Jury still out on safety of mobile phone antennas

Scientists are unable to give a "black and white answer" to the public's concerns about the effects of mobile phone antennas, according to a principal scientific officer with the UK's National Radiological Protection Board.

Dr Zenon Sienkiewicz said that so far no concrete scientific evidence had surfaced which could prove that the antennas caused adverse health effects.

"There is a concern about this issue globally... Nobody can say it's safe, yet nobody can say it's not safe," he said.

Dr Sienkiewicz's work with the NRPB involves research into the neurophysiological and behavioural effects of magnetic fields and radio frequency radiation.

The NRPB is an independent advisory body set up in 1970 to advise the government and others with interest in radiological protection. It is not funded by the industry and is independent of it.

Given the local public's concern on the health aspects of the base stations, the Malta Group of Professional Engineering Institutions has invited Dr Sienkiewicz to Malta to give a public lecture tonight.

Dr Sienkiewicz, who obtained his Ph.D. from Queen Mary College, University of London, will be speaking on "Hazards? From mobile phone antennas" at the University of Malta at 6 p.m.

In an interview, Dr Sienkiewicz insisted that his visit was not biased towards the industry and his lecture would be tackling the scientific perspective on effects of the mobile phone base stations.

Dr Sienkiewicz is also a member of an advisory group on non-ionising radiation chaired by 91-year-old Sir Richard Doll, whose previous work had initially linked cancer and smoking.

So how in the meantime how did the NRPB go about balancing the needs of vulnerable communities residing near the antennas, with the financial concerns of the industry which paid huge fees to national governments?

"The concerns of the industry are nothing to do with us. On the other hand, we are aware that there are people who are worried. However, whether or not they are vulnerable communities has never been demonstrated," he insisted.

"Independent academics have reviewed some of the evidence and so far they have advised us that there does not seem to be an obvious health risk from mobile phone stations," he added.

Despite this advice, Dr Sienkiewicz said one could not rule out the possibility of subtle biological effects, such as a slight change in reaction time from using a mobile phone handset.

This had been witnessed in a study carried out by Alan Priest from the University of Bristol.

Priest conducted a human volunteer study where he had people performing psychological tasks while exposing them to the kind of fields you get from a handset.

So if there was, as yet, no conclusive evidence on the effects of base stations, should people living close to them take any precautions?

"That's a decision for your politicians. I am strictly a scientist and scientifically I would say there is no need to take precautions," he answered.

"Then again, if politicians feel there is a sufficient number of people who are worried, in that respect you are generating a health effect and I feel it is society who should decide how to handle the situation."

While Dr Sienkiewicz felt there should be no cause for alarm, 200 international doctors have expressed great concern, in the Freiburger Declaration Appeal, on the marked concentration of particular illnesses witnessed in their patients soon after the installation of a base station in their vicinity.

These illnesses included headaches and sleeplessness among others.

Did Dr Sienkiewicz dismiss the Freiburger Declaration Appeal?

"Most of the doctors that signed the declaration are totally unknown to me, so they're not what I call experts in the field of non-ionisation. This does not mean they don't have their opinion," he said.

"I don't think there is one single study which has explored biological effects and has been independently replicated using mobile phone frequencies."

Apart from the Freiburger Declaration other reports keep popping up on the international scene on the harmful effects of mobile phone use.

Last October, an Italian scientist claimed that radiation from mobile phones "may be able to accelerate the growth of cancer cells".

Laboratory tests using leukaemia cells found that certain genes, which made the cells replicate far faster, were turned on if they were exposed to the radiation for more than 48 hours. What did Dr Sienkiewicz think of these tests?

"We would really like to see this published. All we have are the conference proceedings. It is interesting data and we are not dismissing it," he said.

Despite his adamant stand, Dr Sienkiewicz insisted that "our eyes are open and we are listening to people. It's not as if we're not caring. It's just that we need to be convinced."