Mobile
Phone Users 'Putting Their Health At Risk', Claims Swedish Doctor
Daily Mail
April 2, 1998
Mobile phone users are putting their health at risk if they make calls lasting more than two minutes, a new study has revealed.
Symptoms such as fatigue, headaches and burning sensations on the skin increase significantly during longer calls, reports The Express.
Swedish expert Dr. Kjell Hansson Mild studied 11,000 mobile phone users in the biggest ever survey into the potential risks. He said calls of between two and 15 minutes are twice as likely to cause headaches as those of less than two minutes. People talking on a mobile phone for more than an hour are six times more likely to suffer headaches.
The study's findings will dismay the telecommunications industry, which insists there is no scientific evidence of any health risks among mobile phone users. But the results will add weight to scientists' claims that microwaves from mobile phones can cause brain tumours, cancer, anxiety and memory loss.
Dr Mild is advising users to cut down the length of calls, switch to a hands-free set or make longer calls from an ordinary telephone. He also wants mobiles to be redesigned to make them safer by putting the antenna at the bottom of the handset so it does not run alongside the head. 'That way microwaves are not being emitted right next to the brain cells and there are likely to be fewer problems,' Dr Mild told The Express.
But the Federation of Communications Services, which represents mobile phone companies, dismissed the study as 'flawed'. A spokesman said: 'Any increase in headaches could be attributable to other factors such as lifestyle.'