Ferrite beads, commonly used in computers to stop interference, can be used to reduce handsfree cell phone radiation to almost zero, claimed Professor Lawrie Challis, chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Programme in the UK. By clipping a ferrite bead on wires leading up the wire to the head, radio waves can be stopped. Costing only a few cents, he called for the cell phone industry to start using them as the standard.

"Using a ferrite bead effectively reduces emissions to the head to zero but as yet manufacturers do not put them on hands-free kits."

Professor Challis was part of the Stewart committee which looked into the safety of cell phones in 2002. Studies have shown that handsfree kits reduce radiation emissions traveling up to the head.

Dr. Porter, of the department of electronics at the University of York who has looked at the use of ferrite beads said, "Hands-free kits effectively have two currents, an intentional one that stays within the wires and an unintentional one on the outside. It is the unintentional one the beads stop. They work by blocking the current, a bit like a block in a water pipe."

He also suggested that beads be placed around chest level, below the microphone, where they worked best.

However, not everyone is convinced they should be mandatory for manufacturers. Michael Milligan, general secretary of the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, rejected the call for them by saying, "I agree they can have an impact. But the bigger issue is that mobile phones are tested to be comply with standards and have been passed safe."

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