Group to Examine Possible Cell Phone Risks
GENEVA An organization that sets standards for some 100 nations has brokered an accord to help authorities assess the potential health risks facing mobile phone users.
The International Electrotechnical Commission said its new guidelines would make it easier for phone manufacturers and officials to compare research conducted in different countries on mobile phone radiation.
"Scientists are still debating the long-term effects of this, particularly in the brain," the commission said.
Scientists in Sweden and Germany have suggested that radiation from mobile phones _ which causes human tissue to heat up _ could raise the likelihood of brain tumors, although other experts have dismissed those and similar studies as inconclusive.
The wireless industry has always maintained there is no link between mobile phones and cancer, but has said more research is needed.
IEC Technical Officer Remy Baillif said phone manufacturers had pushed the commission to issue a standard. Among other things, it sets the positioning of the cell phone used in tests and defines the way to log findings.
Source: Associated Press