Children are not at risk from mobile phones

The use of mobile phones by children has been a subject of interest amongst government regulators and within the scientific community. However, there is no known basis for singling out children for concern.
 

This is the view of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other leading experts and health authorities internationally. The WHO’s most recent advice said:

None of the recent reviews have concluded that exposure to the RF (radio frequency) fields from mobile phones and their base stations cause any adverse health consequences.

Importantly, the WHO does not support the recommendation that the use of cellphones by children be limited.

In fact, the WHO advice said:

Present scientific information does not support the need for special precautions for use of mobile phones.

An Austrian study, published in January 2008 investigated previous health risk assessments and established physiological knowledge regarding mobile phone use, particularly with reference to children’s health. The report stated:

Based on the assessments of the international committee and established knowledge on children’s development it can be concluded that existing exposure limits do in fact provide reasonable safety.

Furthermore, the report concluded:

There are no sufficient grounds to generally condemn mobile phone use by children, in particular, nor is there an established basis for pinpointing a specific age limit (above 3 years) as has been done by some overreacting committees.

In regards to mobile phone base stations, a world first study by the German government involving more than 3000 children released in November 2008 found no direct link between base station emissions and health complaints such as headaches and dizziness in children and adolescents. The study, known as the German MobilEe-study, found exposure levels were on average less than 1 percent of the International safety standard:

All exposure levels were far below the ICNIRP reference level and ranged from a mean of 0.13% (all measurement values below the limit of determination) to a mean of 0.92% of the ICNIRP reference level per second during waking hours. Median exposure was slightly higher for adolescents (0.19) than for children (0.18).

Another recent study, which conducted an in-depth scientific review of all the science on mobile phone use by children, published in 2007 by the Irish Government Expert Group found there is no evidence of any risk to children. The report said:

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

Furthermore, the report found there is no evidence of health risks for either adults or children due to exposure to mobile phone towers. The report concluded:

There is no scientific basis for, or evidence of, adverse health effects affecting either children or adults as a result of their exposure to RF fields from phone masts. This applies irrespective of the location of the phone mast. While the maximum exposures from a phone mast will occur at some distance from the mast, and not in its immediate vicinity nor underneath it, the exposures are so low as to make it immaterial where masts are located with respect to schools, playgrounds, health centres or other places where children gather.

Additionally, a study addressing electromagnetic fields and children’s published in October 2007, said there is no indication that children are particularly vulnerable to electromagnetic fields. The study, conducted at the German Academy of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, states:

There are presently no scientific data supporting the concept of a special vulnerability of children and adolescents to high-frequency EMF, even if the usual caveats (developing organisms and structures may be more vulnerable, decades of life to come) are considered.

Furthermore, advice published in 2004 by the Health Council of the Netherlands which considers all the research on mobile phones and children concluded:

There is no scientific data to assume a difference in the absorption levels of electromagnetic energy in heads of children and adults, nor is it likely that the electromagnetic sensitivity of children’s heads changes significantly after the second year of life. Because of this, the Health Council of the Netherlands sees no reason for recommending limiting the use of mobile phones by children.

Also, the Chairman of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which developed the safety standard that protects all users including children, 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 . ^1.

Increased absorption

There is no known basis for singling out children for concern and the scientific evidence does not indicate significant differences in the absorption of electromagnetic energy from mobile phones between adults and children.

The view that children absorb more energy than adults from mobile phones was proposed in a paper by Gandhi et al in 1996 and was the basis for the British Governments advice in 2000. However, the most recent study into rates of adsorption of RF energy by children, conducted by the Irish Government Expert Group (October 2006), found that there were no major effects that could lead to a higher absorption of RF energy in a child’s head. The report concluded:

Recent expert analysis has concluded that there are no major effects due to focussing of the RF field in the head or to other properties of a child’s head that might result in higher absorption of RF energy.

Another study, which used MRI data from actual adult and children’s heads showed there is no significant differences in the absorption of electromagnetic energy from mobile phones between adults and children (see Schonborn et al ‘Health Physics’ February, 1998). The Schonborn study was not referenced in the Stewart Report and is therefore unlikely to be have been considered by the U.K. Government.

The finding of this study (Schonborn et al) is consistent with three other studies (1. Kuster and Balzano 1992, 2. Hornbach et al. 1996, 3. Meir et al. 1997). In summary, they found the absorption of electromagnetic energy is scarcely affected by the size and shape of the head and compared to other factors, such as the distance of the phone from the head and the design of the phone, the effects caused by differences in anatomy were minimal.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) said in its new radiation protection standard, which was regulated in Australia in March 2003, that there is insufficient evidence to substantiate the hypothesis that children may be more vulnerable to electromagnetic emissions than adults. Nevertheless, ARPANSA said the standard “has been specifically devised to protect everybody, including children.”^2.

On children and mobile phones, the ARPANSA standard said:

In respect to the ongoing debate about possible health effects arising from use of mobile phone handsets, it has been suggested that children may be more vulnerable than adults because of their developing nervous system and greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head (IEGMP 2000). However, there is insufficient evidence to substantiate this hypothesis. For mobile phone handsets, the basic restriction is spatial peak SAR applicable to all individuals of different sizes including children. Schönborn, Burkhardt and Kuster (1998) have shown that, at mobile phone frequencies, there is no substantive difference in the absorption of RF energy between an adult head and the heads of children aged 3 and 7 years. Notwithstanding this, the basic restrictions given in this Standard account for different sizes and tissue properties of all individuals including children. ^3.

Safety Benefit

Furthermore, many parents choose to give their children mobile phones as a safeguard from everyday risks involving personal security and safety. Providing their children with a mobile phone is not only a good measure against dangerous and potentially dangerous situations, it provides parents with the reassurance that they can speak with their child quickly at any time of day or night.

The safety benefits of mobile phone use have been demonstrated in research by Professor Simon Chapman of the University of Sydney that found one in four mobile phone users have used their mobile phone to report a dangerous situation.

Almost one third of all genuine calls to ‘000’ are made from mobile phones.

Parents no doubt will be cautious about trading off an unproven possible risk against a known public health and safety benefit.

^1.  Dr P. Vecchia, Chair ICNIRP, WHO meeting, Electromagnetic Fields and Children, Istanbul, 9-10 June 2004. 
 

^2.  Radiation protection Standard for Maximum Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields - 3kHz to 300Ghz (2002) published by the Australian Radiation  Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), 2002.
 

^3.  Radiation protection Standared for Maximum Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields - 3kHz to 300Ghz (2002) published by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), 2002.