Category Archives: HEALTH

Mobile telephony and public health – Is Switzerland an absent subscriber? – Alert Phone Gate – November 03, 2019

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/mobile-telephony-and-public-health-is-switzerland-an-absent-subscriber?

Called upon in the context of the Phonegate industrial and health scandal by Léon Warnier, Swiss Phonegate Alert Coordinator, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) initially declared itself incompetent. After a cascading referral to different authorities, the FOPH claims to be unaware of which office is responsible for protecting the health of smartphone users!…

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/mobile-telephony-and-public-health-is-switzerland-an-absent-subscriber?

The situation is Kafkaesque:

  1. The FOPH declared itself incompetent and referred the matter back to OFCOM.
  2. OFCOM declared itself incompetent and referred the matter back to ESTI.
  3. The ESTI declared itself incompetent and declared the FOPH competent.
  4. The FOPH claims to be unaware of which office is competent in this case.

Mobile telephony and public health: Is Switzerland an absent subscriber?

 

French ministerial announcements – an important step in our actions to protect the health of mobile phone users by Alert Phone Gate – October 25, 2019

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https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/french-ministerial-announcements-an-important-step-in-our-actions-to-protect-the-health-of-mobile-phone-users

French ministerial announcements: an important step in our actions to protect the health of mobile phone users

In a joint statement published today, the French ministries of Health, Ecology and Economy announced several proposals for action to strengthen health protection for mobile phone users in France and Europe. These are in the context of the recommendations made on 21 October 2019 by the French health & safety agency in its report entitled “Mobile phones worn close to the body and health”, and the mobilization actions of our association following the revelation in July 2016 by Dr Marc Arazi of the Phonegate industrial and health scandal.

For our President:

“This is undoubtedly another victory for our association and for all the partner organisations, independent scientists, lawyers who are members of the Consortium, journalists who work in France and abroad to protect the health of the 5 billion mobile phone users”.

However, we regret the lack of consultation with the associations that are fighting this fight. We reiterate our call for a meeting with the ministers concerned. To this end, we will take an initiative in the coming days.

Press release translated by Phonegate Alert   ….

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/french-ministerial-announcements-an-important-step-in-our-actions-to-protect-the-health-of-mobile-phone-users

Smart Meter Opt-Outs for BC, Canada and USA

 

 

 

6 links to help you find your electric utility‘s opt-out program plus comparison chart of opt-out fees.

https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/metersgrid/smart-meter-opt-out-options-and-fees/

https://stopsmartmetersbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Warning-Not-Smart-Not-Green-Not-Safe-Radio-Frequency-Hazard-1.png

ANSES recommendations call upon the public authorities and industry to face their health responsibilities – Anses Experts Report re Mobile Phones Worn Close to the Body and Health – Alert Phone Gate – October 21, 2019

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/recommendations-anses-call-upon-public-authorities-industrial-to-face-their-health-responsibilities

 

 

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The French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) has just made public the first part of its expert group report entitled “Mobile phones close to the body and health“, dated July 2019. For Dr. Marc Arazi, who launched the alert on the Phonegate scandal in July 2016:

“This is undoubtedly a great step forward and a tremendous recognition for our international alert action. The public and industrial authorities are now faced with their responsibilities and must inform mobile phone users of the health risks involved.”

This had been expected since the end of 2017, following our appeal to the public authorities and the request made by the General Directorate of Health (Ministry for Solidarity and Health) and the Directorate of Risk Prevention (Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition) to ANSES to be informed of the health risks for adults and children exposed to specific absorption rate (SAR) levels of more than 2 W/kg (European legal limit).

In the next few days, we are going to analyze this 128-page report with the members of our international scientific committee.

Our initial reaction, however, to the recommendations of ANSES is positive. Here is the conclusion of the report signed by the Director General of ANSES, Roger Genet: ….

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/recommendations-anses-call-upon-public-authorities-industrial-to-face-their-health-responsibilities

We Have No reason to believe 5G is Safe – Joel M. Moskowitz

The technology is coming, but contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks

By Joel M. Moskowitz, October 17, 2019

The telecommunications industry and their experts have accused many scientists who have researched the effects of cell phone radiation of “fear mongering” over the advent of wireless technology’s 5G.   Since much of our research is publicly-funded, we believe it is our ethical responsibility to inform the public about what the peer-reviewed scientific literature tells us about the health risks from wireless radiation.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced through a press release that the commission will soon reaffirm the radio frequency radiation (RFR) exposure limits that the FCC adopted in the late 1990s.  These limits are based upon a behavioral change in rats exposed to microwave radiation and were designed to protect us from short-term heating risks due to RFR exposure.

Yet, since the FCC adopted these limits based largely on research from the 1980s, the preponderance of peer-reviewed research, more than 500 studies, have found harmful biologic or health effects from exposure to RFR at intensities too low to cause significant heating.

Citing this large body of research, more than 240 scientists who have published peer-reviewed research on the biologic and health effects of nonionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for stronger exposure limits. The appeal makes the following assertions:

  • “Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. Effects include:
    • increased cancer risk,
    • cellular stress,
    • increase in harmful free radicals,
    • genetic damages,
    • structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and
    • negative impacts on general well-being in humans.

Damage goes well beyond the human race, as there is growing evidence of harmful effects to both plant and animal life.”

The scientists who signed this appeal arguably constitute the majority of experts on the effects of nonionizing radiation. They have published more than 2,000 papers and letters on EMF in professional journals.

The FCC’s RFR exposure limits regulate the intensity of exposure, taking into account the frequency of the carrier waves, but ignore the signaling properties of the RFR.   Along with the patterning and duration of exposures, certain characteristics of the signal (e.g., pulsing, polarization) increase the biologic and health impacts of the exposure.  New exposure limits are needed which account for these differential effects.  Moreover, these limits should be based on a biological effect, not a change in a laboratory rat’s behavior.

The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified RFR as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” in 2011.   Last year, a $30 million study conducted by the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) found “clear evidence” that two years of exposure to cell phone RFR increased cancer in male rats and damaged DNA in rats and mice of both sexes. The Ramazzini Institute in Italy replicated the key finding of the NTP using a different carrier frequency and much weaker exposure to cell phone radiation over the life of the rats.

Based upon the research published since 2011, including human and animal studies and mechanistic data, the IARC has recently prioritized RFR to be reviewed again in the next five years. Since many EMF scientists believe we now have sufficient evidence to consider RFR as either a probable or known human carcinogen, the IARC will likely upgrade the carcinogenic potential of RFR in the near future.

Nonetheless, without conducting a formal risk assessment or a systematic review of the research on RFR health effects, the FDA recently reaffirmed the FCC’s 1996 exposure limits in a letter to the FCC, stating that the agency had “concluded that no changes to the current standards are warranted at this time,” and that “NTP’s experimental findings should not be applied to human cell phone usage.” The letter stated that “the available scientific evidence to date does not support adverse health effects in humans due to exposures at or under the current limits.”

The latest cellular technology, 5G, will employ millimeter waves for the first time in addition to microwaves that have been in use for older cellular technologies, 2G through 4G. Given limited reach, 5G will require cell antennas every 100 to 200 meters, exposing many people to millimeter wave radiation.   5G also employs new technologies (e.g., active antennas capable of beam-forming; phased arrays; massive inputs and outputs, known as MIMO) which pose unique challenges for measuring exposures.

Millimeter waves are mostly absorbed within a few millimeters of human skin and in the surface layers of the cornea. Short-term exposure can have adverse physiological effects in the peripheral nervous system, the immune system and the cardiovascular system. The research suggests that long-term exposure may pose health risks to the skin (e.g., melanoma), the eyes (e.g., ocular melanoma) and the testes (e.g., sterility).

Since 5G is a new technology, there is no research on health effects, so we are “flying blind” to quote a U.S. senator. However, we have considerable evidence about the harmful effects of 2G and 3G.   Little is known about the effects of exposure to 4G, a 10-year-old technology, because governments have been remiss in funding this research. Meanwhile, we are seeing increases in certain types of head and neck tumors in tumor registries, which may be at least partially attributable to the proliferation of cell phone radiation. These increases are consistent with results from case-control studies of tumor risk in heavy cell phone users.

5G will not replace 4G; it will accompany 4G for the near future and possibly over the long term. If there are synergistic effects from simultaneous exposures to multiple types of RFR, our overall risk of harm from RFR may increase substantially.   Cancer is not the only risk as there is considerable evidence that RFR causes neurological disorders and reproductive harm, likely due to oxidative stress.

As a society, should we invest hundreds of billions of dollars deploying 5G, a cellular technology that requires the installation of 800,000 or more new cell antenna sites in the U.S. close to where we live, work and play?

Instead, we should support the recommendations of the 250 scientists and medical doctors who signed the 5G Appeal that calls for an immediate moratorium on the deployment of 5G and demand that our government fund the research needed to adopt biologically based exposure limits that protect our health and safety.

The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

 Joel M. Moskowitz

Joel M. Moskowitz, PhD, is director of the Center for Family and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been translating and disseminating the research on wireless radiation health effects since 2009 after he and his colleagues published a review paper that found long-term cell phone users were at greater risk of brain tumors. His Electromagnetic Radiation Safety website has had more than two million page views since 2013. He is an unpaid advisor to the International EMF Scientist Appeal and Physicians for Safe Technology.

http://bit.ly/5GSciAmJMM

Dr Arazi’s presentation at the International Scientific Conference in Mainz, Germany – Alert Phone Gate – October 07, 2019

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Dr Arazi’s presentation at the International Scientific Conference in Mainz, Germany – Alert Phone Gate – October 07, 2019:

 

Here are a few highlights:

 

Apple’s iPhone: widespread deception over the real SAR levels by Alerte Phone Gate – September 10, 2019

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We asked Dr. Arazi, President of Phonegate Alert, to review in detail the revelations made on August 21, 2019 by journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Roe in the Chicago Tribune and to place them in the overall context of the international Phonegate scandal. We start with the results of Apple’s iPhones, then in a next article we will discuss the results of the Korean manufacturer Samsung.

https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/apples-iphone-widespread-deception-over-the-real-sar-levels

Revelation of the Chicago Tribune on the tests of the most popular cell phones in the United States. by Alert Phone Gate – August 22, 2019

– https://www.phonegatealert.org/en/press-release-revelation-of-the-chicago-tribune-on-the-tests-of-the-most-popular-cell-phones-in-the-united-states
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[Press Release] Revelation of the Chicago Tribune on the tests of the most popular cell phones in the United States. by Alert Phone Gate – August 22, 2019:
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We tested popular cellphones for radiofrequency radiation. Now the FCC is investigating. by Sam Roe – Chicago Tribune – August 21, 2019: