Mobile Phones Not a Health Risk, Study Says
Reuters
Moller, Roland
May 23, 1997

A study conducted by four Finnish institutes discovered that mobile phone use is not a health risk for humans, but that the devices do emit heat to the brain. The researchers studied the impact on mobile phone frequencies on the brains of 19 people and on mice, and says they discovered no health risks.

But Kari Jokela, a researcher with the Finnish Center for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, says that mobile phones can produce in human brains close to two watts of energy per kilogram of head weight, which is the limit suggested by international radiation safety organizations. Still, Jokela says that even though the human brain can take in as much as 60 percent of the energy coming from mobile phone emissions, this level would still be far from posing a serious health risk to humans. But because mobile phones can produce heat near the recommended limits, Jokela says more studies should be conducted. Mobile phone manufacturers Nokia and Benefon and telecommunications carrier Telecom Finland Oy helped finance the study.