You’ve all read the stories about potential health hazards of long-term use of mobile phones. Now Italian researchers have come up with new research that suggests that the phones could cause leukaemia.

The research team, from the National Research Council in Bologna, decided to investigate the potential link after previous studies had indicated that leukaemia seemed to be more prevalent among mobile-phone users (although, as the entire population seems to have a mobile these days, this may be less compelling than first thought).

Paradoxically, the radiowaves killed off leukaemia cells during the first 24 hours of exposure, but after 48 hours, the process went into reverse and the cells began replicating dramatically.

Other experts, who point to the UK government research that found that mobiles represented no health risks, have contested the findings. The only way cells could be affected is if they are heated by the radiowaves, and signals from mobile phones are too weak to achieve this, they argue.

But the head of the Italian research team, Fiorenzo Marinelli, believes that the radiowaves could be affecting the DNA of cells which, in turn, interferes with the cells’ biochemical signals.

While the research provides some concerns about cancer cells, the real question remaining is the effect mobile phones can have on healthy cells.

* To find out more about potential health hazards your mobile phone may cause, buy the WDDTY Environmental Handbook. It’s available on our website http://www.wddty.co.uk