I am sure many of you have heard and read about potential health risks associated with cell phone use. I want to lay out the facts here, and then really let you decide which side of the argument you reside - truth is, this probably has a long way to go before anyone can be certain either way.

The rumoured health risk focuses on cell phones use of electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range. We all know that microwaves cause local heating (ie your supper tonight, will be too hot to touch after just three minutes of being bombarded with microwaves in your oven). So the big question is - does the excessive use of cell phones, which produce such radiation - really causes enough local heating of the ear and local skull components, and if it does, is it sufficient to cause health risks? First we have to accept that part of the radio waves emitted by a cell phone handset are absorbed by the human head. There is no escaping that - and that is the case for any electromagnetic components we use near our body. What we need to understand is how much and whether it is a dangerous level.

The rate at which our bodies absorb radio frequency (RF) energy is called the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). All cell phones are rated with an SAR number. You are quite within your rights to ask what the SAR is for a certain phone, and your retailer should be able to tell you.

So far so good, but now we have a number and we do not know what it means. Various governments have defined safety limits for exposure to RF energy produced by mobile devices that mainly exposes the head or a limb for the RF energy. In the USA the Government requires that cellphones have an SAR level of below 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg), in most of Europe, its 2W/kg.

Most manufacturers provide information on their websites regarding the SAR rating for their phones. For example, I use a Nokia E62, and on Nokia's site I can select the model and request SAR information, and I am informed that this model generates 0.95W/kg, which is well within the safety guidelines.

There is a wider question regarding long term exposure of the human body to RF fields, and the jury is still out regarding this. Indeed, the World Health Organisation suggests that even small adverse effects on health could have long term implications, especially for public health, and the truth is there is not yet enough generated data to accurately know the long term effects.

Until such time, it is probably prudent to limit the exposure as much as possible, especially for young people with developing bone structure and organs. Evidence suggests that the field drops off rapidly as the cell phone is moved away from the body - for example someone using a headset with the cellphone just a few tens of centimetres away from their head, are exposed to levels far lower than those with them pressed up against their ear.

It is perhaps also important to try to keep general use down for young people - the UK government recommends no more than 15 to 20 minutes per day for young people. After all of this, it is worth just remembering that there is no evidence yet of major health issues related to cellphone use.

But the industry is being cautious with its language about long term effects - as the industry is using cautious language, perhaps we should use cautious actions, until evidence proves the case one way or the other...

Next time then, I want to take another leap and look at games consoles and how young people are using them, with some indicators as to how to manage the - perhaps - excessive time spent on them...

Bob Mellor is a senior business technologist with more than 20 years experience in the IT industry. He is accredited by the British Computer Society as a Chartered IT Professional, and currently Technology Consulting Manager at Bermuda Microsystems Group. He can be contacted on bob@bmg.bm His views here do not reflect the views of The Royal Gazette or Bermuda Microsystems Group, and are purely based on his personal experiences and knowledge.