By CHRIS DANIELS
First they were good, then they were bad, now it seems hands-free cellphone kits fall somewhere in between.
The Consumers' Institute joined forces with its Australian counterpart to test radiation levels coming from the kits, which attach an earpiece and clip-on microphone to a cellphone.
Their survey followed a similar experiment this year by the British consumer magazine Which?
It found that the hands-free kits could triple the amount of radiation going into the user's brain.
That result has been discredited in the latest test, which found an average 97 per cent reduction in electromagnetic radiation going into the brain.
One problem, however, was the discovery that the hands-free kit, if used with the phone attached to the waist, could mean extra radiation heading into the torso.
For a digital phone, the "specific absorption rate" of radiation in the torso went up 38 per cent on average, relative to the readings on the head.
Using an analogue phone, the torso levels were an average of 93 per cent higher.
In one test with the antenna extended, the reading exceeded the levels laid down in New Zealand health standards.
Consumer magazine said the discrepancies between the New Zealand and English results could be put down to using different tests.
The Australasian test used a special dummy filled with fluid that simulated human tissue.
A probe was inserted into the dummy's head and torso.
The English testers measured the electric field in one area of the brain.
Despite the Australasian finding that hands-free kits do not triple radiation heading for the brain, Consumer magazine still advises people to keep cellphone calls short and to limit those made by children and teenagers.
"A hands-free kit may also help if used with the phone away from the body."
Hands-free kits lower phone risk
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.