Children should not use mobile phones because of continuing concerns over the possible health risks, a leading expert warned yesterday. Sir William Stewart of the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) urged parents not to give the phones to children under the age of eight, and said those between eight and 14 should use them only when absolutely necessary.
"I don't think we can put our hands on our hearts and say mobile phones are totally safe," Prof Stewart said.
Scientists have yet to find proof that the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones and their transmitter masts could be dangerous, but Prof Stewart said new evidence suggested there might be possible health implications.
He said there was enough uncertainty about mobile phones to adopt a "precautionary approach" - particularly when it comes to children. If electromagnetic radiation poses a risk it will affect children more than adults because their skulls are thinner and their brains are still developing.
"If you have a teenager and you feel they can benefit in terms of security by having a mobile phone, it is a personal choice, it is a personal decision, although mobile phones have not always helped on that basis," Prof Stewart said. "But if mobile phones are available to three- to eight-year-olds I can't believe for a moment that can be justified.
"What about kids from eight to 14 years? I believe that is a judgment that parents have to make but they have to have the evidence available to them. My belief is that they should take a precautionary approach and that they should use them for as short a time as possible and they should use text messaging as much as possible."
A quarter of seven- to 10-year-olds now own a mobile phone, according to latest figures, double the levels in 2001. Following Prof Stewart's report, a company that launched the UK's first mobile phone specifically designed for children announced it was suspending sales. Communic8 launched the MyMo five months ago, saying it was designed to help four- to eight-year-olds contact their parents in an emergency.
The company's marketing director, Adam Stephenson, said: "We launched the product specifically because we thought it could address security concerns of parents. We absolutely do not want to damage children's health. We have decided to suspend sales of the MyMo pending a chance to look at the Stewart report in detail."
Prof Stewart, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, first warned of the possible risks to children using mobile phones in a report in 2000, which found no substantiated evidence that emissions from handsets were harmful.
Yesterday's report came to a similar conclusion: "There is no hard evidence at present that the health to the public, in general, is being affected adversely by the use of mobile phone technologies."
However, Prof Stewart admitted that new research carried out across Europe meant he was now "more concerned" about health risks than five years ago.
Last year, a study of 750 people by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden reported that using a mobile phone for 10 years or more could quadruple the risk of acoustic neuroma, a rare tumour on the nerve between the ear and the brain. Separate research in Germany linked emissions from mobile phone base stations to DNA damage, and possibly cancer.
A Dutch study in 2003 suggested that the new more powerful 3G phones can affect brain function, though Prof Stewart cautioned that the work has some limitations and needs to be repeated.
"All of these studies have yet to be replicated and are of varying quality, but we can't dismiss them out of hand," he said. "This is still a relatively new area and the divergent views show how more research is needed."
Many other research projects have failed to establish any risk to health, and scientists have yet to identify a mechanism by which electromagnetic radiation could damage biological systems and so affect health.
The NRPB report warned that, because mobile phone use is a relatively recent phenomenon, no reliable long term epidemiological analysis of the risks in large enough populations is available.
A World Health Organisation project called Interphone that has followed 1,000 people for the last decade will report its findings in the next few months. A separate long term international study to assess the health of 250,000 mobile phone users will start this year, but is not expected to release any results until 2020.
Yesterday's report called for a review of the planning process that places mobile phone masts.
"The planning process on base stations needs to be revisited and updated," Prof Stewart said, adding that although exposure from masts is much lower than from phones, he believed they should not be sited near schools.
He also called for clearer information to be made available about how much energy from different types of mobile phones is absorbed by the body - known as specific energy absorption rate.
The Mobile Operators Association, representing the five UK mobile phone networks, said: "Parents need to weigh up the possibility of future unknown health effects against the tangible security benefits provided by this technology. All mobile phones sold in the UK comply with international health and safety exposure guidelines set by independent scientific experts."
The Department of Health said: "The new NRPB report concludes that there is no hard evidence at present that the health of the public is being affected by the use of mobile phone technologies. The health advice remains the same. We continue to advise a precautionary approach to mobile phone use in under-16s."
Vox pops: The age factor
Morven Telford
Full-time mother, 33, to a toddler, Jake
I would have let my son have a mobile when he was a bit older before I heard the news and saw the headlines today. My husband and I had ... agreed that we'd let him have a phone when he was 10 or 11 just so he can call us and let us know where he is. It's a long way off, but I think, despite this news, I'd still let him have a mobile, but I would try and enforce it as just for using in emergencies.
Natalie Sandiford
Full-time mother, 28, to Shalliah, 4, and Nayan, 8 months
My four-year-old's already got one. Her dad bought it. I wasn't too happy about it. What's a four-year-old going to do with a mobile?
I'd say I wouldn't give her a mobile until she's 15. My sister's 12 and she's got one for emergencies, but she took it to school and someone took it from her bag. My dad just bought her a new one.
Richard Liang
Restaurant worker, 58
I've got an eight-year-old little girl, Katariina. She doesn't have a mobile. I don't let her play with my mobile. I don't even let her play with the dead ones. It's like she's only started eating beef this year - if there's a danger, you want to keep them away from it. I'll probably let her have a mobile when she's 10 or 11, when she's an age where she needs to be on her own.
Dionne Nurse
Student and mother, 28, to Alliyah, 9, and Rione, 2
I'm not going to lie, someone gave my daughter a mobile phone, but she's not allowed to use it, or take it outside the house. She's not allowed to have any credit for it.
The radiation worries me. When people hear about that they brush it to one side, they still use their phones. People live in denial about it.
Brenda Quinn
Childminder, 55, for her grandson
My granddaughter of 13 and my grandson of 14, they're constantly using them.
When my children were young I always used to say it would be a good idea to have some kind of portable telephone so you could call them and they could call you and let you know where they were. But I don't know now, when you hear about them being bad for their health. If it's just for emergencies it's ok.
Peter Garner
Black-cab driver, 60, three children aged 18, 20 and 22
They've all got mobiles, but my son uses his too much.
Of course you worry about where they are, but I don't associate them having a phone with them being safer. Too many kids have mobiles. They use their phones too much and that's probably not safe for their health.
· Interviews by Laura Barton
