18 Jun 1999 UK:

Mobile phone safety chip to hit UK shops by August.

By Alessandra Galloni

LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) – An electronic chip aimed at protecting mobile phone users from radiation hits British stores this summer and inventors say people can stop worrying about the possible risks of this must-have nineties accessory.

Britain is the first market for the product and other European countries will follow shortly after. Several studies on the possible dangers of electromagnetic fields emitted close to the brain by mobile phones have stirred public scares in recent months.

Reports have linked mobile phone use to headaches, high blood pressure, memory loss and possible higher chances of brain tumor and the British government has launched a new inquiry into possible health risks. Mobile phone firms insist there is no evidence of harmful effects.

The chip’s inventor, U.S. professor Theodore Litovitz, told reporters that it had been proven that exposure to electromagnetic fields causes cell function changes – so-called biological effects - many of which are linked to diseases.

But scientists cannot say this necessarily causes health effects, said Litovitz, a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C.

The EMF chip works by superimposing its own "noise field" on mobile phones’ radiations to neutralize the electromagnetic fields and eliminate any effect they may have, he said.

"We simply have no idea of the long term implications of putting so much EMF radiation into our heads. Until the health effects problem is resolved, we can inhibit the biological effect and remove worry over the possible health effect".

Litovitz added that earpieces - currently used as a way to buffer any potentially harmful radiations - were not effective because users tended to pin the phones to their belts. "It just removes the problem from your head to somewhere else," he said.

Batteries with the EMF chip will be available at first for 16 models of the most popular Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola phone brands, and for other models starting in September, said Alexander Technologies chairman John Casey.

Alexander Technologies chose Europe as its first market because concerns over mobile phone safety have been most marked.

They will later be sold in the United States as well, he said adding that Alexander Technologies planned to seek a stock market listing by the end of the year.

Despite the scares, the mobile phone craze does not seem to be subsiding. Last year global sales zoomed ahead by 51 percent to 163 million, according to Dataquest of the U.S.

Recent pressure to put health warnings on mobile phones were also blocked by the European Commission earlier this year. EU officials said existing evidence did not justify such draconian action.

(C) Reuters Limited 1999.


Sources: REUTERS NEWS SERVICE,

REUTERS Business Briefing, 18-6-1999

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