Scientist plays down mobile lawsuit fears

Weekend reports that mobile phone manufacturers have left themselves open to lawsuits worth potentially billions of dollars by admitting they are looking to make their products safer, have prompted calls for warniing messages on handsets.

Dr Roger Coghill, a biologist who heads a laboratory looking into phenomena such as sick building syndrome, electromagnetic therapy and the effects of mobile handsets, told Silicon.com: "We need a labelling system for mobile phones. There are plausible biological reasons for saying 'don't expose your body - and in particular your brain - to these devices.'"

But Coghill claimed documents have existed for at least a year showing the major handset manufacturers have been seeking to lower radiation emissions. Some lawyers have claimed that recent filings by vendors are tacit admission that the devices are unsafe, leaving the companies open to prosecution.

Coghill said: "I'm simply asking that mobile phone companies put warnings on their phones. I don't think there's a problem for most people using mobiles, but even if 5 per cent of users in the UK speak for spells of more than 20 minutes at a time, that's a half a million people at risk."

Attention is now turning to educating users. Some experts - including Coghill - believe there is little danger if phones are used for short periods, and say network operators must try to get this message across.

Mobile operators such as One2One and Orange are trying to attract users by offering free weekend calls and 20 minutes of inclusive daily off-peak calls respectively. Coghill commented: "Twenty minutes as twenty one minute or ten two minute conversations is fine, but not all together."

A spokesman for Alcatel, the French telecoms equipment manufacturer, said: "It's important to remember this is an industry issue. It's not just about any one manufacturer or operator." But he added: "There have been no studies which show a link between GSM phones and deterioration in health."