With cellphones being connected (or not) to things like cancer, ear tumors, and other sorts of disturbing illnesses, it's not surprising to find yet another issue linked to the seemingly debilitating devices. Dr. Richard Lathe, a molecular biologist in the UK, has proposed that the increasing autism rate in Europe is probably linked to old cell phone batteries not being properly disposed of. Studies he participated in point to an environmental factor causing the spike in autism, which he correlates to heavy metals that seep from old batteries. Autistic children have shown a difficulty in "ridding their bodies of toxic heavy metals" and over half of the autistic subjects he tested had substantially high amounts in their bodies. A similar study in Texas found a link between heightened mercury in the environment and autism, which Lathe feels further substantiates his findings. So are we all doomed to malfunction if we continue to use our mobile? It's unlikely (we hope), and Dr. Lathe even points out some good news by stating that "Chelation therapy, which removes the metals, can significantly improve behavior in autistic children." So before you flip your panic switch, there's probably not too much to worry over here, and if history continues to repeat itself you'll probably find a more soothing report in the near future.