Major Austrian insurer AUVA finds effects of cell phones on DNA, EEG and human proteins

Update August 2016: AUVA Athem 2 report: “DNA damage from cell phones proven” (Article Diagnose Funk)

On behalf of the major Austrian insurance company AUVA with over 4.3 million policyholders, research was carried out into the health effects of electromagnetic fields from mobile phones at levels well below current exposure limits, which only protect against warming.

In the studies on healthy volunteers, the effects of the fields of the GSM-900 and UMTS technology were measured in a double-blind study. The main results are as follows:

• Increasing changes in EEG in the alpha spectrum, from about 5-10 minutes after the start of exposure and until 50 minutes after the end of exposure.
• Exposure to radiation from mobile phones causes a significant change in the rate of protein production.

Both these effects and DNA breaks occurred at low field strengths, where the heat effect (thermal effect) does not play a role. The results of the project are a further confirmation of the existence of non-thermal effects.

Download the complete AUVA report entitled “Athem: Untersuchung athermischer Wirkungen elektromagnetischer Felder im Mobilfunkbereich” (in German).

English summary of the report.