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CELL PHONE DANGERS REQUIRE FURTHER STUDY

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BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission will decide within weeks whether to fund new research into potential links between cellular telephone use and health problems after a recent analysis of existing research found no proof of such linkage.

Commissioners are studying the analysis, which was issued in November by a group of European scientists who were asked to review research into the effects of radio frequency radiation on health. After reviewing results from studies conducted worldwide, the group concluded that "there is no evidence of any health risk emerging from mobile phones."

However, the scientists also pointed out that "the results of present research are inadequate to draw conclusions on this issue. Further research is therefore required."

Because the research is considered insufficient and mobile telephones are widely used, the European Commission is considering further investigation.

The group of scientists, which was led by Alastair McKinlay, an official with the U.K.'s National Radiological Protection Board, was made up of 10 experts in biology, neurophysiology, epidemiology, physics, radiation protection and telecommunications engineering from eight countries of the European Union.

The group's recommendations call for research studies on how cellular telephone emissions affect living tissue, genetics, cancer induction and immune and nervous systems.

"We are expecting to hear how the E.C. plans to proceed in December," said a spokesman from the National Radiological Protection Board in Oxfordshire, England.

The spokesman said, "Mobile telephones are going to be as common as umbrellas, and if there is a risk, it's better to know it in advance."

So far, "scientific data relating to cancer and exposure to electromagnetic radiation at the (microwave) frequencies used by hand-held radiotelephones are few and inconsistent," according to a statement issued by the NRPB.

"On the basis of current safety standards for radiofrequency radiation, the use of hand-held radiotelephones does not present a health hazard," the NRPB advised.

The cellular phone industry itself is confident that the devices do not present a danger to users' health.

"There simply is no evidence that they pose a health risk of any kind," according to the London-based Federation of Communications Services Ltd., a trade association for cellular telephone companies.

However, "mobile phone manufacturers and operators take issues of this kind seriously and therefore continue to fund and monitor major research to further assure safety," said Jonathan Clark, chairman of the FCS.

In the United States, a $25 million fund for research into health effects has been established by the cellular telephone industry, according to a spokeswoman at the Washington-based Cellular Tele-communications Industry Assn.

Meanwhile, some companies are taking risk management precautions against possible liability exposures relating to mobile phones.

German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen A.G., for example, issues a warning in its vehicle instruction manuals against the use of mobile telephones without a separate external aerial fitted to the vehicle.

Highlighted in the handbook and marked with the word "attention," is the following statement: "Mobile telephones and two-way radios operated inside the vehicle without a separate external aerial can be injurious to health due to the extremely high electromagnetic fields generated."

London-based luxury gift store Asprey P.L.C. is taking precautions to protect its employees against any possible side effects from mobile phones.

In June, Asprey issued 39 employees with a shielding device to be used with their mobile telephones, said a spokeswoman.

"We feel quite strongly that employees should be protected against any possible dangers," she said.

The Microshield, manufactured by Luton-based Microshield Industries P.L.C., is a leather protective telephone case that contains a shielding material made from woven polyesters.

U.S. neurosurgeons Henry Lai and N.P. Singh of the University of Washington in Seattle earlier this year reported damage to the brain cells of rats exposed to microwave radiation. They claim a "hot spot may develop in the brain, causing cell damage which could lead to Alzheimer's disease and cancer.

BRUSSELS, Belgium-The European Commission will decide within weeks whether to fund new research into potential links between cellular telephone use and health problems after a recent analysis of existing research found no proof of such linkage.

Commissioners are studying the analysis, which was issued in November by a group of European scientists who were asked to review research into the effects of radio frequency radiation on health. After reviewing results from studies conducted worldwide, the group concluded that "there is no evidence of any health risk emerging from mobile phones."

However, the scientists also pointed out that "the results of present research are inadequate to draw conclusions on this issue. Further research is therefore required."

Because the research is considered insufficient and mobile telephones are widely used, the European Commission is considering further investigation.

The group of scientists, which was led by Alastair McKinlay, an official with the U.K.'s National Radiological Protection Board, was made up of 10 experts in biology, neurophysiology, epidemiology, physics, radiation protection and telecommunications engineering from eight countries of the European Union.

The group's recommendations call for research studies on how cellular telephone emissions affect living tissue, genetics, cancer induction and immune and nervous systems.

"We are expecting to hear how the E.C. plans to proceed in December," said a spokesman from the National Radiological Protection Board in Oxfordshire, England.

The spokesman said, "Mobile telephones are going to be as common as umbrellas, and if there is a risk, it's better to know it in advance."

So far, "scientific data relating to cancer and exposure to electromagnetic radiation at the (microwave) frequencies used by hand-held radiotelephones are few and inconsistent," according to a statement issued by the NRPB.

"On the basis of current safety standards for radiofrequency radiation, the use of hand-held radiotelephones does not present a health hazard," the NRPB advised.

The cellular phone industry itself is confident that the devices do not present a danger to users' health.

"There simply is no evidence that they pose a health risk of any kind," according to the London-based Federation of Communications Services Ltd., a trade association for cellular telephone companies.

However, "mobile phone manufacturers and operators take issues of this kind seriously and therefore continue to fund and monitor major research to further assure safety," said Jonathan Clark, chairman of the FCS.

In the United States, a $25 million fund for research into health effects has been established by the cellular telephone industry, according to a spokeswoman at the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications Industry Assn.

Meanwhile, some companies are taking risk management precautions against possible liability exposures relating to mobile phones.

German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen A.G., for example, issues a warning in its vehicle instruction manuals against the use of mobile telephones without a separate external aerial fitted to the vehicle.

Highlighted in the handbook and marked with the word "attention," is the following statement: "Mobile telephones and two-way radios operated inside the vehicle without a separate external aerial can be injurious to health due to the extremely high electromagnetic fields generated."

London-based luxury gift store Asprey P.L.C. is taking precautions to protect its employees against any possible side effects from mobile phones.

In June, Asprey issued 39 employees with a shielding device to be used with their mobile telephones, said a spokeswoman.

"We feel quite strongly that employees should be protected against any possible dangers," she said.

The Microshield, manufactured by Luton-based Microshield Industries P.L.C., is a leather protective telephone case that contains a shielding material made from woven polyesters.

U.S. neurosurgeons Henry Lai and N.P. Singh of the University of Washington in Seattle earlier this year reported damage to the brain cells of rats exposed to microwave radiation. They claim a "hot spot may develop in the brain, causing cell damage which could lead to Alzheimer's disease and cancer.