Ban on Children's Mobile Phone use - Right away
Dr.Rubaiul Murshed
from Australian National University
e-mail: [email protected]

Use of mobile phones by children has increased sharply in the last few years. Although evidence that radiation poses a health risk is inconclusive, researchers have raised concerns about the possibility of a link with headaches, memory loss, irregular brain activity and brain cancer. As well as scientists could not dismiss possible links with ailments such as eye cancer and leukemia. It has become a old news that a 34-year-old US brain tumour victim issued a writ for £600m damages. For the first time a British company, Vodafone, was named.

Young children absorb up to 50% more radiation in their brains than adults when they use mobile phones, a recent research has revealed. The results will reinforce calls for parents to limit the use of the phones by schoolchildren throughout the world. Radiation penetrates halfway through the brain of a five-year-old. The penetration falls to 30% for a 10-year-old, compared with just a small area around the ear in an adult. This latest research was carried out by Dr Om Ghandi, a leading scientist at the University of Utah. He also said. "More radiation can go through. Since a child's ear is thinner, the telephone is closer to the head. Therefore, more is able to go past the ear and into the head. All it takes is two millimeters difference," The results suggest international safety tests used to measure the absorption of radiation are inadequate and should be changed to take account of the size and thickness of a child's skull.

In fact before the results of this research, German parents have been urged to stop children using mobile phones over radiation fears. The head of the country's radiation protection board criticized phone companies for disregarding concern about the sitting of transmission masts. He said "Parents should keep their children away from this technology as far as possible. Some people are very sensitive to radiation. Some experts in Europe also suggested, 'Schools and hospitals should be avoided completely'.

In the middle of 2000, a high-level panel appointed by the U.K. government has recommended that children be discouraged from using mobile phones and that the Mobile phone industry not market those to children. Although the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones, chaired by Sir William Stewart, found that there was no clear evidence of a health risk, it favoured a "precautionary approach" given current" gaps in knowledge."
Sir Stewart, who was science advisor to the British prime minister John Major told the BBC ,"I have got a grandchild of four and a grandchild of two and I would not be recommending that they have mobile phones," although he admitted that he would continue to use his own phone. The 12 members of the expert group issued their report in the middle of May, 2000. Their current Government advice, from that Enquiry, is that children under 16 should use mobiles as little as possible because of a possible (but unproved) risk to their brains from the phone's emission of radio waves. In May 2001 the British Medical Association produced a report called "Mobile Phones and health" which included this statement: " Children are particularly likely to use mobile phones for text messaging ... Since the handset is normally held near to waist level for this activity, research is necessary into whether mobile phone radiation may effect different parts of the body in different ways, and hence whether there are any additional possible health risks associated with text messaging." They also added, 'there are several major research projects around the world looking at mobile phone safety and the they expect the final conclusive research findings to be available in 2-3 years.'

Our Environment Minister also very recently said at a seminar that Bangladesh would impose official ban on children's cellular telephone use very soon to protect the young from invisible and deadly radioactive sources. The minister also said millions of people are getting benefits from modern cellular telephony; but most of the users are unaware that they are getting exposed to invisible non- ionized radiation that invites multiple health hazards. Unfortunately we have no specific figures for the number of phones owned by different age categories in Bangladesh. Although Ministry of Health can give a warning immediately that users under 16 should limit calls to essential purposes and keep them as short as possible. Government can also urge the mobile phone companies and importers not to target children in advertising and to print the radiation level on the handset, not just in the packaging, so consumers can judge the risk for themselves. As well as Ministry of Environment can print 'mobile phone safety leaflets' for distribution in the offices, educational institutes and mobile phone shops.
There are also conflicting reports on whether hands-free kits (where an earpiece is worn in the ear rather than holding the phone to the ear), reduce radiation to the head. Some studies claimed the device acted like an aerial, directing radiation to the head, but it was criticized as imperfect by the industries. The Which? (UK magazine) Report in April 2000 found that using a hands-free kit actually increases the level of emissions entering the skull, whereas UK Government commissioned findings in May 2000 contradict this. It's now predicted that by 2005 a quarter of the world's population, or 1.5bn people, will own a cellular phone