A new report on the health effects of electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation from power lines, electrical wiring, appliances and hand-held electronic devices has been published by the BioInitiative Working Group, suggesting that evidence for health risks has increased since 2007. The BioInitiative Working Group grew out of the Bioelectromagnetics Society’s 2006 annual meeting and is comprised of scientists, researchers, medical experts and environmental agency members from around the world.
The report reviews more than 1,800 recent scientific studies and concludes that cell phone users, men interested in becoming fathers, young children and pregnant women are at an increased risk for health issues that include increased risk for brain tumors, sperm damage, autism disorder development and fetal brain malformation.
However, some organizations are claiming the report is biased and inaccurate. According to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), a mobile industry lobby group, the new 2012 report is an update on the organization’s 2007 report, which was criticized by “several credible health organizations across the world … as having clear scientific weaknesses.”
COAI also denounces the report as “an informal interpretation of a limited selection of the available scientific information on electromagnetic fields … largely critical of the internationally accepted and most widely adopted EMF exposure standards developed by the international Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).”
Other agencies, including the European Initiative EMF-NET coordination group, the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation (COMAR), the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection and the Health Council of the Netherlands have also made statements criticizing the report.
For more information, visit the Financial Post and COAI.
