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Europe-wide survey of public perceptions about mobile phone and mast radiation
Two in three believe radiation from phones damaged their health according to a European survey reported in the Independent on Sunday, 8 July 2007.
‘Two-thirds of Britons believe radiation from mobile phones and their masts has affected their health, a startling official survey shows. And huge majorities are dissatisfied with government assurances about the potential threat.’
The EU Eurobarometer survey polled more than 27,000 people across the continent, 1,375 of them in Britain. Chair of the Health Protection Agency, Sir William Stewart appears not to have the support of the Agency’s Radiation Protection Division. Whilst their statements remain questionable and unconvincing (eg, about wi-fi, Sir William recently said on BBC Panorama, ‘I believe that there is a need for a review of the Wi-Fi and other areas ... I think it’s timely for it to be done now.’
I believe mobile phones / masts have affected my health
| mobile phones | phone masts | |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 65% | 71% |
| Europe | 73% | 76% |
| EU, 2002 | 55% | 58% |
Source: EU Eurobarometer
The survey reveals great dissatisfaction with the information they are given by officials and government, and some scientists, with nearly three-quarters in the UK saying they are ‘not very well’ or ‘not at all’ informed about the official protection framework against the potential health risks from the radiation.
To find out more about recent research on mobile phones or masts and health, see our research pages. Studies on masts are harder to do in a way that is unequivocal about the environmental factors but the trend on mobile phones and health reveal what amounts to a ten year watershed after which there is a significantly increased risk of tumours in the head. However, the sheer number of global reports from people living around masts, of ‘sensitivity’ or degrees of unwellness relating to nausea, headaches and sleep disruption suggest that there is something serious here too.
