{"id":6479,"date":"2015-05-12T17:22:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T00:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=6479"},"modified":"2015-05-12T17:23:09","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T00:23:09","slug":"health-experts-say-cancer-threat-from-cell-phones-is-greater-than-we-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=6479","title":{"rendered":"Health experts say cancer threat from cell phones is greater than we think"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Ben Knight<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Daily Brew<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0May 12, 2015<\/p>\n

Can your phone or tablet give you cancer? A large group of international scientists thinks so.<\/p>\n

Almost 200 scientists and academics from over three dozen countries have\u00a0issued a letter\u00a0<\/a>calling for the United Nations, World Health Organization and governments around the world to tighten regulations around\u00a0electro-magnetic field (EMF) exposure coming from handheld devices.<\/p>\n

Anthony Miller, University of Toronto Professor Emeritus at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, is one of 190 signatories, including eight Canadians, to the letter. He noted that the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has already flagged EMF as a possible human carcinogen.<\/p>\n

The letter\u2019s signatories also say much of the research saying EMF is safe is commissioned and paid for by telecom companies. Miller expresses concern that this practice is prevalent in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think part of the problem here is that the reassurances we keep getting from the manufacturers and distributors of WiFi \u2013 Rogers, Bell and whatever \u2013 and Health Canada are not sufficiently satisfactory, particularly for the possible risks to children,\u201d Miller said in a conversation with Yahoo Canada.<\/p>\n

Health Canada experts were unavailable for an interview, but a response to the letter was issued late yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prevailing scientific evidence demonstrates that the health of Canadians is well protected from RF (Radio Frequency) energy by the human exposure limits in Safety Code 6,\u201d the Health Canada statement said, citing the relevant regulatory provision.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth Canada\u2019s conclusions are consistent with the findings of other international bodies and regulators, including the World Health Organization, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the United Kingdom Health Protection Agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Miller said those findings aren\u2019t consistent with the latest research.<\/p>\n

\u201cA recent study in Sweden, and also a large study in France, say the potential risks are more than the IARC group felt, and this should be regarded as a possible human carcinogen \u2013 category 2B. Once you\u2019re in that situation, then it\u2019s impossible to ignore it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller stresses that many cancers result from prolonged exposure to a carcinogen. Just because specific cases cannot be immediately identified, it doesn\u2019t mean potentially dangerous damage isn\u2019t being done, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about people of all ages now being cumulatively exposed to radio frequency fields, and those particularly who use their cell phones and hold them against their ear, and tend to use the same side of the head most of the time, as most of us do. Also children who are exposed to EMF from laptops \u2013 particularly in schools where this can be fairly prominent.<\/p>\n

Health Canada said it is continuously monitoring new research on the long-term effects of RF and EMF.<\/p>\n

\u201cDepartmental scientists considered all available peer-reviewed scientific studies when developing the exposure limits in the revised Safety Code 6,\u201d the starment said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould new scientific evidence arise demonstrating that exposure to RF fields poses a health risk to Canadians, Health Canada will take the appropriate action to safeguard the health of Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Miller, that\u2019s not enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople must understand there is a potential hazard, and perhaps they\u2019ll take action. And that is what Health Canada is meant to do \u2013 protect the health of the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to act now, in my view, and that is why I signed this statement.\u201d<\/p>\n

https:\/\/ca.news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/dailybrew\/health-experts-say-cancer-threat-from-cell-phones-is-greater-than-we-think-162857426.html<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Ben Knight\u00a0|\u00a0Daily Brew\u00a0 \u00a0May 12, 2015 Can your phone or tablet give you cancer? A large group of international scientists thinks so. Almost 200 scientists and academics from over three dozen countries have\u00a0issued a letter\u00a0calling for the United Nations, World Health Organization and governments around the world to tighten regulations around\u00a0electro-magnetic field (EMF) exposure coming […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cellular","category-health_and_safety"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6479"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6480,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6479\/revisions\/6480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}