Sure welcomes safety endorsement.

Sure mobile has welcomed OFCOM’s findings that mobile masts are being operated at safe levels in the Isle of Man.

The results from the OFCOM audit to measure the levels of radiation from the masts at the Village Walk Health Centre in Onchan were published this week and concluded that the highest level of exposure was only 1/50194 of the ICNIRP maximum guideline reference level for public exposure.

Simon Last-Sutton, Commercial Director for Cable & Wireless in the Isle of Man said,

“We welcome OFCOM’s findings as independent confirmation of our own ongoing testing procedures. Cable & Wireless is internationally recognised as a responsible operator which takes public health concerns very seriously and we comply fully with the recommendations of the Stewart report on mobile health.”

In 1999, the British government commissioned a group of independent scientists to look into any health threat from mobile phones. In May 2000 the Stewart Report published its findings that there was no evidence of adverse health effects caused by radio wave radiation. It did though make a number of best practice recommendations for operators. In 2004 the Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation supported the Stewart report’s findings.

A three year study was also completed this year by a group of independent scientists at the University of Essex, which tested 44 people who had previously reported symptoms or sensitivity to mobile phone technology, and 114 people who had not reported any health effects (controls), at a specially-designed laboratory.

The results showed that the sensitive group reported more symptoms and greater severity of symptoms, as well as higher skin conductance (which is a good measure of physiological response to environmental stressors), regardless of whether the 3G signal was on or off. Hence, the range of symptoms and physiological response does not appear to be related to the presence of either GSM or 3G signals.

Principal investigator Professor Elaine Fox explained: 'It is clear that sensitive individuals are suffering real symptoms and often have a poor quality of life. It is now important to determine what other factors could be causing these symptoms, so appropriate research studies and treatment strategies can be developed.' Mr Last-Sutton added, “All of our sites adhere to the regulatory requirements imposed by the Isle of Man licensing authority, and are in fact considerably below the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation.”Cable and Wireless has already passed a similar OFCOM audit in Guernsey in 2005. Guernsey’s regulator, the Office of Utility Regulation, working with OFCOM, found that each of the radio masts checked in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark fell well within the safety standards established by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.