The FCC needs to update its cellphone tests for radiofrequency radiation

The Chicago Tribune recently published test results indicating that some cellphones can emit radiation causing exposure up to five times higher than current limits allow. This shocking data comes on the heels of the government of France’s revelations that phones emit radiation between four and 11 times their allowable limits. For more than a decade, the Federal Communications Commission has knowingly relied on unrealistic test methods to evaluate radiofrequency radiation from a single phone selected for testing by major manufacturers. Repeated submissions and presentations to the FCC have documented numerous deficiencies in the current protocol, as noted in 2012 by the Government Accountability Office in a report mandated by Congress.

 It is astonishing that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, leading an agency with no expertise in health, recently declared that current limits for exposure to cellphone wireless radiation do not need to be updated. This breezily offered press statement shows a reckless disregard for science, ignores the ever-growing volume of independent scientific research indicating serious risks of harm to the environment and public health, and also ignores the Chicago Tribune independent test results.

The small nation of Cyprus provides one model of what can be done when independent expert medical advice is heeded. Cyprus has an awareness campaign running full-page ads on public buses. It also features one of the world’s first hospitals to remove Wi-Fi from the pediatric units and pediatric intensive care. It is no accident that the FCC has floated its consequential proposal — to stick with its outdated standards — in the midst of the summer doldrums when Congress and schools are out of session. Congress should demand a full and frank accounting of the FCC’s flawed system.

[Dr Devra Davis is a fellow at American College of Epidemiology and is president of Environmental Health Trust.]