70% of Australians ignore mobile safety advice despite WHO warning of cancer link

An independent consumer survey revealed that despite the first major health organisation warning of a possible link between mobile phone use and cancer in May, 70% of respondents continue to ignore key pieces of health advice about safe mobile phone use.

“The survey showed 70% of respondents refuse to regularly use a hands-free device or loudspeaker when talking on their mobile phones which dramatically reduces radiation exposure,” said Canstar Blue Manager Rebecca Logan.

The WHO placed mobile phones in the same category as insecticide DDT and petrol engine exhaust when it came to a possible link to cancer.

“Surprisingly, our survey also showed a mere 15% of men follow expert advice to avoid carrying their mobile phone next to their bodies to reduce radiation exposure, compared to 32% of women.”

“It was also concerning to see 15% of respondents allowed family members 12 years or under to use a mobile phone, despite health warnings against this given children are far more vulnerable to radiation damage.”

"These figures are surprisingly high, particularly given the thousands of media articles generated worldwide following the World Health Organisation warning on 31 May 2011 about mobile phone use possibly contributing to cancer," said Director of Education at Endeavour College of Natural Health, Dr Nick Vardaxis.

"I'd urge people to ensure they are taking steps to protect themselves from radiation exposure by keeping mobile phones away from their bodies where possible as a preventative health measure. Further research will clarify fully the possible ill-effects of radiation generated by the use of mobile phones."

Rebecca Logan said on the positive side, the survey also painted a clear picture of what the mobile phone plan providers are doing to meet the needs of its customers.

“The clear message is TPG is far ahead of its competitors in all categories, with customers of the Australian IT company most satisfied when it comes to overall satisfaction, price, service, service reliability, accessibility of plan provider, plan availability and billing,” said Ms Logan.

Vodafone scored lowest with its customers in the categories of overall satisfaction, service and service reliability.

Canstar Blue, a new initiative of CANSTAR CANNEX, commissions Colmar Brunton to survey 2,500 Australian consumers across a range of categories every few months to measure and track customer satisfaction. TPG today received the Most Satisfied Customers Award for Mobile Phone Plans.

The outcomes reported are the results from mobile phone plan customers within the survey group. To qualify, the customer has to have an mobile phone plan and pay the bills.
“We launched Canstar Blue to give Australians a free online resource to help them with their key purchasing decisions by making it simple for them to learn from the experiences of other consumers. It is essentially a guide to product excellence as voted by customers,” Ms Logan said.

The independent survey was undertaken in conjunction with professional market researchers, Colmar Brunton.

The full Canstar Blue results are available at www.canstarblue.com.au.

The World Health Organisation has stated it will conduct further studies to more fully assess potential long-term effects of mobile phone use. It will conduct a formal risk assessment of all studied health outcomes from radio frequency fields exposure by 2012.

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About Canstar Blue:

Canstar Blue was launched in July 2010 by CANSTAR CANNEX, Australia and New Zealand’s premier researcher of retail finance information for more than 350 institutions across the finance sector. Canstar Blue will release regular surveys to measure and track Australian consumer satisfaction to help consumers make the best purchasing decisions for their needs. Canstar Blue customers are encouraged to use the database for competitor analysis as well as a means of disseminating their product range.

What are the Canstar Blue ratings?

Canstar Blue researches, compares and rates the suite of products according to customer satisfaction across categories including banking, domestic airlines, telecommunications, cars, electronic retailers and plasma and LCD TVs. Results are freely available to consumers who are encouraged to use the ratings as a guide to product excellence. The use of similar ratings logos also builds consumer recognition of quality products across all categories. Please access the Canstar Blue website at www.canstarblue.com.au if you would like to view the latest ratings reports of interest.

RATINGS: Most Satisfied Customers – Mobile Phone Plans