Scientist says fake cell phones are not safe

Accra, May 23, GNA - A Ghanaian scientists says studies have shown that fake and cheap cell phones on the Ghanaian market are not safe. Mr Joseph Amoako, Director of Regulations at the Radiation Protection Institute (RPI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Saturday that his studies showed that fake phones emitted radio frequency radiations higher that what is internationally stipulated as safe for human exposure.

He has therefore cautioned the public to desist from patronising flashy-looking mobile handsets, which have very appealing features and functions but are cheaper than their originals in terms of price. Mr Amoako said Ghana, like many other countries, subscribes to guidelines set by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which has been adopted by the World Health Organisation and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), of which Ghana is chair.

He said the ICNIRP guidelines for mobile handset places the safe exposure threshold at 2.0w/kg, but some of the phones tested in the study showed emission levels way higher than the threshold. He said non-ionising radiations such as the one from phones are known to have biological effects on humans and their main effects had to do with heat, which could be handled by the human body's own thermal regulatory system.

"We are not saying that the waves from such phones will cause any serious health problems but to the extent that their emission levels is higher than what is scientifically determined as safe, it is not advisable for anyone to expose himself to such higher levels of emission," he said. Even though he did not say, which brands were guilty of the charge, he pointed out that the fake versions of very popular brands of handsets were particularly notorious.

Meanwhile, GNA's own research about the shipment of phones into the country revealed that most of the fake versions of authentic brands, as well as sophisticated-looking but cheap phones, come from China. In 2009, the Chinese government itself banned the shipment of such phones from China to the rest of the world for two reasons; they did not have serial numbers and their radio frequency emission levels could not be guaranteed.

Reports said in spite of the ban, sales figures showed that shipment continued unabated, and Ghana is one of the biggest destinations. As a result, the Ghanaian cell phone market is today flooded with fake versions of major brands like Nokia and Samsung. The fake ones sometimes come with corrupted inscriptions like 'Nckia' or 'Nokla' for 'Nokia', and 'Samsong' for Samsung.

Besides, some of the phones come with functions and features like dual simcard compartment, two batteries and touch screen, which the original versions do not have. In spite of the loaded features, they are very cheap in terms of price, ranging between 120 and 150 Ghana cedis, compared with between 450 and 500 Ghana cedis for original versions. But patrons of such phones admit that the fake phones freeze very often when in use, have very short life span of less than a year and their batteries die very quickly. David Okyere Amoafo, a Computer Programmer, told to the GNA that one of such phones burnt his simcard. There have been stories of such phones burning people's hands, ears and items.

Mr Henry Kanor, Deputy Director, Engineering at the National Communications Authority (NCA) told the GNA that it is the duty of the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) to come up with and enforce standards to check the influx of fake and potentially dangerous phones into the country. But Mr Amponsah Bediako, Public Relations Director of the GSB said whereas it was the duty of the GSB to come up with the standards, it was the duty of the industry regulator, the NCA, to implement the guidelines. "In this case GSB has adopted the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) guidelines, which is in line with the ICNIRP guidelines, and we have handed it over to the NCA to regulate the import of handset," he said. The NCA is yet to halt one fake phone from entering the country, much less educating the public on how to avoid such phones. 23 May 10