Mobile phone report welcomed by MT

A United Kingdom report into possible health effects of mobile phones has concluded there are no biological or adverse health dangers.

It's been applauded by Manx Telecom as echoing a report requested by MT from OFCom into the safety compliance of mobile phone installations on a surgery in Village Walk, Onchan.

Manx Telecom Chief Executive Chris Hall says: 'that investigation identified that the installations are being operated significantly below prescribed safety levels. He says this latest report gives people even more reassurances'.

The foreword to the report by the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme says: 'The six year research programme has found no association between short term mobile phone use and brain cancer. Studies on volunteers also showed no evidence that brain function was affected by mobile phone signals or the signals used by the emergency services (TETRA). The MTHR programme management committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area'.

The foreword go on: 'The research programme also included the largest and most robust studies of electrical hypersensitivity undertaken anywhere in the world. These studies have found no evidence that the unpleasant symptoms experienced by sufferers are the result of exposure to signals from mobile phones or base stations'.

That's the good news, however, there are some caveats. The report does note: 'There are some gaps in our knowledge that need to be filled. The absence of an association between the exposure to mobile phone signals and cancers of the brain and nervous system for exposure of less than ten years is encouraging'.

But it goes on: 'Cancer symptoms are rarely detectable until ten to 15 years after the cancer producing event and since few people have used their mobile phones that long, it is too early to say for certain whether mobile phones could lead to cancer or indeed other diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases which have not been studied at all. Another gap concerns the effect of RF exposure on children. The reactions of children to environmental agents, such as lead, tobacco smoke, ultra violet radiation and ionising radiation may be different and or stronger than those of adults. It is therefore possible that the same could be true of exposure to mobile communications signals and very little has been done so far to investigate whether this is the case'.

This area will be the subject of a cohort study on adults and research on children in an extension to the programme.