Mobile Phone Masts (Hansard, 16 May 2002)

§ Yvette Cooper

The independent expert group on mobile phones (the Stewart Group) was set up to investigate the public health implications of mobile phone technologies. Their report was published in May 2000 and included a recommendation to set up a substantial research programme. This programme, jointly funded by government and industry, was announced in December 2000 and was launched at a public meeting in February 2001. The research is being undertaken under the direction of an independent programme management committee under the chairmanship of Sir William Stewart. The selection and management of studies is solely in the hands of this committee with additional scientific advice from other experts in the relevant field.

There have been two invitations for research applications, in February and December 2001, and research is now under way in the first tranche of projects. Details of this research are given on the mobile telecommunications health research programme's (MTHR) website at www.mthr.org.uk Shortlisted proposals submitted to the second invitation are currently under consideration by the programme management committee.

The aim of the second call was to extend the range of research being carried out under the aegis of the MTHR programme and some of the proposals are of direct relevance to exposures to radio frequency (RE) radiation from mobile phone masts. However the emphasis of the research, both funded and submitted, has been on mobile phone handsets rather than masts because localised exposures of people using phones are in general appreciably higher than exposures to the whole body from masts. In practice many of the experimental studies on hand sets will also be valuable in providing evidence on any possible effects on people of exposures to RF radiation from masts.