O2: Can Mobile Phones Damage Your Health?

Can mobile phones damage your health?

The scientific evidence does not show any danger to mobile phone users, whether you’re an adult or child. The government does, however, recommend limiting the use of mobile phones by children as a precautionary measure. The reason for this is that if there are any health risks associated with mobile phones, children may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous system and a longer lifetime of exposure. The government advises that children and young people should: • Use mobile phones for essential purposes only • Keep all calls shorts We do not market to under 16s, but many parents choose to give their children mobile phones as in their minds the many benefits outweigh the concerns. O2 is committed to protecting children and young people from the harmful use of mobile phones. We produce a wide range of information and advice for parents on issues ranging from personal safety to bullying and Internet grooming, all of which is available in our stores or on our web site.

Where can you get more information? Information is critical for consumer choice. If you want to decide how best to use your mobile phone, you need to know the facts. We are committed to keeping our customers – and anyone affected by our technology – updated with any relevant new research and advice on health and mobile phones. You can find this leaflet on www.o2.co.uk and we will continually keep our customers updated at this site. There are also number of places where you can get further information. These include: Department of Health www.doh.gov.uk Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme www.mthr.org.uk World Health Organisation www.who.int/peh-emf/en/ National Radiological Protection Board www.nrpb.org.uk Detailed information on the location of base stations in the UK (Sitefinder Mobile Phone Base Station Database) can be found on www.ofcom.org.uk

o2.co.uk O2 (UK) Limited, 260 Bath Road, Slough, Berkshire SL1 4DX Registered in England No. 1743099. Registered Office as above. © O2 (UK) Limited 2002. Correct at time of going to press (January 2005)

O2HHP001N KGL 01/05

What advice is there for children using mobile phones?

Advising you of the facts Mobile phones are transforming our lives. More than 55 million people in the UK own a mobile phone and make and receive millions of calls and text messages every day at home and at work, or when they’re just out and about. They have other social advantages. For example, Asthma sufferers using a specially adapted O2 mobile phone were better able to monitor their condition, report results back to their GP and take their treatment on time. ‘Teach UR Mum 2 Txt’, a joint initiative between O2 and registered charity Milly’s Fund, was set up to make parents more text savvy and aid better communication with their children. Additionally, the Met Office uses mobile telephony for flood and severe weather warnings and the Crown Prosecution Service texts trial witnesses with updates on the progress of cases to help prevent cases collapsing. There has, however, been a lot of debate about whether or not mobile phones and base stations are safe. In essence, the issue is about determining the safe level of exposure to the radio waves from your mobile and base stations. We believe it’s important that all our customers are fully aware of the facts. This leaflet explains how a mobile phone works and gives you the latest independent research findings and advice. We can’t provide you with all the answers because research into the safety of mobile communications is still going on. We can, however, provide you with the facts as they stand today, and we remain committed to keeping you informed.

How does your mobile phone work? Mobile phones work by converting voice, text or multi-media messages into radio waves, often called radio frequency radiation or microwave radiation. There’s nothing new about this technology. Radio waves have been used for communication for over 100 years by the military, emergency and breakdown services, local authorities and the BBC. Everyday household objects such as televisions, radios, baby monitors and cordless phones – for instance – all use radio waves to work.

Your mobile phone – or handset – needs to communicate with a fixed installation known as a base station, which is typically a mast with an antenna. It’s just like the radios used by taxis and other services. The base station then connects your call to other calls or phone networks using traditional telephone lines. In order to talk to each other, mobile phones and base stations use radio waves. Radio waves are not radioactive. They are not the same as x-rays and their effects on humans are entirely different. Radio waves can cause heating of body tissues if you’re exposed to it in large amounts. However, because both mobile phones and masts have low-power transmitters in them, the radio wave exposure levels of the general public are typically very low and not thought to be harmful in any way.

Mobile phones The radio waves emitted by your phone or handset are between about 0.01 to 2.0 watts, which is comparable to the output of other hand held two-way radios. The level of radio waves from mobile phones is too low to cause any significant heating of body tissues. You might, however, sometimes feel a rise in skin temperature if you have been holding the mobile phone close up against your ear or head for a long period. This is not caused by the radio waves, but due to holding something close to the body – you are likely to get the same effect holding a book to your ear. The further you are away from your phone, the less your exposure to any radiation will be. So, even if your phone is just a few centimeters away from your head, the radio wave exposure is far lower than if you have the phone pressed up against your head.

Masts It is only the antenna that transmits the radio waves. The masts, are merely the mounting for the antennas and do not transmit. However, antennas vary in size and may not always be mounted on masts. Antennas generally have to be positioned high up because radio waves travel in an approximate straight line and can be interrupted or deflected by anything in their way such as trees or buildings.

The majority of antennas transmit at power levels ranging from a few watts, or less, to 100 watts, depending on the size of the region or ‘cell’ they cover. The UK’s National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) has measured radio waves from transmitters other than mobile phone masts, for example, those used for broadcast radio and television, which can transmit at power levels more than 1000 times higher than mobile phone masts. The measurements show that radio waves from these transmitters can often exceed exposures produced by a nearby mobile phone mast.

There have been more than 450 research studies into the safety of mobile phone technology, and the scientific consensus is that mobile phones and mobile communication masts are not a threat to human health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said: ‘None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to RF fields from mobile phones or their base stations cause any adverse health consequences. However, there are gaps in knowledge that have been identified for further research to better assess health risks’.

In January 2004, the Government’s independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation published its review of medical research conducted since the 2000 Stewart Report. It concluded that “Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low, and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely to pose a risk to health”.

So, although there is no evidence that mobile phone technology is harmful to humans, it is widely recognised that more research needs to be done.

How safe are mobile phones?

Is there anything you can do to minimise any possible health risks?

All of O2’s systems operate within international exposure limits developed by the UK’s National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and the European Commission. The exposure limit for mobile phone handsets is called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). This measures the amount of radio wave energy that is absorbed by the tissues in the human body. Variations in SAR do not mean that there are variations in safety as all handsets sold by O2 operate within exposure guidelines (information on the SAR is available with all our new phones and on manufacturer web sites). Our networks operate at the lowest power levels that provide the standard of service required by our customers. The output from our antennas, where the general public have access, is typically hundreds, or thousands, of times below the international recommendations. Our antennas are carefully positioned with clear safety signs, and restrictions to avoid inadvertent public access. Where required, our antennas and masts are cordoned off to prevent people from getting too close to the equipment.

We fully support this view and are partly funding a number of important independent research studies in the UK and Germany.

We obviously hope that future scientific research will prove beyond doubt that mobile phones are safe. But, if you are concerned about your exposure to radio waves, you can take measures to reduce it. These include: • Limiting the amount of time you spend on your mobile phone • Taking your phone out of your pocket and putting it on a nearby surface when you’re at home or at work • Moving the phone away from the body by using a handsfree kit or loudspeaking mode if available or why not consider texting as an alternative • Checking the SAR of a phone before you buy it, although the power which a phone transmits is controlled by the network and in many situations is far lower than its maximum power • Turning your phone off when you don’t need to use it