Young children ‘should not have mobile phones’

Andrew Woodcock

Professor Sir William Stewart, chairman of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB), said he believed that mobiles may pose a health risk, though this was not proven.

The NRPB has carried out an expert review of research into the health effects of mobiles and of the base stations and masts which relay signals between phones.

Prof Stewart said that no firm conclusion had been reached on the possible impact of mobile phone technology on the human body.

But he said: "When you come to giving mobile phones to a three to eight-year-old, that can't possibly be right.

"I believe parents have a responsibility to their children not simply to throw a mobile phone at them and say 'There you go'.

"If there are risks and we think there may be risks then the people who are going to be most affected are children, and the younger the child, the greater the danger.

Whilst there is no absolute proof that mobile phones cause health risks, recently in Sweden there are reports of tumours associated with the auditory nerve by mobile phone users.

"From Europe, there have been reports of ear damage and increased concern around some base stations.

"These are new results. They still have to be confirmed, and may never be."