Ministry Enters Radiation DebateChina's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is wading into the mobile phone radiation debate.Wang Jianwen, deputy director of Telecommunications Equipment Accreditation Department of the Bureau of Telecommunications Administration under the MII, told Business Weekly, "We are scheduled to hammer out related regulations and standards within this year to settle these disputes." According to Wang, a new State standard for mobile phone radiation has been developed and submitted to the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision for approval. Developed by MII's Telecom Science and Technology Research Institution, the new standard was based on the SAR (specific absorption rate) concept. "All types of mobile phones, cordless phones and fixed line phones will be tested and it is compulsory," Wang said. China is adopting the standard issued by the State Environmental Protection Bureau in 1988 and the Ministry of Health in 1989. According to the standards, the radiation intensity of electromagnetic waves should be under 50 microwatts per square centimetre in any period of eight hours. Currently, the emission frequency of most mobile phones in China is between 800 megaherz and 1,000 megaherz, and the radiation intensity is 600 microwatts, more than 10 times higher than the standard, according to reports from the Beijing Labour Protection and Science Research Institute. "However, our standard is much stricter than those in Europe and the United States and there is no accurate way to say whether the radiation will affect people's health or not," Wang said. Some experts believe that radiation from mobile phones has a negative effect on humans, and may cause ailments such as dizziness, insomnia, low or high blood pressure, or may even severely hurt cells in the human brain and cause disorders of the nervous system. On the other hand, mobile phone producers and some experts insist that the radiation is too weak to hurt humans. An increasing number of mobile phone users is contributing to the discussion. China had registered 56 million mobile phone users by the end of May. Owing to the controversy over radiation, a large number of people have turned to anti-radiation products such as earphones when receiving calls on mobile phones. "But can an earphone also be a carrier for the radiation?" experts wondered. The issue has triggered a worldwide debate. The World Health Organization said last month that it still needs three to four years of investigation to draw a conclusion. Beginning this month, all the members of the Washington-based Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) are required to display information about radiation emitted by their mobile phones. And from this month on, all information concerning radiation affecting new handsets produced by CTIA members should be revealed. During the next three to six months, new radiation information will be attached to packages of new cellular phones, the CTIA said. |
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