Welcome to phonesafety.org.uk – Your ultimate online resource to mobile phone safety and advise. Our pages are packed full of information relating to the warnings and possible health issues with mobile and cellular technology. If you have anything to add please feel free to contact us.

Over 27 million people in the United Kingdom have or regularly use a mobile/cellular phone. Mobile/cellular phones are fast becoming an essential business tool, a popular means of safety and communication aid.

Over thirty thousand (30,000) mobile/cellular phone base stations are located around the UK. These are transmitters that use radio waves to communicate with mobile phone handsets. Radio waves are low energy radio frequency radiation waves that transmit through the antenna on a mobile/cellular phone to the base station and return again. Base stations are surrounded by electromagnetic fields, an energy force that is generated when electricity is created.

The use of radio waves and magnetic fields in relation to mobile/cellular phones and base stations has become a safety concern for some people and in 1999 the government commissioned a group of independent researchers to explore the possible health and safety implications of mobile/cellular phone and base station use. The group, managed by Sir William Stewart, reported back in May 2000, with the following results:

  • A cautionary approach to the use of mobile phones is recommended due to the lack of scientific knowledge about the subject presently available.
  • Radio waves can cause a change in brain activity under the current guideline levels, although it is not known why.
  • There is no general risk to the health of people living near base stations, as radiation exposure is a fraction of current guidelines.

Mobile and cellular phone safety has also been brought to public attention by the former Government Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR), in relation to the safety implications of driving a vehicle while using a mobile phone. It is now against the law in the UK to use a handheld mobile phone whilst driving or being in control of a vehicle.