SUICIDES
‘LINKED TO PHONE MASTS’
There are thousands of masts in Britain
Sunday, June22, 2008
By Lucy Johnston
THE spate of deaths
among young people in Britain’s suicide capital could be linked to radio waves
from dozens of mobile phone transmitter masts near the victims’ homes.
Dr Roger Coghill,
who sits on a Government advisory committee on mobile radiation, has discovered
that all 22 youngsters who have killed themselves in Bridgend, South Wales,
over the past 18 months lived far closer than average to a mast.
He has examined
worldwide studies linking proximity of masts to depression. Dr Coghill’s
work is likely to trigger alarm and lead to closer scrutiny of the safety of
masts, which are frequently sited on public
buildings such as schools and hospitals.
It is also likely to
fuel more campaigns against placing masts close to public places on health
grounds.
Dr Coghill
said last night there was strong circumstantial evidence that the masts may
have triggered depression in those from Bridgend who took their lives.
They include Kelly
Stephenson, 20, who hanged herself from a shower rail in February this year
while on holiday in Folkestone,
Kent.
Dr Coghill
said: “There is a body of research that has over the years pointed to the fact
that exposure to mobile radiation can lead to depression. There is evidence of
higher suicide rates where people live near any electrical equipment that gives
off radio or electrical waves.”
There are now 70 million
mobile phone handsets in the UK and around 50,000 masts. Both emit radio
signals and electromagnetic fields that can penetrate the brain, and for many
years campaigners have argued that this could seriously damage people’s health.
The national average for
proximity to a mobile phone transmitter varies depending on the type of mast.
The latest masts are far more powerful so they can transmit more sophisticated
data, such as photos and videos for people to download on internet phones.
Masts are placed on
average 800 metres away from each home across
the country. In Bridgend the victims lived on average only 356 metres
away.
The national average
distance from a new powerful mast is a kilometre while
in Bridgend it is 540 metres. Three
transmitters were within 200 metres, 13 within
400 metres
and as many as 22 within 500 metres of
victims’ homes. Carwyn Jones, 28, who hanged himself
last week, was the third young person in his street to commit suicide.
Research shows young
people’s brains are more susceptible to radio wave energy. Only two weeks ago a
report identified mobiles as having an effect on sleep patterns.
Dr Coghill
added: “What seems to be happening is that the electrical energy is having an
effect on the chemistry of the brain, depleting serotonin levels. We know that
in depression serotonin levels are low and that a standard treatment for
depression is to give drugs to boost serotonin levels. As they begin to work,
the patient’s depression lifts.”
He said urgent research
was needed because Britain was now covered with thousands of masts, many close
to homes, schools and offices.
Since January 5, 2007,
there have been 22 deaths of young people in the Bridgend area. Some believe
the suicides are linked but so far experts have failed to find a common cause.
Thomas Davies, 20,
hanged himself in February 2007. Last night his brother Nathan, 19, welcomed Dr
Coghill’s
research. “As far as this family is concerned nothing can bring Tom back,” he
said. “But if there is a link found and something can be done then it could
prevent further suicides.”
But Mike Dolan,
executive director of the Mobile Operators Association, dismissed Dr Coghill’s
research. “This is an insensitive and outrageous piece of speculation which has
no basis in established science,” he said.
The Government’s Health
Protection Agency insisted that fields from mobile masts – even modern powerful
masts – were well within international agreed safety limits. “There is no
evidence that masts do you harm. The levels of radio waves are very low.”
Source:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/49330/Suicides-linked-to-phone-masts-#ixzz19KUvdBAw