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Last updated at
09:00 19 May 2012
Pregnant women who use mobile phones are more likely to have children with behavioural problems, a shocking study has found.
Using handsets just two or three times a day is enough to raise the risk of hyperactivity and emotional problems.
Letting children use mobiles before the age of seven also puts them at risk, scientists warn.
The research is the latest in a series of health fears linked to mobile phones and yet another worry for expectant mothers, who have already been warned about drinking, smoking, pesticides, food allergies and stress.
The study follows a finding by the official Russian radiation watchdog that the danger posed by mobile phones is "not much lower than the risk to children's health from tobacco or alcohol".
The UK's Health Protection Agency said the study's findings were unexpected and highlighted the need for caution over mobiles. But it stopped short of telling pregnant women not to use them.
A spokesman said: "Its findings need to be investigated thoroughly. There may be another cause for the effect observed."
The agency has already warned against "excessive" use of mobile phones by children.
The study, the first of its kind in the world, covered more than 13,000 women.
It found that those who used phones while pregnant were 54 per cent more likely to report behavioural problems in their children, including hyperactivity and emotional and relationship difficulties.