Press Release

 

Below is an inquiry letter sent by attorneys Swankin & Turner to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on behalf of the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy and Environmental Health Trust questioning the adequacy of the FCC’s enforcement of its existing cell phone radiation limits.

 

Swankin & Turner Inquiry Letter to the Federal Communications Commission (PDF)

 

The letter suggests as many as 75% of cell phones on the market today may possibly exceed the FCC’s exposure limit.

 

Examples of how cell phone commonly exceed the safety limit were provided in Exhibit A to the letter.
The Swankin & Turner inquiry letter to the FCC raised other equally important issues regarding FCC oversight of cell phones and wireless transmitting devices, including how the FCC considers its current safety limit to protect children given the psSAR assessment methodology the FCC uses was never intended to protect children.

 

Children absorb twice as much radiation into the brain compared to adults, but the FCC evidences no concern, and young children are using cell phones emitting a level of microwave radiation established for a grown adult.

 

Swankin & Turner Partner, James S. Turner, Esq., asked,

 

“Given the well established greater absorption of radiation in children, and the fact that cell phone manufacturers do not presently offer cell phone models with a low psSAR for children, my clients wish to know how well the FCC considers its present guidelines to protect children.”

 

Additional issues raised in the inquiry letter relate to the adequacy of the FCC’s oversight of the pre-market psSAR assessment process, and post-market psSAR surveillance, as well as regarding the respective roles of the FCC and FDA with regard to cell phone safety and regulation. Clarity was requested on where exactly responsibility for assuring devices conform to the 1.6 W/kg psSAR limit resides.

 

No acknowledgment of receipt or reply from the FCC has been received four months after the inquiry was submitted to the FCC’s General Counsel, Howard Symons, Esq. and Associate Chief Counsel in the Office of Engineering and Technology, Bruce Romano, Esq., with copies to all FCC Commissioners, including FCC Chairman, Tom Wheeler.

 

The National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy and Environmental Health Trust suggest media investigate this. Thank you for your attention.

 

FCC Contacts:

 

1. Howard Symons, Esq., General Counsel
(202) 418-1787
[email protected]

 

2. Bruce Romano, Esq., Associate Chief (Legal), Office of Engineering & Technology
202-418-2124
[email protected]

 

Any questions, please call L. Lloyd Morgan, Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Health Trust (510-841-4362), Camilla Rees, Senior Policy Advisor, National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy (415-992-5093) or contact Dr. Devra Davis, Founder and President, Environmental Health Trust ([email protected] or 307-203-2413)

 

See Press Release below.

Press Release

Health Policy Groups Question FCC’s
Allowing Manufacturer Violation of
Its Cell Phone Microwave Radiation
Exposure Limit

 

Majority of cell phones on market may exceed FCC’s stated
RF safety limit of 1.6 W/kg, experts warn

 

Washington, D.C., January 10, 2017. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s General Counsel, Howard Symons, Esq., and Associate Chief Counsel in the Office of Engineering and Technology, Bruce Romano, Esq., have offered no acknowledgement or reply to an inquiry posing questions about whether the FCC is adequately enforcing its existing cell phone radiation safety limits.

 

The inquiry letter to the FCC from Swankin & Turner in Washington, D.C. was sent September 9, 2016 on behalf of the National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy (NISLAPP) and the Environmental Health Trust (EHT). Now four months later, the FCC’s lack of reply to important questions contained in the letter raises serious concerns of regulatory responsibility and competency.

 

The inquiry letter to the FCC suggests as many as 75% of cell phones on the market today may possibly exceed the FCC’s exposure limit of 1.6 W/kg peak spatial Specific Absorption Rate (psSAR), due to a +/-30% margin of error (or uncertainty factor) in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) methodology for assessing psSAR (on which the FCC’s exposure limits are substantially based). Any phone with a psSAR of greater than 1.231 W/kg with the 30% uncertainty factor could theoretically exceed the 1.6 W/kg FCC limit.

 

Examples of how various popular phones brands, and wireless transmitting devices (WTDs) such as tablets, may easily exceed the FCC’s limit, with psSARs as high as 2.08 W/kg, were included with the letter as Exhibit A.

 

The inquiry letter to the FCC from Swankin & Turner also posed other questions regarding FCC oversight of cell phone and wireless transmitting devices, including how the FCC considers its current safety limit to protect children if the psSAR assessment methodology the FCC uses was never intended to protect children.

 

L. Lloyd Morgan, Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Health Trust, says, “We urge the media, all cell phone users and public health officials to contact the FCC, as well as members of Congress, demanding a response to this important letter of inquiry. It appears many cell phones on the market should never have been certified.”

 

Camilla Rees, Senior Policy Advisor, National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy, says, “The FCC has failed to protect children, despite scientific evidence there is significantly greater absorption of cell phone radiation in the brain and bone marrow of the skull in children, compared to adults. So the question of how the FCC considers its safety limits to protect children calls for an immediate and urgent reply. An entire generation looks to be at risk.”

 

Dr. Devra Davis, PhD, President of the scientific and policy research organization, Environmental Health Trust, adds, “The issues raised in this inquiry letter highlight  the FCC’s failures to protect public health. We urge FCC leadership in the new Administration to come to the table with integrity to see that the important questions raised here are answered thoroughly, and that steps are taken to assure compliance with the FCC’s psSAR microwave radiation safety limit.”

 

Contacts:

 

Devra Davis, PhD
Founder & President
Environmental Health Trust (www. ehtrust.org)
307-203-2413
[email protected]

 

Lloyd Morgan, B.S.
Senior Research Fellow
Environmental Health Trust
510-841-4362
[email protected]

 

Camilla Rees, MBA
Senior Policy Advisor
National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy
917-359-8450
[email protected]

 

________

 

Download Press Release (PDF)

Download Swankin & Turner Inquiry Letter to the Federal Communications Commission (PDF)

Read 12 Questions Posed to the FCC

 

Please support our work by making
a tax-deductible donation.
We are 100% donation-based
and need your support to
educate, communicate and analyze
critical developments in this field.
Thanks so much for your help!
Please give generously.
We depend on you.