German Federal Agency For Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz – BfS) Press Release 31 January 2006 DECT – The Radiation Source at Home:  "Cordless Phones radiate unnecessarily". A somewhat contradictory statement asking industry to stop the current trend of manufacture of continuous and full power DECT radiation phones, but at the same time stating that DECT phones emit EMR well below the guidelines of ICNIRP which is their accepted indication of "safety". Why make the statement then? Unless Radiation Protection Authorities are mandated for energy saving or carbon issues, this doesn't make a lot of sense unless seen for what it is: an obfuscation of the issues whilst in "damage control" mode.

"The official advice of the Public Health Department of the Salzburg Region is not to use WLAN and DECT in Schools or Kindergardens."

Alasdair Jean Philips of Powerwatch (.org.uk) discuss the issues surrounding and the scientific results pertaining to DECT phones. "Holding a DECT phone to your head will always expose you to higher levels of microwave fields than you will ever experience (in public access areas) from a mobile phone base-station. Digital cordless phones and their base units emit pulsed microwaves and these can exceed the levels from an actual mobile phone in areas where the mobile phone service has good signal strengths."

The use of DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunication) cordless phones has been a major health and environmental concern in Europe and especially in Germany for years. The biological concern arose from studies on HF (high frequency) sources such as GSM cellular phones and towers. Digital cordless phones are also available in the USA – marketed as 2.4 GHz digital technology. A digital cordless phone was placed in a representative private home in California and HF measurements were conducted at different locations inside, using frequency selective spectrum analysis to obtain the cordless phone power densities. The results showed that the radiation patterns and levels emitted by the small cordless phone base station are almost identical to the DECT technology – also digitally pulsed and permanent microwave radiation. The power density values presented for each room inside the home can be compared to average DECT cordless phone radiation exposures found in German homes. The maximum power density was found to be over 500,000 uW/m2 at a normally encountered distance (about 1 - 2 feet) if the base station is placed on an office desk or bedside table. The radiation peak values in the same room are higher than those encountered in proximity to cellular base stations located near residential buildings.

Andrew Goldsworthy B.Sc., Ph.D. speaks about EMR and Autism, and recognises the non dose-response relationship and biological effects of EMR in this document: “…Weak electromagnetic fields can have a greater effect than strong ones and thus prolonged exposure to weak fields (where cells are maintained in the unstable condition for longer) is potentially more damaging than relatively brief exposure to much stronger ones”.