New Fears
Over Safety Of Mobile Kits
Reuters
Journalists: Kirstin Ridley and Richard Baum
November 02, 2000
LONDON
(Reuters) - Fresh evidence that hands-6.00 kits can significantly boost the
brain's exposure to radiation from mobile phones has been published,
challenging government research amid consumer health concerns.
Consumer
research magazine Which? said its new findings confirmed claims it first
published in April that using hands-6.00 earpieces could more than triple the
brain's exposure to radiation compared with a conventional mobile phone call.
The original
report was dismissed in August by the government, which commissioned research
that showed the kits did cut exposure levels.
But Which?
said the methodology used in the government research was flawed and that
further research using a more realistic model confirmed hands-6.00 kits could
act as an aerial that channelled radiation to the ear.
The level of
emissions depended on the distance between the tip of the phone's aerial and
the earpiece, which varied according to how the phone was held. The government
tests did not allow for this, Which? said.
"As in
our earlier tests, it's clear that consumers can't rely on hands- 6.00 kits to
reduce radiation emissions at the brain from mobile phones," Which?
editor Helen Parker said.
"Although
these kits can reduce radiation, they can also increase it significantly,
depending on where you position the phone and kit. Unfortunately, there is no
way that consumers can work out the best position to reduce radiation."
The increased
emissions were still within British and European safety levels, she said.
Scientists
agree that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones warms brain tissue,
that some strains of mice have developed cancer in tests in Australia and
Finland and that others become disorientated.
But it
remains unproven that mobile phones pose a human health risk.
EMISSIONS CUT
IN SOME POSITIONS
Which? said the kits could cut emissions by 10 to 90 percent in some
positions. But in others they could increase them by a factor of 1.5-3.5. The
government used only one position which did not allow the wire to hang
straight down, Which? said.
A spokeswoman
for the Department of Trade and Industry said it still had doubts about the
Which? research because of the type and position of the measuring probe used
and the liquid inside the test dummy's head.
"The
important thing is that we resolve the differences," she said.
Mobile phone
maker Ericsson also played down the new findings.
"Ericsson
and other mobile phone manufacturers, while not agreeing with the conclusions,
encourage any organisation that believes that they have an alternative test
methodology to put their case to international standards setting bodies in
order for experts to evaluate the relative merits of the respective
methods," it said in a statement.
Which? said
it was impossible to recommend a "safe" position for holding a
phone. Both short and long distances between the aerial and the earpiece
produced increased emissions, with only a short length in the middle
generating lower emissions than conventional calls.
