A study linking mobile phone use in pregnancy to behavioural problems in children has been dismissed as inconclusive by the industry in Australia.
World-first research from Denmark and the US has concluded that women who use mobile phones when pregnant are more likely to give birth to children with behavioural problems.
According to the study, they just need to use it two or three times a day to raise the risk of their baby developing hyperactivity and emotional and conduct issues by the age of five.
The researchers behind the study of 13,000 children say their results were unexpected and the link was difficult to explain.
But if they hold true, they have major health implications, the team said.
The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, which represents mobile phone companies, however, said the results should be interpreted with caution.
Chief executive Chris Althaus said mobile phone emission levels were very low.
"Scientific evidence does not indicate the need for special precautions for either adults or children in the use of mobile phones," Mr Althaus said.
"Even the study's authors have noted the results were unexpected and exposure to a foetus from a mobile phone is likely to be extremely low."
The study by UCLA in California and Aarhus University in Denmark was published this week in the journal Epidemiology.
It showed that mothers who used mobile phones were 54 per cent more likely to have children with behavioural problems, according to a report in the UK's Independent newspaper.
They were between 25 and 35 per cent more at risk of emotional problems, hyperactivity and difficulties relating to their peers, and 50 per cent more prone to conduct problems.
The researchers said their results were surprising and could not be explained by other links, like smoking during pregnancy, inheritable psychiatric disorders or social economic status.
However, they said it was possible mothers who used their phones more frequently might tend to pay less attention to their children, leading to behavioural problems.
Source: smh.com.au
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