In the mid eighties fewer than 3% of us
had a mobile phone. Now more than 5 billion of us use one. It’s a technology,
which has exploded into our lives. We use it constantly, continuously.
Connecting us to the world and the world to us. It’s our most cherished gadget
our most used gadget and potentially our most dangerous.
A mobile phone emits microwave
radiation which, when pressed against the head is absorbed by the brain. The
amount of radiation the brain absorbs is known as ‘specific absorption rate’ or
‘SAR’ and measured in watts per Kg There is an overwhelming amount of
scientific evidence linking this exposure to both brain tumours and cancers.
This evidence is so credible it has
prompted the world health organization to upscale the danger ratings of mobile
phones to ‘possibly carcinogenic’ and an Italian court has just ruled that a
mobile phone was the causal factor in a man developing a brain tumour.
The telecoms companies are more
than aware of the dangers. So much so they have protected themselves from
prosecution by instructing their customers as to how far from the body they
must keep the phone. In some cases its as much as 1 inch!. Unfortunately they
feel this information will get in the way of sales, and have hidden it away at
the very back of the safety manual where nobody will ever read it or see it.
(Take it a look – its back there). And if you want to know the SAR rating for
your phone you need to dig around at the back end of their website to find it.
This just isn’t good enough.
Different mobile phones give off
different amounts of radiation therefore have different SAR ratings. Some are
much higher than others. So customers should absolutely have easy access to
this information when deciding on their new phone. Its time for the telecoms companies to start taking the safety of its
users seriously. Protecting them from harm instead of protecting themselves
from prosecution.
We want to see these warnings clearly
printed on the front of the mobile phone packing, with the SAR rating visible
and explained, not buried at the back of some safety guide or hidden on a
website.We are never going to give up our mobile phones. so we need to be aware
of the dangers so we can understand how to use the technology safely.
We invite you to sign this petition,
which will be handed in to global governments and telecoms companies On April 5th
2013 (mobile phone safety day). The petition demands that the telecoms
industry begin doing the following immediately
Placing a clear safety warning on the
front of phone packaging, which instructs the user how far to keep the handset
from the head and bod
The SAR rating for each phone should
be visible on ALL packaging and promotional advertising