Health Risks of Electromagnetic Waves: Cynicism at All Stages

"There is a health risk, but the goal is still to sell mobile phones to as many people as possible."

Health Risks - Cynicism at All Stages
by Nicolas Bérard, L'âge de faire, July 2018

Neither the authorities nor the operators are yet able to assure the public of the safety of electromagnetic waves.  But it's out of the question to destabilize such a profitable business.

Now the phone companies themselves are starting to worry about the effects that electromagnetic waves could have on human health.... And for one simple reason: it would obviously be very, very bad for their business. British Telecom, the equivalent of France Telecom (sorry, Orange!) across the Channel, preferred to warn its shareholders in its 2017 annual report, as stated in an article in the Mirror noted by the association Robin des Toits: "We cannot provide absolute assurance that future research will not establish links between radio frequency emissions and health risks". Another telephone giant, Nokia, explains: "Some research results have indicated that electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phones and base stations can have adverse health effects, such as increased risk of cancer. This is obviously a problem, because "concerns about adverse health effects could make it difficult to acquire and retain customers."  So things are clear: there is a health risk, but the goal is still to sell mobile phones to as many people as possible.

250 potentially dangerous models



Note that in terms of cynicism, the public authorities compete valiantly with private operators. Example. Do you remember the story of "Phonegate"?  Like "Dieselgate" on car emission measurements, Phonegate revealed that measurements made to check the SAR (specific absorption rate, which corresponds to the degree of wave emission) of mobile phones were completely distorted. The protocol was indeed inadequate: the measurement could be made with a distance of 2 cm between the handset and the body, whereas, in fact, the majority of people stick their mobile phone against the ear to make calls and carry it in their trouser pockets. In 2016, European legislation evolved to limit this distance and, since then, five phones placed on the market have already been identified as exceeding the standards. Two were recalled by the manufacturers and, for the other three, software had to be installed to limit the transmission power.

What about phones whose SAR was measured before the regulatory change? That is to say, phones which, today, would no longer obtain approval, but which respected the (distorted) standards in force at the time they were put on the market? Well, they're still allowed. The Phonegate Alert Association is therefore calling for the withdrawal of 250 mobile phone models, tested between 2012 and 2017 by ANFR (French National Frequencies Agency), which are known to exceed the regulatory SAR under real conditions of use - and therefore potentially endanger health..

This article was first published in the July 2018 issue of the independent monthly magazine L’âge de faire.

Original article in French:
https://refuser-compteur-linky.fr/cynisme-a-tous-les-etages/