Experts want research into cellphone effects
Panel finds guidelines to be mainly adequate but identifies concerns
TORONTO — Federal guidelines that spell out safe exposure levels of radiofrequency waves emitted by cellphones and other wireless devices appear to be mostly adequate, but research to clarify the potential risk of cancer should be aggressively pursued, an expert panel recommends.
The Royal Society of Canada panel issued its report Tuesday on Health Canada’s Safety Code 6, which sets out limits on exposure to radiofrequency fields aimed at protecting the health of workers and the public.
The panel was asked by Health Canada to recommend any necessary changes to the code following a review of the latest research on adverse health effects linked to radio waves from mobile phones, Wi-Fi equipment, cellular phone towers and TV and radio broadcast antennas.
“The conclusion of the panel was that the Safety Code 6 limits are sciencebased and are designed to avoid all known hazards of radiofrequency radiation,” said panel chairman Paul Demers, director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre in Toronto.
“And we do not believe at this time that additional precautionary measures should be introduced directly into the exposure levels or limits.”
However, the eightmember panel said Health Canada should pursue research to try to determine if there is a link between exposure to radiofrequency waves from ubiquitous wireless devices and cases of cancer.
“That certainly is one of the areas that has arisen as a concern,” said Demers, noting that studies investigating the issue have had inconsistent results.
“This is an area that certainly deserves further scrutiny, but at this point it’s still in the possible category in terms of a potential health effect. So that’s why we recommend that there still be research ongoing.”
Canadians for Safe Technology, a non-profit group whose stated goal is to educate Canadians and policy makers about the dangers of exposure to unsafe levels of wireless radiation, reacted angrily to the report.
The organization accused the panel of siding with the wireless industry and ignoring scientific data warning of health risks.
“This RSC review is an expensive exercise that was corrupted by industry and so is a waste of taxpayer dollars,” the group’s CEO, Frank Clegg, said in a statement, calling the report’s findings “questionable at best.”
“Rather than providing value to Health Canada, RSC’s rubber stamp leaves Canadians exposed to unprecedented risk.”
As part of its review, the expert panel also sought input from the public about possible adverse health effects from radiofrequency waves.
Demers said members heard testimony from a number of people who considered themselves to be hypersensitive to emissions, with symptoms that fall under a broadly defined category called idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields, or IEI-EMF.
“We were very concerned with the health of these folks who did present to the panel,” he said. “So we recommended that Health Canada further investigate their problem . . . understanding their health conditions and finding ways to find effective treatments for these individuals.”
While there is no scientific evidence to pinpoint a clear relationship between exposure to radiofrequency waves and reported symptoms, Demers said “there are people who are seriously ill and seriously concerned about that, and we believe that this should be a priority area for research to identify just what is causing their symptoms.”
Panel member Ken Foster, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, who studies the health effects of electromagnetic fields, said studies on human exposure to Wi-Fi devices have provided little useful data on biological effects.
“There’s very good evidence about how much exposure these things produce, and based on what we know and within the framework of Safety Code 6, we can say that the exposure is below that which is reasonably expected to be hazardous,” he said.
“As far as proving that the use of Wi-Fi does not cause health effects, well, that’s a very difficult question and there’s not much data at this point.”
Demers said many people are concerned about children’s exposure to radiofrequency waves. Such concerns include the effects of cellphone emissions on still-developing brains, since research has shown that about one-third of radio waves are absorbed through the skull.
“Again we didn’t find specific evidence to say that children were at increased risk, but as a general principle, we usually try to take a higher level of action when it comes to our children,” he said.