Telecommunications Masts (Hansard, 10 May 2004)

§ Miss Melanie Johnson

The health implications of mobile phones and base stations were reviewed in a report issued in January 2004 by the National Radiological Protection Board's (NRPB) advisory group on non-ionising radiation (Documents of the NRPB, Vol 14, No. 2, 2003). The report, entitled, "Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields", concluded thatThe weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are adverse health effects from exposures to RF (radiofrequency) fields below guideline levels, but the published research on RF exposures and health has limitations, and mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short time. The possibility therefore remains open that there could be health effects from exposure to RF fields below guideline levels; hence continued research is needed. More specifically, for base stations it concluded: 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.

The report is available on the NRPB website at www.nrpb.org. The advisory group will continue to review the scientific literature both national and international that is relevant to the issue of mobile telephony and health.

The mobile telecommunications and health research (MTHR) programme reports on progress at its open seminars. The majority of projects are due to be completed in time for the seminar expected in November 2005. A few remaining projects may take up to three years longer depending on their complexity. Descriptions of these projects can be found on the website at www.mthr.org.uk.

In addition, the World Health Organisation (WHO) electromagnetic fields project is expected to publish a health risk assessment of radiofrequency effects in 2007, which will be available on the WHO website at www.who.int/peh-emf.