Health risk: Mobile phone firms have been accused of concealing warnings about the health risks of using their handsets.
A warning that Apple’s popular iPhone should be kept at least 15mm away from the body is buried deep inside the manual.
BlackBerry goes even further, saying customers should use their devices hands-free or keep them an inch from the body ‘including the abdomen of pregnant women and the lower abdomen of teenagers’. Again, this advice is hidden in the instruction booklet.
All other manufacturers, including Nokia and HTC, carry similar small-print warnings despite insisting that holding mobiles against the ear and head is harmless.
Health campaigners and politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are calling for clear warnings to be put on handset boxes.
They are also demanding a public education campaign, starting in schools, to advise on the safe use of the devices.
Alasdair Philips, of Powerwatch, an independent group which investigates the safety of mobile phones, said: ‘Most people have no idea about these warnings
‘The safety advice should be included on the boxes and far more prominently in the “getting started” section of user guides and not just in the detail at the back that hardly anyone reads.
‘This should be only part of a much wider public education campaign that begins in the schools.’
The safety advice in manuals is designed to limit so-called Radio Frequency exposure. This is said to heat body tissue and some – inconclusive – research suggests it is linked to tumours in the brain.
Advice: Campaigners say pregnant women should keep their handset away from the foetus in the first six months
THE SMALL PRINT
Blackberry torch: Use hands-free operation if it is available and keep at least 0.98in (25mm) from your body when turned on and connected to the wireless network. Reduce call time.
Apple iPhone: When using near your body for voice calls or for wireless network data, keep iPhone at least 15mm (5/8in) away from the body and only use accessories that do not have metal parts. Again maintain at least 15mm separation from the body.
Nokia C6: Maintain a normal use position at the ear at least 15mm (5/8in) away from the body. Any accessory should not contain metal and should position the device the above-stated distance from the body.
Most RF exposure comes from the antenna and it can increase when a phone is kept in a pocket because phones increase their power output when a network signal weakens.
Men who carry handsets on their belt or in their pockets with the keypad facing outward will suffer higher exposure because the antenna, which is always at the back, is close to the body.
SAR – Specific Absorption Rate – is the standard industry measurement for the amount of RF energy the body absorbs.
Mr Philips said: ‘When a phone has to power up, it sends high SAR power into the trunk and towards the kidneys and liver. It can be the testicles if in a trouser pocket.
‘Some girls carry them in chest bags which hang just below their breasts. Breasts, eyes and testicles absorb external RF energy the most. Blood-rich organs, such as the liver, kidneys and heart are among the top energy absorbers.
‘The ovaries and foetus are relatively well protected by the trunk, but it obviously makes sense to keep the handset away from those areas, especially the foetus in the first six months. Many later-life causes of ill health are increasingly being recognised as having their roots in foetal exposure to chemicals, hormones, radiation of various sorts.’
He said most handsets also put out pulsed ELF magnetic fields which travel further into the body than RF signals. These are associated with childhood leukaemia and some adult cancers.
Caroline Lucas, Green Party leader and MP, said: ‘Greens have never said don’t use mobile phones, but we have always said that as with any other technology,we need to make people aware of any potential risks and give clear guidance regarding the safest possible use, so we can get the maximum benefit from the technology with the least possible risk.’
Mobile phone firms are legally required to advise customers on how to minimise RF exposure and use their manuals to do so.
Michael Milligan of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum said: ‘A mobile phone can always be used up against the head without the need for this separation, because phones are designed to have the antenna far enough away from the head when making a call.
‘Every mobile phone model is tested to make sure they meet national and international exposure limits for exposure to Radio Frequency emissions, before they can be sold in the UK or elsewhere.’
However, many new phones are so slim, antennas will be closer to the head than distances recommended by many manufacturers.
Comments:-
My brother, at the age of 42, died of glioblastomamultigrade level 4, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. His doctors said that they thought it probably occurred because of his heavy use of a mobile phone, up to 4 hours a day and for 10 years. At the time, he didn't have a speaker phone, but also didn't believe use of the mobile phone close to his head could cause disease. He travelled a lot for work and needed it to keep in contact with clients, and he paid for this with his life.
- EiLing, Sydney, 10/10/2010 01:41
Oooo, I do get angry with so many assumptions about what it is a school's job to do. Alasdair Philips, of Powerwatch, says, with regard to the dangers from mobile phones, "This should be only part of a much wider public education campaign that begins in the schools." What nonsense. It begins in the home. It actually has nothing at all to do with the school, and when I was a Head I didn't allow mobile phones at all below the Sixth Form, unless a parent could show a very compelling reason why a mobile was needed by their child and would sign a disclaimer about any future health problems that might result from using a mobile phone.
- James Wheeldon, Grange, UK, 10/10/2010 00:21
I don't care what anyone says, I can FEEL the radiation given off by the more powerful phones - Blackberries seem to be the worst, followed by the Nokia models. When somebody near me on the train starts using a Blackberry I experience a stabbing pain in the side of my head - so much so that I sometimes have to go and sit elsewhere. People think I'm potty, but I am clearly hypersensitive to this type of radiation. Wi-fi-enabled laptops affect me in the same way.
- Rich, Rayleigh, Essex, 10/10/2010 00:08
When you think of all the electrical waves in your house from phones, laptops tv,s and microwaves its amazing we are not all walking around half cooked. Glad I dont work in curries or even a mobile phone shop.
- Samantha, london, 09/10/2010 22:10
Just about every 'celebrity' these days is photographed clutching a mobile phone, like it's some sort of talisman. The other hand usually cradles a large plastic cup of coffee or a bottle of water...Can't these people walk 100 yards down the street any more without making themselves look totally dependent?
- Jillie, Ipswich England, 09/10/2010 21:43
When I first started using cellphones my brother, who is a staunch environmentalist, told me that mobile phones emitted unsafe levels of radiation. Well, I laughed and told him he was crazy.
Who is laughing now?
We are surrounded by devices that emit radiation. Are we safe?
Do we want to be safe?
Today going Green is all we hear. Save the plant! Find alternative energy!
Well do you know that one of the biggest polluters is China ?
Large quantities of goods that fail to perform as designed are dumped on Third World countries. Visiting stores in these countries expose defected merchandise that waste our planet resources. Where are the standards in developing countries that we expect in developed countries?
They are not enforced !!
We are being ripped off under the guise of going Green, while large manufacturing concerns in Asian countries continue to dwindle our precious resources.
- Kahlil, Georgetown Guyana, 09/10/2010 20:47
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