Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees
It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But
some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause
massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. They are putting
forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other
hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre
mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt
disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some
bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then
spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well.
The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees'
navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from
finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there
is now evidence to back this up.
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) occurs when a hive's inhabitants
suddenly disappear, leaving only queens, eggs and a few immature
workers, like so many apian Mary Celestes. The vanished bees are never
found, but thought to die singly far from home. The parasites, wildlife
and other bees that normally raid the honey and pollen left behind when
a colony dies, refuse to go anywhere near the abandoned hives.
The alarm was first sounded last autumn, but has now hit half of all
American states. The West Coast is thought to have lost 60 per cent of
its commercial bee population, with 70 per cent missing on the East
Coast. CCD has since spread to Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal,
Italy and Greece. And last week John Chapple, one of London's biggest
bee-keepers, announced that 23 of his 40 hives have been abruptly
abandoned.
Other apiarists have recorded losses in Scotland, Wales and north-west
England, but the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
insisted: "There is absolutely no evidence of CCD in the UK."
The implications of the spread are alarming. Most of the world's crops
depend on pollination by bees. Albert Einstein once said that if the
bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".
No one knows why it is happening. Theories involving mites, pesticides,
global warming and GM crops have been proposed, but all have drawbacks.
German research has long shown that bees' behaviour changes near power
lines. Now a limited study at Landau University has found that bees
refuse to return to their hives when mobile phones are placed nearby.
Dr Jochen Kuhn, who carried it out, said this could provide a "hint" to
a possible cause. Dr George Carlo, who headed a massive study by the US
government and mobile phone industry of hazards from mobiles in the
Nineties, said: "I am convinced the possibility is real."
The case against handsets
Evidence of dangers to people from mobile phones is increasing. But
proof is still lacking, largely because many of the biggest perils,
such as cancer, take decades to show up. Most research on cancer has so
far proved inconclusive. But an official Finnish study found that
people who used the phones for more than 10 years were 40 per cent more
likely to get a brain tumour on the same side as they held the handset.
Equally alarming, blue-chip Swedish research revealed that radiation
from mobile phones killed off brain cells, suggesting that today's
teenagers could go senile in the prime of their lives. Studies in India
and the US have raised the possibility that men who use mobile phones
heavily have reduced sperm counts. And, more prosaically, doctors have
identified the condition of "text thumb", a form of RSI from constant
texting.
Professor Sir William Stewart, who has headed two official inquiries,
warned that children under eight should not use mobiles and made a
series of safety recommendations, largely ignored by ministers.
(By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross,
The Independent, 15/04/2007)