Why Cell Phones & Tablets are Absolutely NOT Safe for Children

GreenMedInfo

Author’s note: The article below wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of several scientists and organizations especially Professor Om Gandhi, Dr. Marc Arazi of the Alert PhoneGate Association and scientific advisors of the Environmental Health Trust.  You can read more about the Phonegate Scandal at this link: https://ehtrust.org/cell-phone-radiation-scandal-french-government-data-indicates-cell-phones-exposeconsumers-radiation-levels-higher-manufacturers-claim/

I’ll put it bluntly. Cell phones and tablets, and the EMF radiation they emit, are definitely not safe for children. Not a tiny bit.

In an age where the website Parents.com has called the iPad the “best babysitter” (as reported by scientist Dr. Devra Davis)[1], and where a 2014 survey showed that up to 75% of 4-year olds in certain US neighborhoods already own a cell phone[2]… let’s hope that I’m dead wrong on this one.

Unfortunately, you’ll see that the 5 science-based facts reveal a concerning truth: our wireless technologies are simply not “safe”.

These facts are the reason I became a bestselling author and EMF activist demanding safer technologies, and also why I’ve sworn to never let my 1-year old son hold a tablet or phone.

Fact #1: The FCC EMF Safety Guidelines Have Not Been Updated Since 1996

Most people raise an eyebrow when I tell them that the last time the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its EMF safety guidelines was back in 1996.[3]

Yes, that’s back when virtually no one even owned a cell phone, and back where no child had access to any wireless device whatsoever.

Several US agencies like the US Department of the Interior[4], the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)[5] have urged the FCC to update these deprecated guidelines throughout the years, but to no avail.

Fact #2: Oops, There Are NO EMF Safety Standards For Children

Did you know that cell phones, tablets and other wireless devices are tested on a mannequin called “S.A.M” (standard anthropomorphic mannequin) who has a head as big as a 6’2″, 220-pound man?

Did you know that SAM’s head is bigger than a whopping 97% of cell phone users? Yeah, I bet you didn’t.

Researchers like Dr. Om Gandhi have been saying for more than 20 years that the way engineers test wireless devices simply doesn’t make sense for children and that standards should be updated.[6]

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Gandhi rapidly lost the funding the industry was providing him when he started publishing his concerns and findings.

So even though most children nowadays use wireless devices very regularly, it turns out that the tests supposed to ensure their safety does not take into consideration the fact that they have smaller heads and developing brains, or that their body absorb twice the EMF radiation when compared to an adult, pound per pound.[7]

Fact #3: 90% Cell Phones Fail This Bogus Safety Testing In The First Place!

Cell phones and tablets should never be held right on the body… according to a fine print inside your phone, that is.

Virtually all wireless devices are tested in such a way where there’s a separation of 5 to 15mm is added between poor SAM’s head and the device… but does anyone really follow these downright bizarre instructions and keep their phone at a distance?

In 2015, the French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) has tested 95 cell phones bought in stores throughout the country, this time right on the body — with 0mm of separation.

This is the key question French government officials had in mind when they started testing hundreds of different phones in July of 2016, and this time right on the body — with 0mm of separation.

Their findings were nothing short of horrifying, and so concerning that it led French physician Dr. Marc Arazi to launch a nonprofit organization to expose the truth about this industrial scandal which was eventually coined as “The Phonegate Alert”.[8]

French independent tests found that 90% of all cell phones exceed the already-obsolete FCC safety guidelines by up to more than 10-fold.

Image credit: The Environmental Health Trust & the Alert PhoneGate Association from a scientific lecture by doctors on the latest science you can watch in full at this link.

The Phonegate Alert has led to over a dozen of cell phones being recalled or updated, but the industry is still trying to sweep it under the rug and avoid liability as most politicians seem very happy to take the “wait and see” approach.

Very recently, Dr. Om Gandhi himself analysed these tests and confirmed their validity, publishing his study in IEEE Access, a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).[9]

Fact #4: Safety Standards Are Based On False Assumptions

As I reported a few months back on Greenmedinfo.com in my article titled “7 Things Every Health Practitioner Needs to Know About EMFs“, our EMF safety standards are based on the false premise that the only way EMFs can hurt the human body is by overheating it.

Engineer and EMF activist Daniel DeBaun couldn’t have said it better: “that’s like saying the only way cigarettes can harm you is if you burn your fingers.”[10]

Thousands of studies have proved that this assumption is wrong, and that we desperately need to develop safety standards based on the biological effects that EMFs have been shown to have on human cells — including oxidative stress, DNA breaks, loss of fertility, impaired brain development and a slew of other things.[11]

As researcher S. Pockett summed it up perfectly in a 2018 paper:[12]

The prevailing official narrative concerning the relationship between public health and the radio frequency emissions (RF) from cell phone technology, WiFi and electricity smart meters is scientifically and ethically flawed.

[Safety standards are] 20 years out of date and ignore existing laboratory evidence disproving its core assumption that the only biological effect of non-ionising radiation is tissue heating.”

Fact #5: EMFs Are The New Smoking.

People think I’m joking when I tell them that. Or worse, that I’m using fear mongering and sensationalism to increase my readership.

I don’t think the comparison between smoking and using a cell phone or tablet is exaggerated. In fact, I think that handing children a tablet or phone might be regarded one day as something more dangerous than giving them a cigarette.

In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified radiofrequency radiation emitted by wifi routers, cell phones and Bluetooth gadgets as a Class 2B “possible” carcinogen.

Some people at this point think all is merry, because a classification of “2B” is pretty ‘low’.

But the problem is that a LOT of new EMF studies have come out since 2011.

In fact, so many studies have reinforced the cancer-EMF link in the last 8 years that many independent scientists[13] now state that EMF radiation should be re-classified as a Class 2A “probable” or even Class 1 “definite” carcinogen, right next to asbestos and smoking.

Dr. Anthony Miller, one of the world’s top epidemiologists, sent an urgent and emotionally-charged warning in a recent presentation by experts on 5G:

My conclusion is, based on the evidence, that if the IARC were to reconvene a working group to re-evaluate EMF radiofrequency radiation, they would be bound to conclude that this exposure is a human carcinogen.

That’s something we learned to do with ionizing radiation, like x-rays. You no longer see the x-ray machines in shoe stores, because we learned that was wrong. X-rays and pregnancy — we cut down to avoid leukemia in children.

All this evidence came, and we acted. We’ve now got the evidence for radiofrequency radiation, and we MUST act.”[14]

What Can You Do About It?

EMF-emitting technologies are clearly not safe for adults, let alone for children.

If you want to minimize these risks, you can take action by:

1. Visit the Environmental Health Trust website to  read the peer reviewed science, learn how to reduce exposure and learn what policies are moving forward in the US and internationally to reduce exposure to children.
2. Get involved in your community by educating friends and family and call on elected officials to pass policies to reduce public exposure, especially for children
3. Spread the word about the Phonegate Scandal by sharing the website https://www.phonegatealert.org/en
4. Take these steps to reduce your children’s exposure to EMFs:

• Whenever you hand a tablet or phone to children (which I don’t recommend anyway because screentime is a problem by itself), make sure you hit “Airplane Mode” first.
• Pre-download movies and opt for apps and games that can be played offline.
• Connect your computer via a wired ethernet connection and get rid of wifi altogether, which I personally did before my son was born. If that’s not an option for you at the moment, turn off your wifi router when not in use, and especially at night.

Whether you’re a health professional looking to protect your patients from these new health risks or someone who wants to protect yourself, your family or your friends, the best way to get started is a brand new free guide we’ve just released titled “How 5G & EMF Radiation Impact Your Health“.

My hope is that if we spread awareness wide enough, my son will see the day where safer technologies compatible with human health become the new norm.

Electrosmog RX is a 5-Module EMF Online Course For Health Professionals & Health Enthusiasts which provides everything you need to protect yourself, your family and your clients from EMFs.

Want to learn more about electromagnetic frequencies’ negative impact on health? Visit the GreenMedInfo database on the subject for more: 

References

[1] As reported by scientist Dr. Devra Davis in multiple presentations. See: https://ehtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Dr-Devra-Davis-Melb-Uni-Lecture.pdf

[2] That’s not a typo. See the survey performed by the American Academy for Pediatrics for yourself at this link:https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/136/6/1044

[3] https://transition.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1996/fcc96326.pdf

[4] https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/us_doi_comments.pdf

[5] https://takebackyourpower.net/5-us-government-agencies-have-tried-to-warn-us-about-wireless-harm/

[6] https://microwavenews.com/children.adults.html

[7] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2011.622827

[8] https://www.phonegatealert.org/en

[9] https://ehtrust.org/new-study-cell-phones-exceed-safety-limits-when-phones-touch-the-body/

[10] I can’t find the exact source, but it was probably during of of Daniel DeBaun’s countless appearances on top podcasts and radio shows worldwide. Here’s a recent interview he gave: https://www.defendershield.com/why-you-should-give-an-eff-about-emf-talking-shift-podcast/

[11] See Dr. Martin Pall’s 2016 review article for some examples of effects that have been shown in scientific literature for decades:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891061815000599

[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30543616/

[13] In 2011, radiofrequency EMFs (from cell phones, Bluetooth, wifi and cell towers) has been classified as a Class 2B “possible carcinogen” by the World Health Organization (WHO). Several scientists who were on the international committee looking at the available science at the time (including Ronald Melnick, Dariusz Leszczynski, Anthony Miller, Lennart Hardell and many more) are now saying that using the exact same scientific criteria, EMFs should be re-classified as a Class 2A or 1 carcinogen. See this recent epidemiology update by Dr. Anthony Miller: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S0013935118303475

[14] During the December 2018 Wireless Technology Forum. See his presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4CxDucJKHo

Nicolas Pineault is an investigative health journalist, educator and advocate for safe technologies. In 2017, he authored The Non-Tinfoil Guide to EMFs — an unconventional book endorsed by top health authorities such as Dr. Mercola, and which tackles the very serious topic of electromagnetic pollution with humor and common sense. He since launched the Electrosmog Rx online course, with the goal of educating 100,000 health practitioners how to identify EMF-related symptoms and help their patients or clients reduce their EMF exposure.