York University in mobile phone study
Posted on 6 February 2002
Researchers in the University of York's Department of Electronics will measure radiation from phones in one of a number of projects announced by the Department of Health.
With 40 million mobile phones in circulation in the UK, there is concern that there has not been enough research into the potential health hazards that they might pose. The Government has awarded £4.5million to 14 projects across the UK in the first phase of a £7.4 million programme looking at different aspects, ranging from the effects on behaviour to effects on blood pressure and hearing.
We hope to provide medical studies with reliable information as they assess the possible health effects of electromagnetic fields and energies within the human body
Dr Stuart Porter
The York team of Dr Stuart Porter, Professor Andy Marvin, Dr Myles Capstick and Dr Ian Flintoft, has been awarded £454,000 to look at the electromagnetic intensity and amount of energy deposited within the body by mobile phones. The equipment they will study will include hand-held models, hands-free sets, laptops with built-in antennas, base stations or aerials, and even PCs that will one day be designed into clothes.
Their work aims to provide a valid exposure datat and to develop reliable methods to test different types of mobile phones.
The team will use computer modesl and physical models of human beings for experiments and gathering data.
Dr Porter said: "We hope to provide medical studies with reliable information as they assess the possible health effects of electromagnetic fields and energies within the human body. We will also be able to specify hardware that can be used to study any possible health effects. And importantly, we will have a set of methods to accurately test the exposure to potential hazards from new technologies."