Danger Signals
Courier-Mail
April 7, 2000

The debate over whether mobile phones cause cancer has been inflamed by new revelations about the dangers of hands-free kits. The World Health Association has suggested that hands-free kits are safer than hand held mobile phones, but the early April 2000 report from the British Consumer Association shows they may in fact be more dangerous. Tests in the report showed that the kits offer little or no protection from radiation, indeed that they can even act as an aerial - channelling as much as three times more radiation than hand-held phones. The revelations are disquieting considering that as many as 150,000 of the kits are sold in Australia every month, with as many as 1.5 million Australians owning one. The Australian Consumer Association says mobile phone companies have to release all figures and test results they have on the issue, and also says labels should be put on all phones to alert consumers of emission levels.