The reported link between mobile phone use and cancer, which has received so much media coverage this week, is bound to raise public concern. This new sense of public anxiety has been triggered by a disturbing report on the BBC Panorama programme which, citing research of scientists from Sweden and the US, claimed there was some evidence that mobile phone use might increase the risk of brain tumours. The case presented against mobile phones may have been somewhat less than conclusive but it certainly made a strong case for greater vigilance by the public - and the mobile phone companies.
Dr Lennart Hardell from Sweden considered claims that mobile phone users could be two and a half times more likely to develop brain cancer than those who did not use a mobile.
The other main contributor to the programme, Dr George Carlo of Wireless Technology Research, heads a $25 million dollar study supported by funds extracted from the mobile phone industry at the insistence of the US government. In a report yet to be published, he has said there are signs of chromosome damage - tissue alterations that increase the possibility of cancers. Still more disturbing, he has suggested that children and young people are at increased risk from the radiation given off by these phones because of the greater impact on tissues that were still growing and developing.
Dr Carlo pointed out that we had moved into a "grey area" that indicated there might be a problem. "That grey area needs to be acknowledged," he said, something worth noting by those in the industry who repeat the mantra that there is no known hazard and no possible health risk.
Mobile phone users will be seeking some assurances and/or evaluation of these latest reports and an answer to the basic question: Is the radiation dose from a mobile phone harmful to health? The awkward truth, however, is that no scientist is in a position to provide definitive answers. Indeed, even those quoted on Panoroma gave no such answers. Both scientists featured on the programme rightly urged caution and further research. As with so many other health scares facing the public, the consumer must, for now, make his/her own decision and do what he/she can to lessen any risk through the use of hands-free sets, headsets and ear-pieces.
More should be done and the Government could take a more pro-active role. It must play its part in resolving the issue. The phone companies also have a serious responsibility to reassure the public.
They must provide the funding required by the scientific community in this State since it is not appropriate that this work fall to scientists and institutions working abroad. We have the expertise in this State to pursue such research and those with the skills to do so must be encouraged and funded. There are an estimated one million mobile phone users in Ireland. If only a small proportion are at risk, it remains a very serious public health issue.