Sir, - On enquiring from a prominent retailer about microwave shields to reduce radiation exposure to the head from handsets of mobile phones, I was informed that their mobile phones did not need such protective devices as they did not give out any radiation (Note: mobiles communicate by emitting and receiving microwave radiation).
When I asked why such devices were available in other countries, I was told that they were needed there because their phones radiated at different frequencies to those in Ireland and were therefore dangerous (Note: GSM phones everywhere use the same frequency to carry calls).
This is akin to a car salesman saying that the cars he sells don't use any fuel and in other countries cars can be driven, and accidents occur, only on motorways.
How can these multi-million pound operations, retailing such leading-edge technology, not provide their well-dressed staff with such basic information as a simple outline of how the mobile system works and the possible health implications? Is it a case of cellular amnesia or mobile inertia or are they just on the wrong wavelength? - Yours, etc., John O'Dea, Lecturer in Environmental Radiation,
Ballinode, Co Sligo.