Mobile phone frequency exposure and human health

The recent advancement on mobile communications has drawn attention to the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. Hand held mobile phones are generally used as cordless phones in various positions with respect to the body, by children and adults alike. Further to this, an increasing number of mobile communication base station led to wide ranging concerned about possible health effects of radiofrequency emissions. There are two distinct possibilities by which health could be affected as a result of RF field exposure. These are thermal effects caused by holding mobile phones close to the body. Secondly there could be possibly non thermal effects from both phones and base stations. Some people may be adversely affected by the environmental impact of mobile phone base stations sited near their homes, schools or any other place. Apart from the controversy over the possible health effects due to the non-thermal effect of EMF´s the electromagnetic interaction of portable radio with human head need to be quantitatively evaluated. Related to this is the criterion of safe exposure to the population at large. While a lot of efforts have gone into this, a clear picture has yet to emerge. Recent advances and the problems creeping in are discussed.