Cellphones and health: Panel chair accused of conflict

Cellphones and health: Panel chair accused of conflict

Canadian Medical Association Journal says professor on panel had been hired to work for Industry Canada.

By: Noor Javed News reporter, Staff Reporter, Published on Tue Jun 18 2013

The chair of a panel tasked with reviewing guidelines around the potential health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from wireless technology may be replaced for not declaring a conflict of interest.

On Tuesday, the Canadian Medical Association Journal published findings that University of Ottawa professor Daniel Krewski had been hired to work for Industry Canada in 2008, to help develop a “Communication Strategy for Radiofrequency Fields Risk.”

Krewski is the chair of a Royal Society of Canada panel tasked with conducting an independent expert assessment of Health Canada’s standards around radiofrequency emissions, known as Safety Code 6. The panel, made up of eight experts in the field, will assess whether Health Canada guidelines for human exposure to RF emissions should be updated. The report is due out this fall.

But according to the http://www.merx.com/English/supplier_menu.asp?WCE=Show&TAB=1&PORTAL=MERX&State=7&id=161051&FED_ONLY=0&hcode=cG7aiTXYNXDrY4Sa%2FSDKmw%3D%3D, the professor was paid $126,000 to help to create communication strategies to ease the health concerns of the public around Safety Code 6. That work included developing a handbook on wireless telecommunications and health and a writing a report on the public perception of the potential risks associated with wireless telecommunications.

“The report will include suggestions as to how this understanding of public perception of risk can be exploited when communicating with the public on this issue,” says the job requirement, which appears to be sole-sourced to a firm called Risk Sciences International.

Krewski did not respond to the Star’s questions, but he told the CMAJ that he had not “specifically disclosed it to the society.”

According to the CMAJ, the conflict of interest will be reported to the panel, which will have a chance to reconsider Krewski’s position as chair.

“It is almost inevitable that experts in a field will have expressed conclusions based on existing evidence. But these views are not immutable,” the statement says.

“We are confident that the existing panel, working with a wide variety of inputs and benefitting from comments made by the peer reviewers of its report, will make a balanced and fair assessment of SC6 and make sensible recommendations for changes wherever it feels these are needed.”

There are more than 2,400 cellphone towers in the GTA, with the bulk of them in Toronto. But across the GTA, municipalities and residents are increasingly opposed to their presence, despite the growing demand for wireless technology. Municipalities want more say as to where a tower can be built, and many residents say the safety standards to be updated. Currently, Industry Canada is responsible for approving towers, which must comply with the Health Canada guidelines known as Safety Code 6.

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http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/06/18/cellphones_and_health_panel_chair_accused_of_conflict.html