The launch of the Teddyfone in the UK this week has brought the issue of whether it's healthy for children to have cellphones or not. This is a debate that has been circulating in my house for the last four months, ever since the ex-husband of my partner gave his nine year old a cellphone so he would not have to talk to me when he called.

A nine year old with a cellphone is not a strange sight today it seems. In the UK one in four children under ten have a mobile phone. The Teddyfone has ten times less emissions than a conventional mobile phone, has limited functionality and allows children to make calls only to four pre-programmed numbers. It has an automated SOS alert feature and a GPS utility so parents can track the location of their children.

The manufacturers believe the demand is driven by those who believe that the safety benefits of giving children mobile phones outweigh the negatives, in the main, fear that cellphone emissions can harm young brains.

Where is this fear coming from? I did some research at the instigation of my partner and found various articles quoting quite a number of false "facts" such as, that the World Health Organisation recommends children under 11 should not have them.

Going to the source itself, I find that WHO makes no such recommendation on radio frequency (RF) waves from cellphones in their fact sheet number 193 on "Electromagnetic fields and public health: mobile telephones and their base stations". WHO notes the importance of not confusing the RF fields used in the mobile phone industry with ionising radiation, such as X-rays or gamma rays. Unlike ionising radiation, RF fields cannot cause ionisation or radioactivity in the body. Because of this, RF fields are called non-ionising.

Last revised in June 2000, WHO says its advice still stands.

The body's verdict is: "None of the recent(scientific) reviews have concluded that exposure to the RF fields from mobile phones or their base stations causes any adverse health consequence.

However, there are gaps in knowledge that have been identified for further research to better assess health risks.

In terms of cancer current scientific evidence indicates that exposure to RF fields from mobile phones and their base stations is "unlikely" to induce or promote cancers. Several studies of animals exposed to RF fields similar to those emitted by mobile phones found no evidence that RF causes or promotes brain cancer.

While one 1997 study found that RF fields increased the rate at which genetically engineered mice developed lymphoma, the health implications of this result is unclear, WHO says. Three recent epidemiological studies found no convincing evidence of increase in risk of cancer or any other disease with use of mobile phones.

Scientists have also reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times and sleep patterns. These effects are small and have no apparent health significance, WHO says. WHO is still investigating and says to it will take up to four years for the required RF research to be completed, evaluated and to publish.

Humming and hawing is all part of the usual scientific advice. But what the document does not say is scientific evidence showing that our brains are somehow going to become fried or develop tumours from mobile phones.

While we're waiting for the scientific report, WHO says that users do not need to take any special precautions for using of mobile phones.

"If individuals are concerned, they might choose to limit their own or their children's' RF exposure by limiting the length of calls, or using "hands-free" devices to keep mobile phones away from the head and body," the health body advises.

In fact WHO points out that the main danger from cellphones is driving and not a lot youngsters are going to be doing that for a long time, I hope.

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