5/20/2020Yet another cell phone has been pulled from the market after cell phone radiation tests- performed with the phone close to body- show the phone violates the legal radiation limit. This smartphone is priced between 800 and 900 euros and tested at nearly double the legal limit. France has been testing cell phone radiation levels for years and is calling for radiation testing to be in body contact positions, the way we use phones today.
“Millions of harmful mobile phones are still on the market, ” stated Dr. Marc Arazi in the latest Phonegate press release. “In spite of the mobilization of several national associations, our public appealsand our meeting at the beginning of January at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, nothing has changed. Hundreds of models of mobile phones presenting health risks for users continue to be authorized on the French and European markets.”
The first withdrawal of cell phones from the market due to cell phone radiation levels dates back to April 2018, with the 100,000 Hapi 30 phones marketed by Orange, followed by the Neffos X1 TP902 (May 2018), the Echo Horizon Lite (Oct 2019), and the announcement on 20 May of the withdrawal of the Razer Phone 2 devices.
“Almost all phones would be illegal if they were tested against the body,” stated Devra Davis, EHT President. “This is an enormous international scandal. This is not only about France and Europe, as this applies to all persons who use cell phones in every country. Far more concerning is that the regulatory limits do not protect the public from adverse health effects related to long-term exposures,“ Davis commented, pointing to studies performed by the US National Toxicology Program found glioma and DNA damage increased in rats exposed to long-term cell phone radiation and Yale research that found increased thyroid cancer associated with cell phone radiation.
“Ricocheting in headlines throughout France since 2016, Dr. Marc Arazi and his colleagues have coined this situation as “PhoneGate” because of the parallels to “Diesel Gate” – the Volkswagen emissions saga.” Davis, PhD explained, “Volkswagen cars passed diesel emission tests when tested in laboratory conditions, but when the cars were driven on real roads, they emitted far more fumes. In the same way, every one of these cell phones ‘passed’ laboratory radiation SAR tests. These phones are legally considered compliant. However, when these phones are tested in the ways that people actually use them in real life, such as in your jeans pocket or bra, the amount of absorbed radiation emissions in our bodies violates the regulatory limits.”
May 2020- The National Frequency Agency (ANFR) of France issued a press release on the recall and withdrawal of the RAZER PHONE 2 mobile phone, following ANFR checks on the cell phone radiation SAR levels for the “ trunk ” as the authorized regulatory limit was exceeded.
The trunk cell phone radiation measure of SAR measured 3.29 W/KG at 5mm from the body. The limit is 2 W/kg. As Environmental Health Trust and Phonegate have repeatedly warned that cell phones violate cell phone radiation regulatory limits at body contact.
If the Razor was tested at 0mm from the body, we would expect the radiation measure would be even higher than 3.29.
A peer reviewed published paper by Professor Om Gandhi examined ANFR data from ANFR phone tests and found phones can emit 11 times over the US FCC limit and 3 times over French limits in 9 out of 10 phones tested. Read press release.
Since 2010, France law has ensured that SAR levels are placed prominently on cell phone packaging and the sale of cell phones was banned for young children. French legislation in 2015 included several new policies aimed at reducing exposure to radiofrequency radiation. Dr. Marc Arazi of Phoegate has long Arazi called on the Health and Environment Ministers and Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention Agency to take immediate action by informing the public and issuing new protective policies with phones tested at body contact.
As the Phonegate Press Release states:
“However, tests conducted by both ANFR and the journalist Sam Roe for the Chicago Tribune have shown that the local body SAR level is multiplied by a factor of 3 to 4 when measured either at direct skin contact or at 2mm. That of the Razer Phone 2 could reach over 10 W/kg at direct contact with the skin.
Since a first report in July 2016, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has urged the Government to change the regulations concerning the SAR measurements to protect the health of users and in particular children. ANSES reaffirmed this in a report published in October 2019 entitled “Mobile phones worn close to the body and health” “the Agency recommends that measures be taken to ensure that users are no longer exposed to SARs exceeding 2 W/kg from telephones certified under the R&TTE Directive (those placed on the market until 13 June 2016 or even until 12 June 2017). To this end, the Agency considers that measures taken by manufacturers similar to those taken for the telephones placed on the market after 13 June 2016 and found to be non-compliant following the ANFR tests in 2017 would enable this objective to be achieved: software updates, telephone recalls, etc.”
Millions of harmful mobile phones still on the market
In spite of the mobilization of several national associations, our public appeals and our meeting at the beginning of January at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, nothing has changed. Hundreds of models of mobile phones presenting health risks for users continue to be authorized on the French and European markets.
And there can be no question of the public authorities trying to find in the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic a justification for their inaction. Indeed, the mobilization underway to enable the industry to launch the development of 5G has not escaped anyone’s notice. The first mobile phones using this technology are currently being marketed.
Even more alarming internationally, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in its new recommendations published in December, continues to authorize manufacturers to measure the SARs of mobile phones up to 15 mm from the skin. The United States control agency has decided, without any justification, to disregard the scientific opinions of ANSES and the California Department of Public Health, for example.”
