Read the main points from the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones' report here.

Following the publication of the report by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones a research programme, called the Link Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme (MTHR), has been set up to look into the possible health impact of Mobile Telecommunications.

Funds of around £7 million have been allocated to the programme by industry and Government.

MAUK applied for joint funding with the Institute of Occupational Medicine for a study into the effect s of base stations in schools on children's health. This study was turned down by the MTHR.

The latest information from the MTHR is available on: http://www.mthr.org.uk/

New MTHR Research Announced

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The UK has in excess of 35,000 base stations, which are used to provide coverage for the 50 million mobile phones currently in use. With continual improvements and extensions to mobile phone services, these numbers look set to increase in the future.

At the request of the Minister for Public Health an independent committee, under the chairmanship of Sir William Stewart, was set up to report on Mobile Phones and Health. The report, published in May 2000 (available at http://www.iegmp.org.uk/), was the most comprehensive in the world and concluded that the balance of evidence indicated that exposure to mobile phone and base station emissions below current guideline levels did not adversely affect the health of the general population. The report did, however, recognise that there were gaps in current knowledge and that there may be biological effects as a result of exposures below guidelines.

Research already funded by the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme and currently underway includes:

• Two studies examining possible effects on blood pressure and brain function in volunteers.
• Three studies investigating whether the use of mobile phones can affect the risk of developing brain cancer or leukaemia by studying mobile phone users.
• One study investigating whether residence close to mobile phone base stations affects cancer incidence in young children.
• Two studies investigating the effects of mobile phone signals on a variety of symptoms reported by some users. A third study is investigating the effects of signals from mobile phone base stations on a variety of symptoms reported by those close to them.
• Three studies examining the mechanisms by which mobile phone signals may be able to produce biological effects in model systems in vivo and in vitro.
• Four studies investigating the interaction of radio signals with the body in order to characterise how much energy is deposited and where.
• One study assessing the effectiveness of risk communication strategies in relation to mobile phones and base stations.

Four projects funded by the MTHR Programme have now been completed and results have either been published or are currently being prepared for publication. These include:

• A study investigating ways in which hands-free mobile phones affect the performance of drivers.
• A study of the interaction of emissions from TETRA emergency services radios with the user's head.
• A study to measure low frequency magnetic field emissions from mobile phones.
• A pilot study to investigate the feasibility of undertaking a cohort study of mobile phone users in order to assess the risks of a variety of brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
• Four further projects have been funded by either the DTI or the Home Office as adjuncts to the Programme:
• A study examining the electrical activity of the brain during and following exposure to signals from TETRA emergency services radios.
• Three further dosimetry studies, including an evaluation of the effect of hands free kits on absorption of mobile phone emissions and measurements of the emissions from microcell and picocell base stations, both of which have now been completed.

Details of all the projects funded to date are published on the Programme web site (http://www.mthr.org.uk/). Reports on the progress of the Programme and findings from the studies are being published on the web site as they become available.