Base stations already precautionary, say mobile industry leaders
Mobile phone base stations are inherently precautionary and governments and policy makers should consider risk communication programs to deal with public concern, according to a new commentary by Jack Rowley, Director of Research and Sustainability for the GSM Association (GSMA) and Mike Dolan, Executive Director of the UK Mobile Operators Association (MOA).
Rowley and Dolan co-authored a paper scheduled for publication in the September edition of Environmental Health Perspectives arguing that “conservative exposure standards, technical features that minimize unnecessary exposures, ongoing research, regular review of standards, and availability of consumer information make mobile communications inherently precautionary”.
In addition, Rowley and Dolan say adopting precautionary measures may increase, rather than decrease, public concern.
“There is research showing that undertaking precautionary measures for the purpose of reassuring the public sends out mixed messages and actually increases community concern,” Rowley and Dolan say.
“We conclude that in the absence of a scientifically plausible hazard from exposure to low-level RF, application of the PP [Precautionary Principle] is not appropriate to policy on the use of mobile phones and the siting of base stations.”
In a MOBILEpodcast interview in July about the paper, Mike Dolan said it’s important to make it clear that there are very well established regulatory and legal boundaries around the application of the precautionary principle.
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ICNIRP reports no evidence of cancer risk
A comprehensive review of population studies published in September by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has found no convincing evidence mobile phone use is associated with brain cancer.
“Overall the studies published to date do not demonstrate an increased risk within approximately 10 years of use for any tumor of the brain or any other head tumor... For slow-growing tumors... the absence of association reported thus far is less conclusive because the observation period has been too short,” the review concluded.
The ICNIRP researchers also examined the impact of the latency period of the cancers studied, because it has been widely expressed that it’s too soon to see the effect of a cancer risk, if there actually is one.
“However, the important issue is not how long it takes for maximum risk to occur, but how long before detectable risk is present. Even for asbestos, a carcinogen that has a notoriously long induction period, detectable elevations in risk occur 10 - 14 years after first exposure. Furthermore, it has been argued that RF fields cannot plausibly initiate cancer since they do not damage DNA, and that if RF acts at a later stage in carcinogenesis, the effects on tumor occurrence should be relatively rapid,” the researchers said.
Dr Jack Rowley, Director of Research and Sustainability for the GSMA, said the review is consistent with many other independent reviews that have concluded that there is no scientific evidence of established health risks at exposures below the international safety recommendations.
“This review adds to the growing list of independent health authority reviews which have concluded the radio signals from mobile phones are unlikely to create a health hazard, a view supported by the WHO,” Dr Rowley said.
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ICNIRP confirms 1998 safety guidelines valid
The global body recognized by the World Health Organization for expertise in setting worldwide safety standards for mobile phones has published a statement on their 1998 radiofrequency safety guidelines and confirmed that they still protect all mobile phone users.
The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) released the two-page statement to confirm that their guidelines -- which were first published in 1998 -- are still valid until further notice.
“…it is the opinion of ICNIRP that the scientific literature published since the 1998 guidelines has provided no evidence of any adverse effects below the basic restrictions and does not necessitate an immediate revision of its guidance on limiting exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields [emitted by mobile phones],” the review said.
Importantly, the review of the guidelines included all INTERPHONE data published to date.
“However, individual national and multinational results published thus far do not indicate an elevation of the risk of cancers in the head with cell phones within 10 years of first use. More data are needed before conclusions can be drawn for longer durations,” ICNIRP said.
Dr Jack Rowley, Director of Research and Sustainability for the GSMA, said the review was consistent with the conclusions of many other independent reviews.
“This is an important confirmation that the present WHO endorsed safety guidelines are protective for all persons against all established health risks.
“The ICNIRP guidelines form the basis of WHO and ITU recommendations to governments and have been widely adopted around the world,” Dr Rowley said.
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Spanish expert group rules out health risks
A Spanish Government expert group report published in May reviewing science published in the past two years related to mobile phone and base station safety has found no substantiated scientific evidence of a health risk.
Researchers from the Spanish Scientific Advisory Committee on Radiofrequency and Health (CCARS) found “exposure to mobile telephones for periods of less than 10 years by healthy adult users does not increase the risk of developing a brain tumor”.
The expert group also found no evidence of carcinogenic effects resulting from exposure to mobile phone RF fields.
Importantly, the researchers say changes to the safety standard limits are not justified.
“As a whole, the national and international committees for protection against RF waves unanimously conclude that recent scientific/technical breakthroughs do not justify changes in the present RF benchmark levels and exposure limits for the public and for workers,” the CCARS report concluded.
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German Government research project finds no reason to doubt standards
The German Mobile Telecommunication Research Programme (DMF) has published its final report, finding the current international safety guideline limits for mobile phone emissions provides ample room for protection of human health.
“The DMF’s findings give no reason to question the protective effect of current limit values. However, as some studies found minimal physiological reactions and indications that children could be more exposed than adults, along with the constantly open question on health risks from long-term exposure for adults and in particular for children, make it necessary to continue dealing carefully with wireless communication technologies,” the report states.
Released by the German Department of Radiation Protection and Health in May, the report also provides much needed data on the question regarding long-term health effects.
The researchers found whole-of-life studies conducted on animals did not produce health effects for various end points tested, including different cancers, tinnitus and infertility. Even for long-term exposure of multiple generations, the researchers found no evidence of a health risk.
“Studies on several generations of animals do not support the hypothesis of a particular sensitivity during early developmental stages. Nevertheless, the question whether the health risk as a result of long-term exposure is higher for children than for adults, either due to age differences or due to a longer lifetime exposure, could not be answered conclusively by the DMF studies,” the report stated.
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ACRBR disagrees with Australian brain surgeons
An Australian expert group on electromagnetic emissions and health has disagreed with the conclusions of Australian neurosurgeons, Dr Vini Khurana and Dr Charlie Teo, that mobile phone use might be associated with an increased risk of brain tumours.
Recently, Dr Khurana joined Dr Teo, Swedish researcher, Dr Lennart Hardell, and others published a paper in Surgical Neurology which concluded there is adequate evidence from existing population based studies to suggest a link between prolonged mobile phone usage and the development of brain tumours on the same side of the head a phone is typically used.
However, the Australian Centre for RF Bioeffects Research (ACRBR) published a commentary on the paper and concluded:
“The pre-existing data they consider are not synthesised in a meaningful fashion. Many of the conclusions made in the paper contradict those made by international expert committees, without providing adequate reasons for rejecting the standard view.”
Drs Khurana and Teo also claimed they have seen a disturbing trend in young people getting brain cancer.
The ACRBR also reject this view saying that:
“Given that the use of mobile telephony has increased dramatically since the 1980s, if mobile phones were indeed causing brain tumours then one would expect that brain tumour incidence rates would also be increasing. So far such increases in incidence rates have not been found.”
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Researchers find SMS not radio waves may affect kids' brains
Regular predictive texting, not electromagnetic energy, maybe affecting the brain power of mobile phone using young people, according to a new study published in the science journal Bioelectromagnetics in July.
Researchers from Monash University in Australia examined the cognitive capacities and mobile phone use of 317 children aged between 11 and 14 through the use of tests.
“We found that students who reported making or receiving more voice or SMS calls per week, and in particular more of both, demonstrated shorter response times on learning tasks, but less accurate working memory,” the researchers reported.
Predictive texting, which involves pressing one key per letter before the phone works out what word the user wants to type, trains young people to be fast but inaccurate the researcher suspect.
Professor Michael Abramson, an epidemiologist who carried out the research, told the Daily Mail that:
“The children who used their phones a lot were faster on some of the tests but were less accurate. We suspect that using mobile phones a lot, particularly tools like predictive text, is behind this.”
Importantly, the researchers said the amount of energy transmitted when texting is a mere 0.03 per cent of that transmitted during voice calls, suggesting electromagnetic energy is not to blame for the brain effects.
“We don't think that the mobile phones are frying their brains,” lead author Professor Michael Abramson told ABC Science.
Jack Rowley, Director of Research and Sustainability for the GSMA, said:
“As the study involved only mobile phone users it could not determine whether the findings are related to pre-existing behaviours or to mobile phone use. A Health Council of the Netherlands review of studies on cognitive effects published in March found observed effects are small and have no apparent health significance.”
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Mobiles can cut greenhouse gas by 18 percent
Mobile technology could cut Europe’s annual energy bill by at least €43 billion and reduce annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 113 megatonnes O2 equivalent by 2020, according to a report by Vodafone.
This represents 18 percent of the UK’s annual CO2e output in 2008 and approximately 2.4 percent of expected EU emissions in 2020, according to the study.
“Of these opportunities, smart grid and smart logistics represent the largest potential, with 70% of the identified carbon savings. Smart applications enabled by wireless M2M [machine-to-machine] connectivity represent 80% of the total carbon savings identified in this report, and the remaining 20% can be achieved through dematerialization,” the report found.
The report indicates that mobile technology has the potential to be a major catalyst in driving carbon reductions across a range of industry sectors if industry and governments can collaborate.
“This study demonstrates clear opportunities for wireless telecoms to enable significant emissions reductions across the EU and beyond. Governments have an important role in creating the policy framework to stimulate uptake of these technologies. The industry sectors that would be instrumental in developing and using wireless ICT also have an important role to play in order to realise the greatest carbon reduction opportunities,” the report stated.
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Welcome to the GSMA Health & Environment Newsletter. This e-newsletter provides regular updates on developments on science and policy issues and GSMA activities related to mobile communications health and environmental issues.
