Health and safety
The Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) in the Stewart
Report (Stewart 2000) recommended further research be carried out into
possible effects of mobile phone use on health. The National Radiation
Protection Board’s (NRPB) independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising
Radiation (AGNIR: Chairman, Professor Anthony Swerdlow) subsequently
examined recent (ie post-Stewart) experimental and epidemiological
evidence for adverse health effects caused by exposure to radiofrequency
(RF) transmissions, including those associated with mobile telephone
handsets and base stations.
AGNIR has concluded (AGNIR 2003) that there is no biological evidence
for mutation or tumour causation by RF exposure, and epidemiological
studies overall do not support causal associations between exposures
to RF and the risk of cancer, in particular from mobile phone use. AGNIR
found a number of studies that suggested possible effects on brain function
at RF exposure levels comparable with those from mobile phone handset
use. However, AGNIR regarded the overall evidence as inconclusive.
AGNIR did not state that mobile phones have been proven to be
entirely risk free. It identified the limitations of the published research
and concluded that: ‘In aggregate the research published since the
Stewart report (Stewart, 2000) does not give cause for concern.
The weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are
adverse health effects from exposures to RF fields below guideline levels,
but the published research on RF exposures and health has limitations,
and mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively
short time. The possibility therefore remains open that there could
be health effects from exposure to RF fields below guideline levels;
hence continued research is needed.’ For more information see
www.nrpb.org/advisory_groups/agnir/index.htm.
The NRPB have published a further report (NRPB, 2004) and a literature
review (Sienkiewicz and Kowalczuk, 2004) which brings together the
findings of 26 reports on mobile phones and health prepared by other
national and medical bodies including an Expert Panel of the Royal Society
of Canada (Royal Society of Canada 1999), the Department of Health
in France (Zmirou et al. 2001) and the Health Council of the Netherlands
(NCN, 2002) as well as the British Medical Association’s (BMA) interim
report (BMA 2001). NRPB found that the conclusions of these studies
are very similar to those of the Stewart and AGNIR reports in relation to
possible health effects from exposure to RF from both mobile phones
and base stations. The Health Council of the Netherlands (HCN) differed
a little from the others in that this was the only report that did not consider
it necessary to recommend a precautionary approach of limiting mobile
telephone use by children. HCN concluded that ‘there is no reason to
recommend that children should restrict the use of mobile telephones as
much as possible’. In contrast the original Stewart Report (Stewart, 2000)
stated that ‘if there are currently unrecognised adverse health effects
from the use of mobile phones, children may be more vulnerable,’ and
recommended that ‘the widespread use of mobile phones by children
for non-essential calls should be discouraged.’
