Myths about mobile masts

YOUR article Residents fight new telephone masts (July 2) has a quote attributed to Barry Chapman that states that permitted levels of radiation from mobile phone masts in New Zealand are 5,000 times below those in the UK, and that phone masts are not p

YOUR article "Residents fight new telephone masts" (July 2) has a quote attributed to Barry Chapman that states that permitted levels of radiation from mobile phone masts in New Zealand are 5,000 times below those in the UK, and that phone masts are not permitted within 500 metres of where people live. Both statements are incorrect. There is no 500m exclusion zone in New Zealand, and the same public exposure guidelines operate in both countries.

As Councillor Julia Hayward stated, the World Health Organisation has concluded, in a fact sheet published in 2006: "Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak radio-frequency signals from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects."

In addition, your readers can be reassured by the consistent findings from more than 30 independent scientific reviews worldwide in the past eight years that have not found adverse health effects caused by mobile phone masts operating within the widely-used international health and safety guidelines.

Over 70 million mobile phones are in use in the UK, and people expect to be able to use their mobiles where and when they want. The reality is that, without a network of masts, mobile phones simply don't work.

MICHAEL DOLAN

Executive director

Mobile Operators' Association

London