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France
bans Ads for Mobiles to ChildrenBy John Aravosis -
01/11/09 |
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The radiation issue
with mobile phones used to be immediately dismissed -
mostly by the mobile industry - but increasingly this is
an issue that needs close review. I carry a mobile when
I travel but otherwise it tends to sit on my desk and I
generally try to avoid using it. When the warnings first
emerged the argument was that test results were unclear,
which was only normal because the technology was new and
side effects take years to develop. I hardly think much
about the FDA dismissing the radiation issues as they
have not been know to say anything against business
since the GOP destroyed the organization in the 1990s.
In Europe, governments also saw the business that EU-based
handset producers were generating and they're not immune
to turning a blind eye themselves.
We are now a good 10+ years into widespread mobile use
and health agencies are starting to wake up. While it's
easy to see the benefits of having kids equipped with
mobile phones, the health issues should be a significant
concern and more governments should have a serious
public debate about the consequences. Governments who
have nationalized health care stand to pay a heavy price
if they ignore problems which may be why th e most noise
on this issue is now coming from Europe.
New laws cracking down on children's use of mobile
phones are to be introduced in France amid growing fears
that they may cause cancer and other diseases.
All advertising of the devices to children under 12 is
to be prohibited under the legislation � announced by
the Environment Minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, last week �
and he will also take powers to ban the sale of any
phone designed to be used by those under six.
The French government will also introduce new limits for
radiation from the phones and make it compulsory for
handsets to be sold with earphones, so that users can
avoid irradiating their heads and brains. And one of the
country's largest cities last month started an
advertising campaign to discourage the use of the phones
by children.
The clampdown represents the most comprehensive action
yet taken by any government worldwide. It contrasts
sharply with the stance of British ministers, who have
largely ignored the recommendations of an official
report nine years ago that people aged under 16 should
be discouraged from using mobiles, and that the industry
should be stopped from promoting them to children. Since
then their use by the young has almost doubled, so that
nine out of 10 of the country's 16-year-olds own a
handset.
Swedish research indicates that children and teenagers
are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they
use the phones, causing some experts to predict an=2
0"epidemic" of the disease among today's young people in
later life. But consideration of the threat to them has
been specifically excluded from Britain's official �3.1m
investigation into the risk of cancer from mobiles.
The French ministry warned that "mobile phone use is
increasing at a rapid pace among youths", and warns that
the young may be "more sensitive because their bodies
are still developing". Children's heads are smaller and
their skulls thinner. |
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