MOBILE telephone makers are denying claims that by patenting devices meant to
improve safety, they are tacitly admitting that cellphone radiation might damage
users鈥� health.
A delegate at an October debate on mobile telephone safety challenged
representatives of the cellphone industry by highlighting a clutch of patents,
some of which date back as far as 1993, on ways to minimise the health risks
posed by the devices. For example, Hitachi鈥檚 Japanese patent JP3238936 describes
a radio telephone with an aerial on the bottom instead of the top 鈥渢o prevent
the health of the user from being injured鈥�. Mitsubishi鈥檚 patent JP4220851 refers
to a cordless phone with an absorber and reflector to 鈥渞educe the effect of the
electromagnetic wave鈥� on the head. Alcatel鈥檚 US5493704 describes a handset with
spacers inside to 鈥渆nsure safe distances鈥� between the electronics and the user鈥檚
head.
US patents from Ericsson lay claim to an angled aerial to increase the
distance from the head, as well as circuitry that keeps transmission powers
below safe levels. And European patent EP652645 from Philips suggests the use of
a second aerial, parallel to the main aerial, to reflect radio waves away from
the user鈥檚 head.
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But patent practice often requires that some patent documents overstate the
problem, as inventors must explain a problem in depth when claiming a solution.
鈥淢obile phones on sale and in use comply with internationally agreed guidelines,
so anything that is done to comply with these guidelines is ensuring the safety
of the user,鈥� says Tom Wills-Sandford, a spokesman for the Federation of the
Electronics Industries, which represents Britain鈥檚 cellphone makers. 鈥淭hese
patent applications are not an admission that phones are unsafe. In fact, quite
the opposite, they demonstrate that designers are doing their best to ensure
that their products are safe.鈥�
Trade minister Barbara Roche says she welcomes research into cellphone
hazards but added that this 鈥渄oes not imply that the government believes there
are harmful effects鈥�. Some animal studies have suggested that cellphone
radiation is dangerous
(This Week, 10 May 1997, p 4), but such results have
proved difficult to replicate and the scientific evidence remains contradictory.