Your recent article (The Argus, October 4) about mobile phones for children reported outdated advice from Sir William Stewart of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) on the subject.

The NRPB has been superseded by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in regulating the effects of mobile phones and the vast range of other microwave devices on the market.

The article failed to disclose recent announcements by Dr Jill Meara of the HPA, who said: "If there are risks - and we think that there could be - the people who are going to be most affected are children," and "we will not know for several years what the real risks of mobile phones are".

Pakistan, Poland and Austria long ago banned children under 16 from using mobiles due to health concerns and the UK Government officially recommends they only use them in emergencies.

In America, from 1993 for six years, the communications industry employed 200 research doctors, at a cost of $28.5 million, to study the safety of their microwave systems. In all, 15 epidemiological studies were carried out.

They showed increased tumours, genetic damage, a greater risk to children and damage to the blood-brain barrier. The research scientist leading these studies has predicted 30,000-50,000 cancers worldwide this year alone - of just one type of cancer. And this is the industry's own research.

The safety level set by our Government for masts, which emit identical microwave radiation to phones, is for short-term heating effects only and is incorrectly relied upon by decision-makers for planning applications for masts.

Both the International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety and the US Environmental Protection Agency agree on this - it is invalid for communities living near masts.

  • Gary Kemp, Dyke Road Drive, Brighton