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Critique of SCHEER Opinion Report on Health Risks from Radiofrequency Radiation

Jan 30, 2023

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Critique of SCHEER Opinion Report on Health Risks from Radiofrequency Radiation
A review of the EU expert group and opinion of August 2022 on the need of a revision of the maximum exposure limits for radiation from wireless communications
Radiofrequency Radiation is the type of EMF emitted from cell phones, Wi-Fi tablets, laptops, Bluetooth , cell towers and wireless networks. 
In 2022 the SCHEER Opinion report was released. A report critiquing the SCHEER Opinion has been prepared by The Council for Safe Telecommunications (Denmark) and The Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation.
Authors:
Mona Nilsson, The Swedish Radiation Protection Foundation, Sweden
Vibeke Frøkjær Jensen, The Council for Safe Telecommunications, Denmark
Henrik Eiriksson, The Council for Safe Telecommunications, Denmark

 

Highlights 

“The obvious beneficiary of the manufactured doubt on harmful health effects is the telecommunication industry while the looser is the public health and the environment”
  • The vast majority of field experts agree that the ICNIRP 1998 limits recommended by EU allow exposure to harmful levels of radiation and that they must be stricter. 
  • Harmful effects from wireless technology radiation below the ICNIRP limits are clearly established by science. 
  • The EU Commission scientific advisory group (SCHEER) advises positively on adoption of new ICNIRP 2020 exposure limits allowing even more harmful RF radiation exposure. 
  • The SCHEER Opinion is biased and appear to be designed to find no risks and to greenlight the adoption of exposure limits that benefits industry.  
  • SCHEER working group members belong to a small self-referencing circle of no-risk pro-ICNIRP advocates, with ties to telecoms industry. 
  • The SCHEER panel do not meet the basic requirement for risk assessors: The demand for excellence and absence of economic or political ties.  
  • The SCHEER methodology for assessing the scientific evidence is insufficient, severely biased, and unscientific.  A central thread throughout SCHEER report is the manufacture of doubt about harmful effects instead of an objective assessment of the science. 
  • SCHEER report overlaps risk assessment and risk management – a no-go in public health. 
  • There is an urgent need for complete re-evaluation of the science.  
  • The proper EU body to undertake such a risk analysis is the European Environmental Agency.
Conclusion
The SCHEER report should be dismissed and a new objective evaluation of the risks to health and the
environment must be undertaken by competent experts without conflicts of interests and ties to
industry. The report is extremely biased about the current scientific evidence of health risks. It
cannot be used as a basis for decisions on new exposure limits for the prevention of harmful health
and environmental effects. The relevant EU body to manage the new evaluation procedure is The
European Environmental Agency.
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