The European Parliament has recommended that mobile phones be labelled with health warnings similar to cigarette packets. Following recent scare stories of brain damage and memory loss, MEPs in Strasbourg have voted to back Italian MEP Gianni Tamino’s recommendation. The law now rests on final approval from the Council of Ministers on June 8. If approved, it will come into effect by January 1, 2001, according to yesterday’s Express newspaper. According to The European Parliament, it will also: "oblige member states to lay down minimum safety distances for the siting of transmitters and other electrical transmission equipment including mobile phone base stations in relation to public building, housing and work places." These recommendations are part of the wider attempt to control electromagnetic radiation from electrical equipment. Mobiles were singled out as potential health hazards due to the amount of time the phones are held in close proximity to the head. Repeated exposure has been linked to cancer and immune system deficiencies in the body. This month saw the first UK test case of a former senior BT engineer suing BT over permanent brain damage allegedly caused by daily use of a mobile.®