§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the £7 million research funding on mobile phones will be used to examine the safety of mobile phone masts. [31812]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 31 January 2002]: The mobile telephone health research (MTHR) programme that has recently been announced follows from the publication of a report in May 2000 by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones under the chairmanship of Sir William Stewart FRS, FRSE on "Mobile Phones and Health". Radio signals from handsets were identified as a research priority because local exposures of people using phones are in general appreciably higher than exposures to the whole body from base stations. In both cases, however, exposures need to comply with exposure guidelines.
The first group of proposals agreed for funding by the programme management committee has generally related to the areas of research identified in the Stewart report. Although the main focus of much of the funded research relates to the use of mobile phones, in practice many of the experimental studies will also be valuable in providing evidence on any possible effects on people of exposures to radiofrequency (RF) radiation from base stations. The agreed programme includes a study on exposures from the newer types of base station that are being introduced in urban areas. Details of research now approved for funding are given on the MTHR website at www.mthr.org.uk.
A second call for proposals was issued last year with a deadline for submission of outline proposals of Friday 25 January 2002. The aim of this call was to extend the range of research being carried out in the MTHR programme. One aim of this call was to seek further proposals for volunteer studies that will examine possible effects of RF exposure of people. The proposals have yet to be considered but it is expected that some of the proposals will be of direct relevance to exposures to RF radiation from base stations.
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