Phonegate and Electromagnetic Safety

This is an excellent article!

Phonegate and electromagnetic safety

by CARLOS ÁLVAREZ BERLANA, elsaltodiario.com, 13 January 2018
(Google translation)

The Phonegate scandal gives us the opportunity to question ourselves on the subject of electromagnetic safety. Is the SAR emission rate a reliable measure to rule out possible health effects?

Several mobile brands have been accused of manipulating
the security tests of their devices.

In recent months we have witnessed the so-called "Phonegate" case, through which we have learned that mobile phone companies, with the approval of the electromagnetic safety authorities, have been cheating to pass safety tests on their devices.

According to data revealed after court order, obtained by the French physician Marc Arazi , many devices have been passing the tests at distances of between 1.5 and 2.5 centimeters, and 89% of phones tested between 2011 and 2015 by the National Agency French Frequencies (ANFR) exceeded the emission limits according to the SAR rate in the contact positions. This means that many people when they carry their cell phones in their pockets or talk with them next to their ears are receiving more radiation than the norm.



The Phonegate scandal gives us the opportunity to question ourselves on the subject of electromagnetic safety. Is the SAR emission rate a reliable measurement to rule out possible health effects? Is the SAR set by the European regulation of 2 W/Kg a sufficient limit that guarantees safety? We have to answer that there is at least a part of the scientific community that is saying no, that SAR is not a reliable measurement on possible biological effects caused by mobile phone radiation and that 2 W/Kg is insufficient since there are investigations by scientists who are finding negative effects well below that level.

It is necessary to ask a little more in depth about this environmental factor that cannot be seen and that is not smelled, but that is increasingly present in our environment, which is classified as electromagnetic pollution. Are the current levels of artificial electromagnetic radiation, which exceed the levels of natural radiation hundreds of thousands of times, a danger to health? Once again we have to answer that there is a significant number of experts in bioelectromagnétics who are saying that we are going to find ourselves with more and more health problems related to this new environmental element.

The next question is: Are electromagnetic security organizations and authorities adequately watching over health? Again and again, appealing to scientific opinions, we have to answer no. The levels in our country and other European countries that follow the recommendations of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) - recognized by the World Health Organization - according to committees and scientific committees are excessive and do not protect against multiple short, medium and long-term effects to the health of people.

Why does the ICNIRP and the WHO maintain the recommendation of safety limits below which there is a multitude of investigations that show adverse effects on health? To answer this question we have to keep in mind the conflicts of interest and the power of the telecommunications lobbies. Practically all ICNIRP researchers have been financed by the telecommunications industry [report in Spanish], and the WHO Electromagnetic Fields Project has been repeatedly denounced for illegal financing, conflicts of interest and excessive closeness to the telecommunications industry.

In the past we have had examples of how the tobacco industry has for decades hidden or sown doubts about the risks of its product. The influence of lobbies on regulations and on the information that reaches consumers is a matter of debate.  On the matter of electromagnetic safety we also find ourselves with a society that as a whole has embraced technologies uncritically without asking about their possible risks.

There are voices that are saying that the information technologies applied in teaching have pedagogical contraindications and that when they are based on wireless alternatives, such as Wi-Fi, they have an impact on the health, behavior and cognitive abilities of children. There are reasons to be uneasy about the growing increase in cancer and disorders of child behavior that investigations relate to electromagnetic pollution. However, a model of technological development that leaves aside the safest options such as cable connection imposes criteria that should be basic such as health and the environment.

Original article in Spanish:
https://elsaltodiario.com/1984/phonegate-seguridad_electromagnetica

Note:  All links take one to references in English, except for one.