World-News

Fri Jun 23, 2006 1:52 PM BST

LONDON (Reuters) - People should not use mobile phones outdoors during thunderstorms because of the risk of being struck by lightning, doctors said on Friday.

They reported the case of a 15-year-old girl who was using her phone in a park when she was hit during a storm. Although she was revived, she suffered persistent health problems and was using a wheelchair a year after the accident.

"This rare phenomenon is a public health issue, and education is necessary to highlight the risk of using mobile phones outdoors during stormy weather to prevent future fatal consequences from lighting strike injuries," said Swinda Esprit, a doctor at Northwick Park Hospital in England.

Esprit and other doctors at the hospital added in a letter to the British Medical Journal that usually when someone is struck by lightning, the high resistance of the skin conducts the flash over the body in what is known as a flashover.

But if a metal object, such as a phone, is in contact with the skin it disrupts the flashover and increases the odds of internal injuries and death.

The doctors added that three fatal cases of lightning striking people while using mobile phones have been reported in newspapers in China, South Korea and Malaysia.

"The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be used (or carried) outdoors during a thunderstorm," Esprit added.

© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/o3sbf


Informant: Alfonso Balmori

23 June 2006

A COMMUNITY is fighting to uproot a six-month-old mobile phone aerial erected on Green Belt land without planning permission.

T Mobile took advantage of a planning loophole which allows phone companies to erect temporary aerials without planning permission in areas with little coverage.

Six months ago it built a 24-metre mast at the Cardrome site in Upper Rainham Road, South Hornchurch.

In May Havering Council told T Mobile to remove the aerial but instead the company has applied to retain the temporary aerial for two years and to add a second, 15-metre, mast at the site.

Cllr Georgina Galpin (Con, Hylands) last week she delivered around 250 leaflets to residents encouraging them to object to T Mobile's application.

She said: "Telecom-munications companies are really devious, they have no concern or thought for the local residents."

Read more in this week's Recorder.

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/m2omb

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/the_world_cup_ronaldo.htm

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Could it be that the stadium may have loads of phone masts around it so the fans can send pictures home?

Could he be sensitive to the radiation at the stadium?

In the Uk Arsenal are planning 32 masts on their new stadium! What must that do to the health of all the players? Do they usually practise in their home stadium?

Sarah

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This is interesting as it was about 10 years ago that Ronaldo suffered from
sudden convulsions and had to be rushed to hospital at the beginning of an
important football game after a 3 hr call on his mobile.

Don't these people ever learn?

Gary

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I had discounted this story, until I found a recent published study reporting how GSM frequencies caused rats to convulse.

Roger Coghill
MA (Cantab) C Biol MI Biol MA (Environ Mgt)
Coghill Research Laboratories


From Mast Sanity/Mast Network

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Radio Wave Sickness
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2225492/

By Gareth Tidman

A MOBILE phone giant is trying to remove a covenant which stops development of a beauty spot in Bromley Cross.

Hutchinson 3G has applied for the 1934 agreement to be scrapped or altered to allow its 15-metre phone mast to remain on the land at Hollands Nursery, Darwen Road.

The application was being considered by a planning inspector during a two-day hearing at Bolton Town Hall which was due to finish today. continued...

The covenant was created following an agreement between former landowner Arthur Ashworth and Turton Urban and District Council in a bid to create a permanent green space, free from building and development.

But John Barrett, for Hutchinson 3G, told the hearing that the covenant was a barrier to the proper planning and development of the area.

He said: "This area should be subject to proper development and that requires that people receive mobile phone coverage.

"Mr Arthur's concern was the loss of space to development and to impose a restriction to create a permanent area of land.

"Hutchinson 3G wishes to retain a monopole mast and equipment. It does not have an unacceptable effect on the area in terms of landscape and visual amenity."

Planning permission for the mast was approved on appeal in May, 2004.

Leolin Price, for Bolton Council, which is objecting to the application, was due to finish outlining its case today.

Planning inspector Rod Evans said he would have to decide whether the mast could be classed as a building and was affected by the covenant.

The new Local Government and Communities secretary and Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly had asked to be informed of the outcome of the inquiry, he said Mr Evans is due to announce his decision later in the year.

3:43pm today

Newsquest Media Group A Gannett Company

http://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.801348.0.fight_to_keep_beauty_spot_phone_mast.php

FERGUS SHEPPARD

MEDIA CORRESPONDENT

MOBILE-phone users who spend most of their waking hours glued to a handset may have to call a therapist after a university study found they were as addictive as smoking and junk food.

The heaviest mobile users even display the typical signs of "cold turkey" drug withdrawal - anxiety, restlessness and even panic - when parted from their phones.

The psychological cost of excessive mobile phone use was highlighted in a study published yesterday by Queensland University in Australia.

Diana James, the academic who led the study, said: "Mobile phone addiction is going to surpass internet addiction because at least you can walk away from your computer.

"Our dependency on mobiles means most people are never without them. The fact that handsets are carried around all day and provide instant pleasure means the risk of addiction is on a par with snacking on junk food and even smoking."

The Queensland study analysed people under 45 to establish the emotional, psychological, financial and social impact of their use of mobiles. It found some suffered low self-esteem if they were not free to receive calls and text messages and the phone appeared to be a kind of "security blanket" which improved feelings of self-worth. Other users appeared "obsessive" in their need to be near a mobile phone and became deeply agitated when parted from it.

In a few cases, large amounts of texting led to the physical symptoms of repetitive stress injury as well as the psychological issues, the report found.

Ms James said: "Like substance abuse, excessive use of mobile phones can lead to personal problems. People who use their phone heavily may be addicted - it depends on the impact it has on their day-to-day life. Is their phone costing them more than money in terms of emotional, social and physical stress?"

Britain's love affair with the mobile phone is now virtually universal, with 80 per cent of the population owning at least one. Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, says the average Scot makes about 21 mobile phone calls a week and sends about 29 text messages. However, heavy use among office workers and younger people - particularly when it comes to texting - can send that tally far higher.

A 19-year-old from Paisley last year became what was thought to be the first person in Scotland to be treated for text addition. The teenager, whose name was not made public, spent £4,500 on text messaging in a year and at one point was sending approximately 700 texts a week. He received counselling at the Renfrewshire Council on Alcohol Trust in Paisley.

Philip Irvine, a project leader at the trust who treated the youth, described excessive mobile phone use as similar to a gambling addiction, in that users frequently become dependent to bolster their self-esteem.

"If a person is using a mobile phone to make themselves feel better, or it is actually impinging on their life - they are not going to work, or they are spending more money than they can afford - then I would certainly say they've got a problem," he said.

While texting in moderation remains comparatively cheap, financial problems with mobile phone bills have become an issue due to the soaring popularity of ringtone services. In many cases, people have been unaware that buying a single ringtone often means signing up to a subscription service costing £3 a week plus the cost of reverse-charge text messages. Missing a call sparks feeling of dread

FRANSINA Nuuyuni's dependence on her mobile phone extends to taking the odd call while in the toilet.

The 25-year-old, from Edinburgh, admits to spending about £120 a month on phone charges and calls.

Ms Nuuyuni, a receptionist who works for a Dalkeith-based property company, admits to using her mobile phone at least once an hour for calls or texts throughout the week and said her usage increases at the weekend.

The thought of being parted from her Nokia provokes feelings of dread.

"It would make me very awkward and anxious - as though I might miss out on something," she said. "I can't stand the thought of missing a call."

While Ms Nuuyuni admits to cooking while on the mobile phone, several rooms in her house remain off limits, for now.

"I don't take the mobile into the shower or the bath with me, although I do leave it behind the bathroom door so that I can hear it if it rings," she said.

Her main mobile phone vice is texting, a practice she occasionally suffers for.

"I love texting and sometimes get a sore thumb from texting so much," she said.

However, the office worker regards herself as a symptom of an era driven by technology rather than a victim of it - and is determined to keep up.

Ms Nuuyuni got her first mobile phone eight years ago and upgrades her handset every two years.

"It's important to keep up with new technology if it makes life easier," she said.

"I'm going to upgrade my phone next month so that I can get one with a camera and video on it."

Ms Nuuyuni admits that one consequence of upgrading to a new handset is that she will probably spend "even longer" on the mobile phone than before.

©2006 Scotsman.com

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=674072006

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Are cell phones addictive?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/2254079/

Are cell phone microwaves addictive?
http://omega.twoday.net/stories/3530982/

Image de la semaine / Picture of the week
http://www.next-up.org/divers/image_semaine1.php