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By Nic Fleming and Ian Cobain
The world's largest mobile telephone manufacturers have been
patenting devices to reduce
the risk of brain tumors among users while rejecting
claims of any health hazards.
Engineers for the "Big Three"
- Nokia, Ericsson and Motorola - have all invented new components
to shield users from radiation emissions from the handsets.
One application that Nokia has lodged
with the United States Patent Office in Washington, and which
has been seen by The Times, notes that "it has been suggested
that" continuous exposure
to radio frequency irradiation could lead "to a development
of malignant tumor".
The patents show that the manufacturers
have been working on radiation-reducing components for at
least eight years. The companies maintain that there is no
contradiction between their public stance and the existence
of the patents.
Scientific opinion is divided. The most
recent large-scale study found no links between such phones
and cancers, although other studies suggest that there may
be health risks.
However, the discovery that manufacturers
have apparently "hedged their bets" by applying
for patents on irradiation-reducing components has alarmed
consumers' groups and some scientists.
The patents
are now to be used in evidence in a series of US lawsuits
launched this year against businesses including the British
market leader Vodafone. Some 25 US patents were unearthed
by Carl Hilliard, of the Wireless Consumer Alliance, last
month.
Alasdair Philips, of the British consumer
watchdog Powerwatch, said: "This is confirmation that
the phone companies take the possibility of health problems
far more seriously than they say in public."
The patents also alarmed Dr Alan Preece,
a medical physicist at Bristol University, who demonstrated
in a government-funded study two years ago that mobile-phone
radiation affected brain activity in ways unconnected with
its heating properties.
He said: "I think they are hedging
their bets by doing this so that if the evidence does emerge,
they have products up their sleeves."
Christopher Newman, a 42-year-old neurologist,
is bringing a £500 million lawsuit against companies
including Motorola and Verizon Communications at the US federal
court in Baltimore, claiming they are responsible for his
malignant brain tumour. Verizon is a joint venture between
America's Bell Atlantic and Vodafone, the UK's most popular
network with over 12 million of the 40 million mobile users.
Mr Newman's lawyer has also recently filed
class actions in five states, again naming Verizon and Motorola
and others such as Nokia and Ericsson. These seek unspecified
punitive damages, money to reimburse people who bought mobile
headsets to reduce exposure and free protective headsets for
all mobile users.
Cases have been filed on behalf of four
more tumour victims. One, Michael Murray, used to test mobiles
for Motorola and claims
his work caused his two brain tumors.
Thompsons, Britain's biggest personal-injury
law firm, has on its books 30 phone users who claim to be
suffering a range of health problems.Tom Jones, a partner,
said: "Any judgment showing liability in the States would
strongly affect the likelihood of successful claims here."
Manufacturers denied that the patents
meant that they accepted the existence of hazards. Michael
Westmark, Ericsson spokesman on health, said: "Given
the available scientific evidence, there is no link between
mobile use and negative health effects" - a view also
expressed by Norman Sandler of Motorola.
William Plummer, Nokia vice president
said: "There is no contradiction here. The patents talk
of 'suggestions' of health risks. A third of our employees
are engaged in research and development and it is a natural
course of business that they then file for patents."
The
Times (London) June
11, 2001
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