oh the irony... gsm stuff

MiCr0

LONDON (Reuters) - Mobile phone retailers have disputed findings by the Consumers' Association that hands-free kits tripled levels of radiation to the brain.

Several newspapers, splashing headlines such as "New mobile phone danger", gave front-page coverage to the research carried out by the association and published in its Which? magazine.

The association tested two kits, one from British Telecom's BT Cellnet and the other from the Carphone Warehouse, one of the most successful mobile phone retailers.

"The earpiece wire on the hands-free kits we tested acts as an aerial and channels three times as much radiation to your head," the association said.

"Although we tested only two kits, our experts agree others could suffer from the same problem."

Which? magazine editor Graeme Jacobs was quoted as saying: "We still don't know for certain whether that radiation is harmful."

Carphone Warehouse managing director Charles Dunstone took issue with the Consumers' Association findings.

"We are surprised by the Which? report, as are several of the industry bodies that we have been speaking to, as all other research has contradicted their findings," Dunstone said in a statement.

The Health Department said it expected a report in a few weeks' time from a panel of experts tasked to investigate mobile phone safety.

"If there is any evidence of a problem, we will obviously have to look at it," a spokesman told Reuters.

The Times newspaper said thousands of people had bought the hands-free kits believing they reduced the risk of cancerous brain tumours.

"The results do not prove that mobile phones cause any injury. There have been many contradictory reports, with no clear conclusion yet possible," the newspaper said.