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In May of 2000 in the UK the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, chaired by Sir William Stewart, concluded in an official report that there is no clear evidence that the radio waves produced by mobile phones pose a health risk. "The balance of evidence to date does not suggest that emissions from mobile phones and base stations put the health of the UK population at risk," the original report said. Moreover, the UK government, the British Trade Association, the Federation of the Electronics Industry along with other mobile phone manufacturers and operators, welcomed the results of the study.
However the conclusion of the study was by no means absolute and suggested that children might be at risk if overexposed to mobile phone radiation while Stewart himself said more research should be done in the area.
Meanwhile, scientists and phone users around the world continue to debate the issues, often citing anecdotal evidence of the dangers of mobile phones with symptoms including noises in the head, migraine, headaches and even cancer and tumours.
On Friday Stewart, who now heads an independent committee of experts managing the new Link Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHR), announced that 15 projects studying possible detrimental effects of mobile phone radiation would receive STG4.5 million in funding.
In all STG7.4 million has been allocated to pay for research into the area and more projects are expected to be announced in the coming months. The money for the research has come from both the UK government and industry.
The testing, involving human volunteers, will include two studies to examine possible effects on blood pressure and hearing. Four studies to be carried out will investigate whether the use of mobile phones can affect the risk of developing brain cancer or leukaemia. Two more programs will scrutinise the effects of mobile phone signals on brain function while one study will probe ways in which mobile phones affect the performance of drivers.
Two additional projects will try to identify how mobile phone signals could produce biological effects by looking for evidence of changes in exposed cells. Other studies will examine the interaction of radio signals with the body in order to characterise how much energy is deposited and where.
"A lot of research carried out to date has focussed on possible indirect effects of mobile phones. We now need to focus more on the direct impacts, if any, on human health," Stewart said on Friday. "This requires well-planned studies on people including volunteers, using the best possible methods. This is what our programme seeks to do."
Dr. Michael Clark, scientific spokesman for the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), explained to ElectricNews.Net that the research would focus on the volunteers themselves.
"The emphasis here is on what effect the phones have on individuals," he said. "There has been a lot of research of the cellular impact, but not really that much on people, and that's what they are looking into."
The British government responded warmly to the proposed research, including Yvette Cooper, the Minister for Public Health and Douglas Alexander, the Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness. "We need to fill the gaps in our scientific knowledge as soon as possible so that we can provide people with the evidence they need to make an informed choice about using their mobile phones," Cooper said.
The UK Department of Health already warns citizens of possible dangers of the devices and suggests that users keep calls short and consider relative SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) values when buying handsets.
As a rule industry and government, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), say that there is no evidence that mobile phones pose a health risk to users. Yet at the same time, these organisations are reluctant to say the devices are absolutely safe.
Responding to media reports which were "distorting" its position, the WHO recently said, "None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to the radio frequency (RF) fields from mobile phones or their base stations causes any adverse health consequence. However, there are gaps in knowledge that have been identified for further research to better assess health risks."
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