Children and teenagers are being advised to limit their use of mobile phones as the technology may pose a health hazard, Canada?s health officials have warned.
Children under the age of eight should use a mobile, or cell, phone only in an emergency, and young teenagers should restrict their use to just 10 minutes a day, Toronto?s department of public health has announced.
This is the first time Canada?s health officials have made such a clear statement, and follows the more tentative one made by UK health officials a few years ago when they also warned parents not to let children use a mobile.
Studies are starting to suggest that long-term mobile phone usage may increase the risk of brain tumours, Loren Vanderlinden, a health department supervisor and author of the report, has said.
(Source: Toronto Star, July 12, 2008).