§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Warner on 16 November (WA 152) and the Interphone study conclusion that the average size of acoustic neuromas was significantly larger in regular mobile phone users, what advice the Department of Health will give to mobile phone users; and [HL354]
How many acoustic neuromas were operated on over the last five years. [HL356]
149WA
§ Lord WarnerTwo relatively small parts of the 13-nation Interphone study of brain tumour and mobile phone use have been published this year: a Danish study in January 2004 and a Swedish study in October 2004, both case-control studies of acoustic neuroma incidence. The results are not entirely consistent but emphasise the need for continued high-quality research. We will await the conclusions of the full study due next year.
Department of Health advice on mobile phone use is contained in leaflets published following the Stewart report in 2000. In the light of the Stewart recommendations the leaflets suggest that you can choose to minimise your exposure to radio waves by keeping your calls short and considering relative specific absorption rate values when buying a new phone. The leaflets are available on the Department of Health website (www.dh.gov.uk).
The UK Chief Medical Officers recommend that if parents want to avoid their children being subject to any possible risk that might be identified in the future, the way to do so is to exercise their choice not to let their children use mobile phones.
The department's hospital episode statistics division has recorded the following numbers of operations for acoustic neuromas:
Year No. 1999–2000 504 2000–01 480 2001–02 435 2002–03 439 2003–04 423