Phonegate: The French Public Authorities Recognize the Urgent Need to Better Protect the Health of Mobile Phone Users

The French public authorities recognize the urgent need to better protect the health of mobile phone users
phonegatealert.org, 9 July 2018

Two years, day for day, after the revelation of the scandal, Phonegate Alert has just, not without difficulty, obtained new incontestable proof confirming that the European and French regulations governing the placing on the market of mobile phones does not effectively protect the health of users.

On 27 June 2018, our association was able to obtain from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) the mission letter entrusted to it on 30 October 2017 by the Director General for Risk Prevention (DGPR) and the Director General for Health (DGS). This letter was given to us by Mr. Olivier Merckel, Head of the Physical Agents, New Technologies and Major Developments Unit, whom we thank. For six months, we had been asking Ministers Nicolas Hulot and Angès Buzyn, in vain, for a copy of this extremely important document.

When we read this mission letter, we can easily understand why these Ministers were in no hurry to make it public. Indeed, according to Dr. Arazi, President of Phonegate Alert, « This is nothing more or less than the first official recognition of a serious failure of European and French regulations that has allowed manufacturers in the sector to put on sale hundreds of millions of mobile phones that present risks to our health, particularly that of our children.”

The DGPR and the DGS are asking ANSES, taking into account its July 2016 recommendation, to « …develop an indicator representative of the real exposure of mobile phone users… you will identify the work to be carried out in order to respond to this recommendation by specifying the method and timetable. These elements may, where appropriate, be taken to the European level… ». This work must be completed by the end of 2018.

Furthermore, ANSES is asked « …to indicate whether these exceedances of SAR values (NDLR: specific absorption rate) as recorded by ANFR between 2012 and 2016 are likely to cause health effects… » and to study in particular the consequences for children: « … it appears that children may be more exposed than adults… ». This work was to be made available by 31 December 2017, that is, more than 6 months ago!

We are legitimately entitled to publicly ask Ministers Nicolas Hulot and Agnès Buzyn why these requests and the results of the work requested have not been the subject of any official communication and when these elements will finally be made public.

In this context, our request for the recall of more than 250 of the best-selling mobile phone models on the French market, which must either be withdrawn from service by a procedure to be defined, or be the subject of a free software or hardware update by the manufacturer, must be heeded by the public authorities. We have therefore just launched a petition addressed to the Ministers which will be officially handed to them on 23 September 2018.

https://www.phonegatealert.org/2018/07/09/the-french-public-authorities-recognize-the-urgent-need-to-better-protect-the-health-of-mobile-phone-users/