'Mobiles linked to tumours in kids'

Mobile phones should not be used by children under eight, warns The Times, London, after an authoritative report linked heavy use to ear and brain tumours and concluded that the risks had been underestimated by most scientists.

The Times quoted Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), as saying that evidence of potentially harmful effects had become more persuasive over the past five years.

The news led to demands that phones carry health warnings and panic in parts of the industry, and one British manufacturer immediately suspended a model aimed at four to eight-year-olds, the article said.  

'In his report, Mobile Phones and Health, Sir William said that four studies have caused concern. One ten-year study in Sweden suggests that heavy mobile users are more prone to non-malignant tumours in the ear and brain while a Dutch study had suggested changes in cognitive function. A German study has hinted at an increase in cancer around base stations, while a project supported by the EU had shown evidence of cell damage from fields typical of those of mobile phones,' The Times said.

"All of these studies have yet to be replicated and are of varying quality but we can't dismiss them out of hand," Sir William said.

If there was a health risk — which remained unproven — it would have a greater effect on the young than on older people, and parents had to make their own judgments about the risks and benefits for children aged between 8 and 14, he said.

"I can't believe that for three to eight year-olds they can be readily justified," he was quoted as saying.

'Acoustic neuromas are benign tumours of the acoustic nerve. A study in Sweden has shown that they are twice as common in mobile phone users They were also four times as common on the side of the head where the phone was held,' said The Times.

Acoustic neuromas, which occur in 100,000 people a year, can be treated by surgery. In most cases the patient's hearing is saved. Brain tumours affect about 4,700 new patients a year in Britain, and the UK Brain Tumour Society says that incidence has increased by 45 per cent in 30 years, said the article.

General secretary of the National Association of Headteachers David Hart has called for a ban on mobiles in schools, while One school in the North East has begun using mobile scanners to prevent pupils using mobiles in class, The Times said.

But furious mobile phone companies claimed the report fanned public concern without presenting new research.