Research indicates that protein in human cells might be altered when subjected
to radiation from mobile phones, but the health effects of such radiation were
unclear, Finnish officials said on Tuesday.

The Finnish Radiation and
Nuclear Safety Authority subjected a small area of skin on the forearms of 10
female volunteers to mobile phone radiation - otherwise known as radio frequency
modulated electromagnetic fields, or RF-EMF - for one hour.

Biopsies from exposed skin
showed alterations not seen in similar biopsies on non-exposed skin, the report
said.

"Mobile phone radiation
has some biological effect," said Dariusz Leszczynski, an agency researcher.
"Even if the changes are small, they still exist."

But, Leszczynski said, the
study did not indicate any possible health hazards and was conducted to find out
only if living human skin responds to mobile phone radiation. Earlier studies
have been conducted on cells taken from people.

The study, published on
Tuesday in the online journal

BMC
Genomics,

said that analysis of 580
proteins identified eight proteins that were affected.

The agency claimed it was the
first study showing that "molecular level changes might take place in human
volunteers in response to exposure to RF-EMF," describing it as "globally
unique."

The agency plans a
more extensive study in 2009, with 50 to 100 volunteers.

Via Times of India