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WHO doctors clear mobile phones of cancer risk

Evidence 'unconvincing'

The World Health Organisation has joined the ranks of researchers who reckon mobile phones pose no health risk - in opposition to the ranks of researchers who reckon mobile phones are quite unsafe.

The United Nations body said that the scientific evidence showed no convincing link with cancer - or anything else, for that matter. It did not conclude, contrary to a recent report from the UK, that children are more at risk from cellphone rays than adults.

That said, in typically cautious bureaucratic fashion, the WHO report couched its conclusion with suggestions about how users might wish to limit their exposure to radiation from their phones.

WHO's recommendation: keep calls short, and use hands-free sets - a conclusion that flies in the face of a Which? report that claimed hands-free kit increased users' exposure to radiation.

WHO also promised more definitive recommendations in three years' time when the results of a ten-country cancer study are in. The body did not comments on the various dangers posed by cellphones when used as blunt instruments in physical attacks - which seem to be rather more prevalent than cases of cancer. ®

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