Strong criticism of the WHO report on cell phone radiation

Strong criticism of the WHO report on cell phone radiation

Monica Kleja, NyTeknik, Dec 17, 2014 (in Swedish, Google translation)

Some 40 organizations attacked a report by the WHO Expert Group on the effects of mobile phone radiation and require increased transparency of the experts.

In November, a group of experts working for the World Health Organization drafted a major report that assessed health risks surrounding cell phone radiation .

WHO then put the report on its website as it seeks comments from the public. It presents the scientific studies in various medical fields, but lacks summaries and chapters on risk assessment and protective measures.

47 organizations and lobby groups from Sweden, among others - for example The Radiation Protection Foundation -Europe and the US now state in a joint letter that the report is subject to several problems and calls for responsiveness from WHO's side.

They include critiicism of the lack of transparency around how the WHO selected the six experts who have the main responsibility for WHO's assessments of the risks surrounding the radiofrequency fields and they question the objectivity of the world organization.

The letter states inter alia that WHO did not disclose the experts' declarations of research funding and conflicts of interest. Four of the six, among them the Swedish scientist Maria Feychting, is also active in the ICNIRP, the association that sets the limits for electromagnetic radiation in the world.

The organizations also believe that the report describes research on cell phone radiation in a biased manner.

NyTeknik (New Technology) succeeded today reaching Maria Feychting at the Karolinska Institute, who was on her way to a conference.

She says she does not want to comment on the criticism - and when it comes to issues concerning the expert group she refers to the chairman of the group, Emilie van Deventer, who coordinates the WHO project on electromagnetic radiation.

- It is she who leads and organizes the work, says Maria Feychting.

Emilie van Deventer was interviewed last summer by the New York Times about the state of research on cell phone radiation, here you can read more.

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