[A+] Children should avoid using mobile phones

Health officials have warned that children should avoid using mobile phones unnecessarily after an Australian study found they may pose a more serious health risk than smoking or exposure to asbestos.

A neurosurgeon, whose review of international research into the effects of mobiles has just been published online, found there was mounting evidence that when they are used heavily over many years, the radiation they produce harms the brain.

Vini Khurana said people should use land lines whenever possible and children should only use mobiles in emergencies.

"There is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours. The link between mobile phones and brain tumours should no longer be regarded as a myth," wrote Dr Khurana, a specialist at Canberra Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery at the Australian National University's medical school.

He found that people who had used a mobile phone for at least 10 years were two to four times as likely as non-users to develop a brain tumour on the side of the head where they usually used a handset.

"In the years 2008-2012, we will have reached the appropriate length of follow-up time to begin to definitively observe the impact ... on brain tumour incidence rates," he wrote.

The findings could have significant implications for Hong Kong, which has one of the world's highest concentrations of mobile phones. There are 10.6 million mobiles for the city's 7 million residents. Nearly one in 20 households no longer has a fixed-line phone.

Dr Khurana's findings, reported on the TechNewsWorld website, are based on a 14-month review of studies on the effects of mobile phone use published in medical publications and in the press.

Dr Khurana said the telecoms industry needed to develop and promote safe "EMR/radiofrequency-shielding devices for mobile and cordless phones and Bluetooth and headset accessories". It should also refine hands-free speakerphone options.

His findings echo a study published in the journal Occupational Environmental Medicine in September that found people who used mobile phones for 10 years or more were twice as likely to get a malignant tumour on the side of the brain where they held the handset.

Hong Kong's Department of Health said it had not been able to determine if prolonged use of mobiles was harmful but would continue to monitor developments in the field.

"There is so far no conclusive evidence linking the use of mobile phones to adverse health effects," a spokesman said.

But he warned against children using mobiles for non-essential calls because of this uncertainty.

"In view of the current gap in scientific knowledge, as a precautionary measure, the use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged," he said.

Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola said its products were designed and built in line with science-based safety guidelines. "Numerous evaluations by scientific experts have reached the same conclusion: wireless communications products operating within recognised guidelines pose no demonstrated health risk."

SCMP. Apr 5, 2008.