Controversy dogs wireless health panel
By: Howard Solomon On: 01 Aug 2013 For: Computing Canada
The chair of a panel looking at Health Canada’s RF safety code has resigned amid allegations of conflict of interest. A critic and former Canadian IT executive says a new panel should be named
The Royal Society of Canada still hasn’t appointed a new chairman of a panel of international scientists reviewing Health Canada’s wireless radiation standards after the head of the group resigned four weeks ago.
It’s a sign of how sensitive the panel has become to the decades-old controversy over wireless waves.
But a consumer group which says half of the committee is riddled with members with conflicts of interest favouring the wireless industry not only welcomed the resignation, it wants to start all over.
The panel set up by the Royal Society of Canada in March at Health Canada’s request to look into its Safety Code 6 standard “is a joke,” should be disbanded and a new one created, says Frank Clegg, chairman of Citizens For Safe Technology (C4ST) and former head of Microsoft Canada.
His group is demanding the code, which sets a guideline on human exposure to electromagnetic energy be changed because it doesn’t take into account the increased use of smart phones and Wi-Fi in homes, schools and businesses today.
Last month, after complaints by C4ST and an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, panel chair Daniel Krewski resigned. The Journal said Krewski, a professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of Ottawa, didn’t disclose to the society he’d had a contract in 2008-2009 advising Industry Canada on explaining to the public the risks with cellphone radiation. In an interview with the publication Krewski did say he tell the society he had done consulting for the government.
The Royal Society of Canada didn’t respond to several requests this week for a spokesperson to discuss the resignation and criticisms of the panel. Panel members come from several countries.
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Meanwhile because there is so much interest in the possible health risks of radiofrequencies, the society had to abandon a scheduled public consultation last month in Ottawa. A new date hasn’t been set yet.
There’s been international controversy for years over the possible impact of radiation from wireless sources including cellphones, cellphone towers and Wi-Fi access points. In the face of that, in October, 2011 Health Canada – which regulates the telecommunications industry, encouraged parents to reduce their children’s exposure to cellphones. While a small number of studies have shown brain cancer rates might be elevated in long-term, heavy users of cellphones, the advisory said, other studies haven’t shown a relationship.
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