The shape of human cells can amplify the effect of mobile phone radiation on human tissue, researchers reported today. Computer models used to explore the effects of radiation from mobile phones have in the past treated cells as simple spheres. But a Spanish team led by Professor Jose Luis Sebastian at the University Complutense in Madrid has found that the intensity of electric fields induced in cells is heightened when more realistic geometric shapes are used.
Many human cells look more like cylinders and rugby balls than spherical balls.
The researchers calculated electric field intensity induced in simulated spherical, cylindrical and ellipsoid mammalian cells exposed to radiation. They found that for non-spherical cells, the induced electric field was highly dependent on the angle of the cell in relation to the radiation source. In particular it was discovered that the electric field was amplified across the cell membrane - an effect not taken into account by previous investigations. Higher field values were obtained for ellipsoidal and cylindrical cells compared with spherical cells. The team also found that interactions between neighbouring cells significantly modified the electric field within each cell.