France : Phonegate : Interlocutory Hearing Against l'ANFR 19 April 2017 at the Administrative Court of Melun

Phonegate* : Interlocutory Hearing Against l'ANFR 19 April 2017
by Marc Arazi Publié: arazi.fr, 30 March 2017

Since 8 July 2016, the French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) has obstinately refused to communicate the detailed results of measurements made in 2015 on 95 cell phones.  Eighty-nine percent of these phones exceeded the threshold levels authorized when tested in contact with the skin**, and several, more than four times the norm, creating a very real health risk to users, particularly the youngest ones.

As the results came from ANFR, it is impossible for the agency to refute them.  Moreover, the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) mentioned the results in its report on Exposure to Radiofrequencies and the Health of Children.  The results contributed to the issue of precautionary recommendations by ANSES, particularly: "to ensure the respect of limit values of exposure standards in all circumstances, regardless of the mobile transmitting devices used and their conditions of use (contact with the body)."



In its recent conclusions submitted to the Administrative Court of Melun, ANFR maintains its refusal to communicate its results and thus to inform all concerned users (hundreds of millions at the European level), the names of the manufacturers and their models, as well as the exceeded threshold limits.

The public interlocutory hearing (appropriate measures) which will take place Wednesday 19 April 2017 at 11 o'clock at the Administrative Court of Melun (43 rue du Général de Gaulle) will thus be a decisive step to obtain these results.  We are also asking the Court for cautionary advice to be published on ANFR's site in order to raise awareness of consumers.  Finally, we are counting on the judicial system to ensure that all of ANFR's data be transmitted to the DGCCRF [Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and the Prevention of Fraud] for the purpose of opening an eventual investigation.

At the same time, on the other side of the Atlantic, the impact of Phonegate is growing and many American and Canadian media are picking up the issue of the health risks of cell phones coming into contact with the skin.  We believe it useful to relay this news story, broadcast on 24 March 2017 by the Canadian channel CBC News and the journalist Wendy Mesley, "The Secret Inside Your Cellphone".

[Link to the film in English.]

You may now follow the Twitter feed @phone_gate which relays the main information and published articles on the subject.

* the origin of the term comes from Pierre Le Hir (Le Monde, 23 December 2016) « Soupçons sur les ondes des téléphones portables »

** maximum 5 millimeters

Original article in French:
http://arazi.fr/wp2/2017/03/phonegate-audience-de-refere-contre-lanfr-le-19-avril-2017/

Translated by the Editor of "Towards Better Health".