children may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous system, the greater absorption of energy in tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. The Group has recommended that the widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged. Sir William also recommends that an information leaflet be made widely available to the public, setting out the report's advice." (dept.of Health 11.5.2000)

and
"Of particular concern to the NRPB (National Radiological Protection Board) is a report published by researchers at Sweden?s Karolinska Institute in October, which showed that people who had used mobile phones for 10 years or more had an increased risk of developing acoustic neuroma, a benign tumour regarded as serious because of its position next to brain tissue." (Sunday Times, 9.1.05)

You can tell I haven't got enough to do with my time can't you.

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