Switzerland: Popular Initiative Launched by Cross-Party Committe to Better Protect the Population against Electrosmog

The collection of signatures for the "SaferPhone" initiative, which aims to incorporate health protection against non-ionizing radiation (NIR) into the Federal Constitution, will begin on September 13, 2022. See https://www.saferphone-initiative.ch/FR/actuel.html .  To get on the ballot, this popular initiative will require 100,000 signatures of Swiss citizens to be gathered over a period of 18 months.

"SaferPhone" initiative - A cross-party committee wants to better protect the population against electrosmog
ATS/blick.ch, 12 September 2022 (translation)

The population must be better protected against the radiation of mobile phone antennas and have a future-oriented fiber optic network. An inter-party committee launched a popular initiative to this end on Monday.

(Photo): With its initiative "Protection against mobile phone radiation - Progress for health and the environment", an inter-party committee wants to promote the development of the fiber optic network in order to limit electrosmog (archive).

The "SaferPhone" initiative aims to incorporate health protection against non-ionizing radiation (NIR), also known as electrosmog, into the federal constitution. The collection of signatures will begin on Tuesday.

"Like other potentially toxic influences, cell phone radiation should be subject to the principle of the lowest possible exposure," the initiative committee wrote in a statement.

According to Sonia Weil of the initiative committee, people live 24 hours a day, seven days a week "in a field of tension between numerous devices and antennas connected by radio, whose radiation pollutes our living spaces". At the same time, the proportion of the population suffering from electrosmog is increasing.

Preventing the increase of the limit values

For this reason, the initiative committee demands that the limit values not be increased, which is what the mobile phone industry would like. Citing the report on mobile telephony published in April by the Federal Council, National Councillor (GE) and Vice President of the Greens Isabelle Pasquier-Eichenberger stressed that "it is not necessary to relax the radiation limits to deploy 5G", according to the written version of her speech.

Instead, the focus should be on transmission routes "that will still have sufficient capacity in ten or twenty years", namely fiber optic networks, said National Councilor Michael Töngi (Greens/LU).

Representatives of all political parties

According to estimates, about 70% of mobile data is related to the use of video applications and the trend is rising. Furthermore, the majority of so-called mobile communications take place indoors. Since the connection is made via an antenna outside, the radiation has to pass through the walls, which is why the antennas radiate so strongly, the initiators explain.

It is as if we were forced to light our homes with curtains closed and with excessively bright street lamps," she said.

However, when buildings are connected to the fiber optic network, transmission to users and terminals is done only through short radio links, said National Councillor Martina Munz (SP/ZH).

The initiative "Protection against mobile phone radiation - Progress for health and the environment" was launched with the participation of personalities from the technical, medical, legal and political world. The initiative and support committees are made up of representatives of all parties, according to the press release. The initiative, which has the support of the Greens, is launched and coordinated by the association Frequencia.

ATS

Original article:

https://www.blick.ch/fr/news/suisse/initiative-saferphone-un-comite-interpartis-souhaite-mieux-proteger-la-population-contre-lelectrosmog-id17870533.html