by Pascal Sigg, infosperber.ch, 17 May 2025 - Deepl translation
No money for health: the National Council does not want to monitor device radiation. The Federal Council was also against it.
Time and again, cell phones that exceed the radiation limits come onto the market in this country. This only becomes known because - in addition to the manufacturers - a French authority monitors the devices (Infosperber reported).
(Photo): Called in vain for control of smartphones: National Councillor Marionna Schlatter. Parliamentary services
(Photo): Called in vain for control of smartphones: National Councillor Marionna Schlatter. Parliamentary services
Switzerland has been resisting effective control of the devices for years (Infosperber reported). And it will continue to do nothing. This became clear last week after the National Council clearly rejected a proposal by Marionna Schlatter. The Green politician called for independent market surveillance of devices in Switzerland.
In the National Council, she said: “Without state supervision, we undermine the public's trust in product protection and leave them alone with the health risks. The greatest exposure to radiation comes from your own cell phone.” She then asked the responsible Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP): “How do you, Ms. Federal Councillor, intend to gain the public's trust in the expansion of the mobile phone antenna infrastructure if you are not even prepared to carry out market supervision of the end devices?”
Baume-Schneider repeated that the Federal Council had previously found that Switzerland lacked the money for this. The Federal Council's statement said: “The Federal Council acknowledges that there is no market surveillance of products with regard to their health effects from NIR (non-ionizing radiation) due to an enforcement gap. However, sufficient financial and human resources are needed to fulfill these tasks. Due to cost/benefit considerations and the federal financial situation, the necessary resources cannot be provided at present. Market surveillance should therefore be dispensed with at present.”
French NGO at the forefront
The rejection in the National Council was clearly along parliamentary party lines. The left and the Greens supported the motion, while all other parties were against it. This means that Switzerland continues to rely on risk reports from the European Union. The latter, in turn, is dependent on being informed accordingly by the French authorities. However, the French NGO “Phonegate Alert” recently criticized these reports as incomplete.
“Phonegate Alert”, which triggered the revelations about the excessive radiation from cell phones, also condemned the Swiss decision: ”In view of the lack of controls, it is difficult to justify. To the detriment of public health, it seems above all to protect industrial interests.”
Marc Arazi, President of the organization, said: “Switzerland rakes in hundreds of millions by auctioning mobile phone frequencies, but refuses to spend a single cent to protect its citizens. We would rather suppress the risks than measure them.”
France is the only EU country to measure - and is recording more and more cases of brain tumors in young people
At the beginning of March, an official study in France showed that cases of malignant brain tumors, known as glioblastomas, have increased dramatically in young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 over the last 20 years. The report also cites non-ionizing radiation as a possible risk factor. “Phonegate Alert” is of the opinion that all smartphones actually exceed the radiation limits that should protect against health risks such as brain tumors.
This is because a distance of 5 millimeters from the body is included in the control measurements of radiation. However, this does not correspond to the reality of use, as many people carry the devices on their bodies. For this reason, the NGO demands that the control measurements should not include a body distance.
In the National Council, she said: “Without state supervision, we undermine the public's trust in product protection and leave them alone with the health risks. The greatest exposure to radiation comes from your own cell phone.” She then asked the responsible Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP): “How do you, Ms. Federal Councillor, intend to gain the public's trust in the expansion of the mobile phone antenna infrastructure if you are not even prepared to carry out market supervision of the end devices?”
Baume-Schneider repeated that the Federal Council had previously found that Switzerland lacked the money for this. The Federal Council's statement said: “The Federal Council acknowledges that there is no market surveillance of products with regard to their health effects from NIR (non-ionizing radiation) due to an enforcement gap. However, sufficient financial and human resources are needed to fulfill these tasks. Due to cost/benefit considerations and the federal financial situation, the necessary resources cannot be provided at present. Market surveillance should therefore be dispensed with at present.”
French NGO at the forefront
The rejection in the National Council was clearly along parliamentary party lines. The left and the Greens supported the motion, while all other parties were against it. This means that Switzerland continues to rely on risk reports from the European Union. The latter, in turn, is dependent on being informed accordingly by the French authorities. However, the French NGO “Phonegate Alert” recently criticized these reports as incomplete.
“Phonegate Alert”, which triggered the revelations about the excessive radiation from cell phones, also condemned the Swiss decision: ”In view of the lack of controls, it is difficult to justify. To the detriment of public health, it seems above all to protect industrial interests.”
Marc Arazi, President of the organization, said: “Switzerland rakes in hundreds of millions by auctioning mobile phone frequencies, but refuses to spend a single cent to protect its citizens. We would rather suppress the risks than measure them.”
France is the only EU country to measure - and is recording more and more cases of brain tumors in young people
At the beginning of March, an official study in France showed that cases of malignant brain tumors, known as glioblastomas, have increased dramatically in young adults between the ages of 15 and 39 over the last 20 years. The report also cites non-ionizing radiation as a possible risk factor. “Phonegate Alert” is of the opinion that all smartphones actually exceed the radiation limits that should protect against health risks such as brain tumors.
This is because a distance of 5 millimeters from the body is included in the control measurements of radiation. However, this does not correspond to the reality of use, as many people carry the devices on their bodies. For this reason, the NGO demands that the control measurements should not include a body distance.
Original article in German:
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