Bloc pushes for health subcommittee on wireless and health, but critics question evidence

The Bloc Québécois is citing a report criticized by the scientific community in its push for the formation of a health subcommittee to explore the health risks associated with cellphones and exposure to radio frequencies. Bloc Québécois MP Luc Malo, a member of the House of Commons health committee, presented a petition to the House Thursday with 1,100 signatures, which asks to “protect the population from microwaves coming from cell towers and wireless technology.” Malo proposes the creation of a House subcommittee to examine the possibility of new standards to protect Canadians from the potential health risks associated with radio frequencies. So far, the Bloc Québécois; Liberal MPs Alexandra Mendes, Denis Coderre and Shawn Murphy; as well as NDP MPs Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Thomas Mulcair and Alex Atamanenko, support the creation of the subcommittee. Malo’s House petition was prepared by Quebec-based organization Save our Children from Microwaves (SEMO), which cites a 2007 study called The Bioinitiative Report as its main evidence that the public should be protected from electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation. The Bionitiative Report was self-published by an international group of 14 scientists, researchers and public health professionals, and recommended reducing the limits for exposure to electromagnetic fields. The report has come under considerable criticism in light of scientific literature that argues that electromagnetic fields and radio frequencies do not pose serious health risks. Doctor Daniel Krewski, director of the University of Ottawa’s McLaughlin Centre for Population Health Risk Assessment, and a co-investigator on the Interphone Study, the world’s largest piece of research on brain cancer risks associated with cell phones, said he hadn’t heard of the study. “There’s pretty much a scientific consensus that there is no clear evidence of cancer associated with cellphones or cellphone towers,” he told The Wire Report in an interview. The Health Council of the Netherlands, a scientific advisory body to parliament and government, has noted of the report: “The Committee concludes that this report is not an objective and balanced reflection of the current state of scientific knowledge and does not provide any grounds for revising the current views as to the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields.” The Australian Centre for Radiofrequency Bioeffects Research (ACRBR), a research network tied to several Australian universities, supports the Health Council of the Netherlands’ position on the report. The ACRBR says on its website that the BioInitiative Report “merely provides a set of views that are not consistent with the consensus of science, and it does not provide an analysis that is rigorous-enough to raise doubts about the scientific consensus.” “There are some hints of possible associations in a few studies but they tend not to be corroborated by the vast majority of the evidence,” Krewski added. “I think those small suggestions are the things some people cling to and say, ‘We have a problem.’” In January Industry Canada published a handbook citing research by the Royal Society of Canada and the World Health Organization, which found no clear evidence that low frequency radio signals from cellphones could cause adverse health effects. For people concerned about their exposure to radio frequencies, the handbook offered some tips to reduce it, such as limiting time spent on cellphone calls, alternating between ears when talking (to limit the exposure to one side), and using hands-free devices. But François Therrien, a spokesman for SEMO, told The Wire Report that a majority of studies on the health risks associated with radio frequencies are funded by the telecommunications industry. “About 75 per cent of independent studies have found a link between radio frequencies and adverse health effects,” he said. Although Krewski acknowledged a need for more research about the long-term health impacts of cellphones, he added: “Every authoritative body that looked at this issue failed to conclude that there is a clear risk.” A 2009 study by the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection, titled, “Exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields, biological effects and health consequences (100kHz-300 GHz),” concluded that most mobile phone studies had been conducted over relatively short periods of time. “The implication is that if a longer lag period is required for a health effect to occur, the effect could not be detected in these studies,” it said. The same study said there is a gap in research about the possible health effects cellphones have on children. Therrien said he expects that the potential health risks posed by cell phones will eventually be as widely accepted as the risks posed by cigarettes. jmigneault@thewirereport.ca

Bloc pushes for health subcommittee on wireless and health, but critics question evidence

News | March 11, 2010

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