Parents For Safe Technology

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​France

National Legislation minimizing WiFi has been passed and the National Agency for Health, Food and Environmental Safety (ANSES) issued a report on the science in 2013.


  • 2015 Law passed: WiFi banned from nursery schools, Wifi must be be turned off in elementary schools when not in use, Cellphone advertisements must recommend headsets to reduce exposure to brain.

  • 2011 French Cell Phone Statute: Merchants must display SAR Radiation levels for different phone models, all phones must be sold with a headset, cell phone ads aimed at children younger than 14 are banned and phones made for children under 6 are banned.

  • 2013 ANSES Report  recommends hands free phones, SAR  labeling, and “limiting the population's exposure to radiofrequencies… especially for children and intensive users, and controlling the overall exposure that results from relay antennas.”  




Belgium 

 Federal Public Health Regulations issued in 2013 due to Health Concerns for Children.

  • Phones designed for children under 7 years old are prohibited from sale.

  • Total Advertising Ban on cell phones aimed at children younger than 14.

  • Mandatory Radiation SAR levels must be available for consumers at point of sale.

  • Warning label on phones: “Think about your health – use your mobile phone moderately, make your calls wearing an earpiece and choose a set with a lower SAR value.”

  • Recommendations include use of hands-free methods to keep the phone away from the body such as text messaging and not making calls when the signal is weak, such as in elevator/vehicle.
  • Ghent Municipality: Wireless internet is banned from spaces that cater to children between 0 and three: preschools and daycares to reduce exposure to microwave radiation.



Worldwide Precautionary Action

Around the world, countries are taking strong action to reduce wireless radiation on children.


In addition the policies listed below, countries like Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Israel, Russia and China have set RF exposure limits 100 to 10,000 times lessthan the USA. They recognize that there can be non-thermal biological effects from wireless radiation.

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Spain 

  • The Parliament of Navarra voted to urge removal of WIFI in schools  and to apply the precautionary principle in relation to exposure limits to electromagnetic fields whose boundaries have become "obsolete".

  • The Parliament voted to adopt a resolution which calls to implement the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution 1815 of 2011, which recommends to "review the scientific basis for the standards of exposure to electromagnetic fields" and " set thresholds for levels of preventive long-term exposure in all indoor areas not exceeding 0.6 volts per meter ".
  • ​The Vitoria City Council unanimously approved a precautionary approach with wireless: Citizens will be informed of the location of  wireless transmitters are in civic centers and municipal buildings. It is recommended that children's spaces such as playgrounds and family libraries, will be free of WiFi or have decreased wifi and wifi free zones will be established in playgrounds and building entrances.




Israel 


The  Israeli Ministry Of Education has issued guidelines limiting WiFi and cell phone use in schools including. 









The Israeli Ministry of Health published  Environmental Health in Israel  2014 which states that “Precautions should be strictly enforced with regard to children, who are more sensitive to developing cancer.” and that "wireless communication networks in schools be reduced."


The Israeli Health Ministry recommends “sensible use of cellular and wireless technology, including: considering alternatives like landline telephones, use of a speaker while talking on a cellphone, and refraining from installing the base of wireless phones in a bedroom, work room, or children’s room.”



Australia

 

In 2013 the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency issued Fact Sheet 14: titled How to Reduce Exposure from Mobile Phones and Other Wireless Devices which states:

  • Reduce the risk from WiFi devices by “keeping them at a distance, for example placing the wireless router away from where people spend time”, and “reducing the amount of time you use them”.

  • “ARPANSA recommends that parents encourage their children to limit their exposure.”


​Australia has a very organized advocacy group working to redice wireless exposures on children. See the video to the left. 






Italy


The Italian Supreme Court ruled a man’s brain tumor was caused by his cell phone use in 2012. The  National Institute for Workmen’s Compensation must compensate a worker with head tumor due to cell use.


Please watch the documentary to the left about protests against radar installations in Sicily. 


​On June 10, 2015, the State Parliament of South Tyrol voted to allow the application of the precautionary principle mandating the state government to:


  • 1. To replace existing wireless networks whenever possible with networks that emit less radiation at schools, preschools, hospitals, nursing homes, and other public facilities.
  • 2. Establish a working group whose mandate it is to assess these new technologies and their exposure levels. With regard to wireless communication technologies, mobile Internet access, and public health, the working group shall clarify which technologies emit less radiation and provide sustainable technology options and
  • 3. To start an education and awareness campaign that informs about possible health risks, especially regarding the unborn, infants, children, and adolescents and that develops guidelines for a safer use of cell phones, smartphones, and Wi-Fi. Discussion at the Plenary Session, 10 June 2015 (in German)  >>>///////Official Files, Resolutions (in German)   >>>////////Previous Hearing at the Parliament of South Tyrol, 29 April 2015 (in German)   >>>








The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe


Resolution 1815 was issued in 2011 entitled:
The Potential Dangers of Electromagnetic Fields and Their Effect on the Environment.
A call to European governments to “take all reasonable measures” to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields “particularly the exposure to children and young people who seem to be most at risk from head tumours.”  The Resolution calls for  member states to:

  • Implement “information campaigns about the risk of biological effects on the environment and human health, especially targeting children and young people of reproductive age. “
  • “Reconsider the scientific basis for the present standards on exposure to electromagnetic fields set by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection, which have serious limitations, and apply ALARA principles, covering both thermal effects and the athermic or biological effects of electromagnetic emissions or radiation.”
  • “For children in general, and particularly in schools and classrooms, give preference to wired Internet connections, and strictly regulate the use of mobile phones by schoolchildren on school premises.”



Switzerland




Germany


  • The German Federal Ministry for Radiation Protection states,”supplementary precautionary measures such as wired cable alternatives are to be preferred to the WLAN system.”
  • Bavaria: The State Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs: “For precautionary reasons the Federal Office for Radiation Protection recommends for schools that if a wireless network is used to place its components in suitable locations and to prefer the use of wired network solutions whenever possible.” In 2007 Parliament recommendation to all schools to not install wireless LAN networks.
  • Frankfurt: ​“In Frankfurt’s schools there will be no wireless networks in the short or mid term. The Local Education Authority did not wish to conduct a “large scale human experiment,” said Michael Damian, spokesperson of the Head of the School Department Jutta Ebeling.  



Austria  


  • The Austrian Medical Society has issued cell phone safety guidelines (See picture to the left) stating that cell phones should be used for as short of a time as possible and that children under 16 should not use cell phones at all. They also  state that wireless LAN leads to high microwave exposure.
  • ​​On March 2012, the Austrian Medical Association recognized and developed EHS treatment guidelines. Click HERE to download the Guidelines of the Austrian Medical Association for the diagnosis and treatment of EMF related health problems and illnesses (EMF syndrome)





United Kingdom


  • The UK National Health Service issued guidelines specific Recommendations for children and cell phones as “children are thought to be at higher risk of health implications”.

  • “Children should only use mobile phones for essential purposes and keep all calls short. “

  • For the public they have  “recommendations to help lower any potential long-term risks” which include keeping calls short, keep phone away from the body on standby mode, only use it when the reception is strong and use a phone with an external antenna.




European Environment Agency:


  • Professor Jacqueline McGlade, the EEA's executive director said, "Recent research and reviews on the long-term effects of radiations from mobile telecommunications suggest that it would be prudent for health authorities to recommend actions to reduce exposures, especially to vulnerable groups, such as children."
  • The EEA issued a report "Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk: early warnings, early actions?" stating that "Precautionary actions now to reduce head exposures, as pointed out by the EEA in 2007, and many others since, would limit the size and seriousness of any brain tumour risk that may exist. "




India 
 


  • 2012 The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology issued EMF Guidelines with new Exposure Limits lowered to 1/10 of the ICNIRP level, SAR labeling on phones.



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Russia


The Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection has repeatedly warned about electromagnetic radiation impacts on children and recommended WiFi not be used in schools. Download report HERE.

  • “Thus, for the first time in the human history, children using mobile telecommunications along with the adult population are included into the health risk group due to the RF EMF exposure.”

  • “In children, the amount of so-called stem cells is larger than in adults and the stem cells were shown to be the most sensitive to RF EMF exposure.”

  • “It is reasonable to set limits on mobile telecommunications use by children and adolescents, including ban on all types of advertisement of mobile telecommunications for children.”




Canada


Health Canada offers “Practical Advice” on reducing exposure to wireless radiation.

  • Recommendations: 1. Limit the length of cell phone calls, 2. Replace cell phone calls with text, use "hands-free" devices and 3. Encourage children under the age of 18 to limit their cell phone usage

  • 2015: National Bill C-648 Introduced into the House Of Commons,“An Act Respecting the Prevention of Potential Health Risks From Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation” would require manufacturers of all wireless devices to place specific health warning labels clearly on  packaging, or face daily penalties /fines and/or imprisonment.





Finland

The Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority issued 2009 recommendations for children which include: favoring text messages, parents limiting duration and amount of calls, the use of hands free devices, avoiding calls in a low reception area and keeping the phone away from the body.

"With children, we have reason to be especially careful, because there is not enough research on children's mobile phone use",
according to STUK research director Sisko Salomaa.



Namibia


Read Namibia's atomic energy review that states pretty clearly that current so called "safety" standards DO NOT protect citizens from long term health effects. 


ICNIRP guidelines do not gurantee adequate protection against the long term effects of exposure, such as increased risk of cancer. 


-Republic of Namibia- The Atomic Energy Review 




Cyprus

October 2015, The Cyprus National Committee on Environment and Child Health (ECH) announced it wants "to err on the side of caution", warning the public that using mobile devices could be potentially harmful to children.

  • Stella Michaelidou, President of the ECH, states that society should respond by taking precautions because “Documentation of other potential and more serious biological side effects are on the tip of an emerging iceberg.”
  • This stance was documented in a recent news article that quotes Michaelidou stating that “multiple and frequent exposure to this kind of radiation, which falls below the acceptable levels of thermal effects, pose a health risk to a developing embryo.” and children who use their mobile phone more frequently face a higher risk at having a weaker memory, attention deficit disorder, and similar issues.​






United States  


Legislation has been introduced at the state and national level. Some Communities have issued proclamations, resolutions and  and started initiatives to  inform the public of wireless health issues.

2015 California, Berkeley:  Berkeley is the first city in the nation to require cell phone retailers to provide those who purchase a new phone an informational fact sheet which informs buyers to read the user manual to learn the cell phone’s minimum separation distance from the body. Read all about this historic ordinance. 



2014 New York:  Wireless Router Labeling in all Suffolk Public buildings: 12/2014 The Suffolk County Legislature passed legislation to require all county buildings to post notices that wireless routers are in use such as, "Notice: Wireless technology in use." The resolution, sponsored by Legis. William Spencer (a physician), warns that every wireless device emits radio frequency radiation or microwave radiation. It notes that studies "that have looked at the effects of low-level RFR radiation on human cells and DNA have been inconclusive."

2014 Maryland, Greenbelt: The Greenbelt Maryland City Council voted unanimously on November 24, 2014 to alert citizens about the fine print warnings and possible health risks of cell phones and wireless devices, to send the FCC Chairman a letter urging the adoption of “radiation standards that will protect human health and safety.” They also voted to oppose cell towers on school grounds.

2012 Wyoming: Jackson Hole issued a  Proclamation of Cell Phone Safety  which cites concern over long term health effects as well as the increased risk the radiation poses to children.

2012 Florida: Pembroke Pines, passed Resolution 3362  expressing the City's "Urgent Concerns" about Wireless Radiation and Health and which encourages citizens to read their manuals and presents information on how to reduce exposure by using a headset or speakerphone. Jimmy Gonzalez, an attorney who had developed brain cancer after heavy cell use, initially petitioned the Commission. Watch the Video of his powerful testimony here.

2010 California, San Francisco: Cell Phone Radiation (How to Reduce Exposures) Webpage launched. San Francisco developed a posterfactsheet and display stickers.

2010 California: Burlingame California City Council voted to include cell phone safety guidelines in  their Healthy Living in Burlingame initiative (WHO classification and consumer precautions).

2010 Maine, Portland :Mayor Mavodenes, Jr. declared October  “Cell Phone Awareness Month”


Proposed Legislation


2012 The Cell Phone Right to Know Act H.R. 6358 was introduced receiving strong support from many organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics. (AAP Letter here.) This legislation called for labels on mobile devices at point of sale, a comprehensive national research program to study whether exposure to wireless devices causes adverse biological effects directed by NIEHS and the EPA and exposure level regulation.

2014 The Maine LD 1013 "The Wireless Information Act" passed the State Senate and House but then failed to pass  the second vote.  The Bill requires manufacturer's information on radio-frequency exposure be visible on the outside of the cell phone's product packaging.

2014 Hawaii  Senate Bill SB 2571 was introduced calling for a warning label encouraging  consumers to follow the enclosed product safety guidelines to reduce exposure to radiation that may be hazardous to their health.

The San Francisco Cell Phone Right to Know Ordinance was signed in 2011 requiring cell phone retailers to distribute an educational sheet created by the San Francisco Department of Environment that explains radiofrequency emissions from cell phones and how consumers can minimize their exposure. The CTIA sued the city and settled with the City to block implementation of  the Ordinance  in exchange for a waiver of attorneys' fees. The City Cell Phone Radiation Webpage remains online. ​San Francisco developed a posterfactsheet and display stickers.

SB 932 California, HM 32, New Mexico, HB 1408 Pennsylvania, and SB 679 Oregon.




Read a Recent Review of International Policy
Redmayne M. International policy and advisory response regarding children's exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). Electromagn Biol Med. 2015 Jun 19:1-9. 

  • Over 20 countries and municipalities have issued precautionary advice to the public concerning wireless exposures. This review of policy and advice regarding children's RF-EMF exposure shows a wide variety of approaches which I have categorized and tabulated ranging from ICNIRP/IEEE guidelines and "no extra precautions needed" to precautionary or scientific much lower maxima and extensive advice to minimize RF-EMF exposure, ban advertising/sale to children, and add exposure information to packaging. 
  • The wide range of policy approaches can be confusing for parents/carers of children. Some consensus among advisory organizations would be helpful acknowledging that, despite extensive research, the highly complex nature of both RF-EMF and the human body, and frequent technological updates, means simple assurance of long-term safety cannot be guaranteed.
  • "Therefore, minimum exposure of children to RF-EMF is recommended. "




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FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TRUST

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