{"id":19324,"date":"2024-05-03T12:06:05","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T19:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=19324"},"modified":"2024-05-03T12:10:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T19:10:40","slug":"fcc-knew-phones-exceeded-radiation-limits-hid-info-from-public-and-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=19324","title":{"rendered":"FCC Knew Phones Exceeded Radiation Limits, Hid Info From Public and Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"

FCC testing showed popular cellphone brands exceeded the agency\u2019s safety limits for human exposure to wireless radiation, but the agency hid the information from the public and the courts, according to data obtained by the Environmental Health Trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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04\/24\/24 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>By\u00a0<\/span>Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.<\/a><\/div>\n
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) knew for years that certain popular smartphones exceeded the agency\u2019s safety limits for human exposure to wireless radiation<\/a> when held close to the body, according to data obtained by the Environmental Health Trust<\/a> (EHT) via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.<\/p>\n

Rather than going public with the testing results, the FCC hid them \u2014 even when important lawsuits concerning cellphone radiation\u2019s impact on people\u2019s health were underway.<\/p>\n

The outcome of such lawsuits might have been different, had the agency been honest about what it knew, said W. Scott McCollough, lead litigator for Children\u2019s Health Defense\u2019s (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless<\/a> cases. McCollough called the FCC\u2019s actions \u201cscandalous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miriam Eckenfels-Garcia, director of CHD\u2019s EMR program, told The Defender<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are not surprised that the FCC is hiding information and prioritizing the protection of big industry<\/a> over people\u2019s health<\/a>, seeing the FCC\u2019s actions play out in this way reminds us why the work we are doing in this program is hugely important and why CHD is proud to be on the forefront of holding the FCC and telecom industry accountable through our litigation<\/a>, education<\/a> and advocacy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eckenfels-Garcia and McCollough commended the nonprofit scientific research and education group EHT for getting the information out to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cEHT deserves great credit for digging this out,\u201d McCollough told The Defender, \u201cand exposing the FCC\u2019s extraordinary efforts to protect the industry it is supposed to regulate, rather than protecting the people whose health it should be safeguarding, by concealing information people need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five phones surpassed FCC radiation limit<\/b><\/p>\n

According to EHT<\/a>, the FCC undertook the 2 millimeter (mm) testing on Aug. 30 through Sept. 23, 2019, after an Aug. 21, 2019, Chicago Tribune investigation<\/a> reported that some cellphones exceeded the FCC\u2019s wireless radiation limits when tested 2 mm from the body.<\/p>\n

The FCC typically uses a separation distance of roughly 10mm<\/a>, or potentially more, for premarketing cellphone testing.<\/p>\n

The Chicago Tribune chose 2mm to mimic the real-world experience of those who carry their cellphone in a tight pants pocket or against their skin, EHT said.<\/p>\n

The FCC didn\u2019t release its 2 mm testing results until Sept. 29, 2023, in response to EHT\u2019s FOIA requests<\/a> seeking documents related to cellphone radiation tests performed by the FCC from January 2017 through April 2020.<\/p>\n

The FCC\u2019s testing results<\/a> showed that five of 11 cellphone models it tested exceeded the FCC\u2019s safety limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (W\/kg) when tested at a distance of 2 mm from the body:<\/p>\n