MOBILE TELECOMS: NO HEALTH RISK FROM MOBILES.

• Position: Agence francaise de securitd sanitaire environnmentale

The 10 Afsse experts confirmed the conclusions of an earlier report published by the Agency in 2003. They reviewed more recent international studies, including ones from both Denmark and Sweden that had received a lot of publicity.

The first, carried out among 427 Danes suffering from brain cancer and 822 healthy people, concluded that the use of mobile phones does not increase the risk of brain cancer. The Swedish study, published in May in a British journal, showed a higher risk of cancer among mobile users than non-users and a significantly higher risk among mobile users in rural areas compared to urban areas. The difference could be explained by the increased distances between relay stations in the countryside, which means that the signal transmitted has to be stronger.

Afsse's experts said that the analogue technology used in Sweden is now outdated, and no longer used in France, which would mean that a repeat of the survey's results there would be unlikely.

The publication of the first major epidemiological study by the International Cancer Research Centre, expected at the end of the year, should shed even more light on the potential cancer risk, the experts said.

The experts added that there was as yet no clear evidence of any risk from telephone signals passing through the hematoencephalic barrier and which are thought to cause...