EMMA ROSS / AP 8dec00
LONDON -- The British government launched a package of safety precautions for cell phones Friday, including leaflets advising that children be discouraged from using the handsets at all.
The measures include $10 million for more research, disclosure of the radiation levels emitted by every phone model and an audit of radio wave emissions from base stations.
Though phones sold in the United States are starting to carry notification of radiation levels, Britain is the first country to embark on such a broad precautionary response to health concerns, said Michael Dolan, a mobile phone expert with the Federation of the Electronics Industry trade group.
The leaflets summarize the safety research to date, saying experts have concluded that although no evidence exists that using a cell phone causes brain tumors or other ill effects, a health risk cannot be ruled out, particularly for children.
They will be distributed over the next few days not only through phone retailers, but also through doctors' offices, libraries, book, music and electronics retailers, post offices and supermarkets, the Health Department said.
More than 300 million people worldwide use mobile phones, including 97 million in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently ordered new studies after industry-sponsored test-tube research discovered cell phone signals might cause genetic damage in human blood cells, which in turn might spur cancer growth.
In Britain, where more than half the population use cell phones, mobile phone retailers and other outlets are to distribute the leaflets voluntarily. But if the information does not seem to be getting to consumers, a mandatory approach might be considered, said Dr. Liam Donaldson, England's chief medical officer.
``It is essential that we provide people with the evidence on this issue to allow them to make an informed choice about using their mobile phone,'' Donaldson said.
The leaflets advise that to minimize exposure to radio waves, users can keep calls short and consider relative radio wave values when buying a new phone.
Those figures, which are expressed as the amount of radiation people absorb from a given handset, will be available for every mobile phone sold in Britain starting in January so shoppers can compare phones before buying them, Donaldson said.
Documentation also will explain in layman's terms what the numbers mean.
Donaldson said it has not yet been decided how the information will be made available but that displaying it on the screens of mobile phones is one option being considered.
In the leaflets, the chief medical officers for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland ``strongly advise'' that children under 16 use the handsets only when essential and keep all calls short. Children's still-forming skulls and brains could be more vulnerable should any risk be identified, they note.
The leaflets say the medical officers ``recommend that if parents want to avoid their children being subject to any possible risk that might be identified in the future, the way to do so is to exercise their choice not to let their children use mobile phones.''
Some studies have indicated that changes in brain activity might be linked to the phones, but scientists don't yet know whether those changes are harmful.
The mobile phone industry is concerned consumers may be puzzled by the recommendation that those under 16 refrain as much as possible from using the phones, said Dolan, director of the mobile telecoms advisory group.
``We think the precautionary advice is out of proportion to the primary scientific findings -- that there is no evidence of harm,'' said Dolan. ``We're not talking about the magnitude of risk here. What we're talking about here is a risk of a risk.''
``Parents will have to weigh up all the factors, including the security benefits of their children having a phone,'' he said.
- British-commissioned experts' report on mobile phone safety, http://www.iegmp.org.uk
- World Health Organization fact sheet on mobile phones, http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact193.html
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