With news reports this week that the French government is considering banning mobile phones from schools, it is understandable that parents may be concerned about their children’s mobile phone use, AMTA Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus, said today.

However, he said a number of independent reviews of all the available science by international health authorities and governments had carefully considered this concern and found no evidence of any additional risk to children from mobile phone technologies.

Mr Althaus said: “The mobile phone industry relies on the expert advice from national and international health agencies on mobile phone safety. AMTA takes all aspects of mobile phone safety very seriously and supports ongoing research into this important area.”

This week, newspaper reports said handset manufacturers could be ordered in France to offer text-only mobile phones that operate via headsets. Although children would not be banned from owning phones, their use could be strictly restricted as a precautionary measure, the French Health Minister Roselyne Bachelot said this week.

A recent scientific review of all the science on mobile phone use by children, published by the Irish Government Expert Group, found no evidence of any risk to children:

There is no data available to suggest that the use of mobile phones by children is a health hazard.

Also, international safety standards have taken these concerns and potential risks into account when setting safe exposure limits. The guidelines have been developed using worst-case scenarios and include added safety margins to ensure children are protected. For example, the Chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which developed the international safety standard, has concluded:

The protection system using basic restrictions and reference levels makes the ICNIRP guidelines flexible and applicable to virtually any exposure condition, and any group of population. Therefore, there is no need, or justification, for a special approach to the protection of children.

The International safety guidelines for mobile phones are designed to protect people of all ages including children, and incorporate large safety factors. However, recognising that some parents may be concerned about mobile phone usage by children, the WHO advises the following:

Present scientific evidence does not indicate the need for any special precautions for the use of mobile phones. If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children’s RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or by using ‘hands-free’ devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body.

Further information is available from the World Health Organization, EMF Explained.info, and AMTA’s web site