Studies needed on health impact of mobile phones (York Liberal Democrats)

York Liberal Democrats <info@yorklibdems.org.uk>

Studies needed on health impact of mobile phones

January 12, 2005 3:01 PM

Andrew Waller, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Liberal Democrats in York has called for more research into the medical impact of mobile phones, base stations and radio frequencies. This follows the publication today of the report by the National Radiological Protection Board "Mobile Phones and Health 2004: Report by the Board of NRPB."

Andrew Waller, who is a physics graduate, commented that "today's report goes further than the 2000 Stewart Report in putting pressure on the government for research into the effects of use of mobile phones. I back the calls for investigations into the genetic predisposition for some groups in the population that may be much more susceptible to damage from use of this equipment. There also needs to be clearer information given to the public on the power from their mobile phones so that they can make informed choices. Applying precautions to children is sensible, and should be the start of a general re-assessment of the new technologies."

Also raised in the report is the need to adopt a more precautionary approach to the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) network that has been deployed by the police. A study on police officers who are occupationally exposed to TETRA signals has been undertaken by the Home Office.

The Stewart report had identified the need for research on brain function and this is needed even more now that 3G technology has been introduced.

Andrew Waller said, "Its time that we stood back from the technology and assessed what is good and helpful, from what is unnecessary and harmful. Too many technological gimmicks are looking for a problem to solve, but clever marketing could be seeing them become problems in themselves. We need more large scale studies to allay the fears of the public about the impact of radio frequencies on health. These need to be independent of the industry."

"I am one of the many millions of Britons with a mobile phone, and so am just as interested in the facts as anyone else."