Major 30-year study launched by UK government research centre into health effects of mobile phones.

Professor Challis, the former head of the government-funded Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme (MTHR), said: ‘I think it is plausible because their immune system is still developing and we do know that children are more sensitive to other things, for example ultra-violet light.

'If a child is exposed to excessive sunlight, they are more likely to get skin cancer than an adult exposed to the same amount.

‘They are more sensitive to pollutants. There is a thinking that they might be at increased risk.’

He acknowledged that some parents may get peace of mind from giving their young child a mobile phone.

But he added: ‘I don’t see why with young children one shouldn’t be a little bit more firm as a parent and say there are reasons why they think it is not a good idea, unless there are specific safety reasons why it needs to be done.’


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BBC PERSIA : Wired Child vs David Coggan

(Watch 1.37 minutes into the programme)

Mobile phones, just how did we live without them? At about 80 million, there are now more mobiles than people in the UK. But since the Nineties, when their use became more widespread, there have been nagging doubts about their safety.

For many people these were resolved two years ago with a report from the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme.

The programme, jointly funded by the Government and the industry, concluded that mobile phones, base stations and masts 'have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects'. 

However, according to a decade-long study, due out in the coming weeks, people who used mobiles for a decade or more had a 'significantly increased risk' of developing some types of brain tumours.

Neil Whitfield, 52, of Bakewell Drive, Beech Hill, is working with Wired Child, an organisation to protect children from wireless technology, to ensure mobile phone and wi-fi safety for children.

Read More (Wigan Evening Post 3rd November 2009)