Radiation at close range

Without trying to come between your correspondents Mario Spiteri and Emanuel Zammit in their exchange of correspondence regarding the "safer use of mobile phones", it would perhaps not be amiss to refer your readers to the recent report on the subject issued by British scientists.

According to this independent group of UK experts, who released the results of a study on the possible health effects from exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) by mobile handsets a week ahead of a conference in Brussels on health implications of mobile phones, the research "does not give cause for concern".

Overall evidence of EMF influence over people's cognitive functions is "inconclusive" and that they do not cause mutations, tumours or cancer.

Having said that, however, the scientists also argue that the quality and interpretability of the available research could be improved.

Measurements obtained from scattered experiments may not always be comparable and the scientists therefore call for more standardisation and other improvements in the way future studies are conducted.