WASHINGTON-As House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) negotiate funding federal cancer research with revenue from E911 legislation, a major effort is underway in Europe to address the health question head on.
The European Commission issued a series of proposed guidelines last week to limit public exposure to radio-frequency radiation from pocket phones and other devices, an initiative designed not only to protect public health but also to reassure consumers about possible risks. The EC is Europe’s governing body.
“It is in the interests of both the general public and industry that there are appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that the unquestionable benefits of systems which emit electro-magnetic radiation are not called into question by concerns over the possible health effects,” the EC stated.
The EC’s proposed guidelines are based on scientific input from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection and have been endorsed by the commission’s scientific steering committee.
New ICNIRP guidelines for pocket phones are more restrictive than those adopted by the Federal Communications Commission two years ago.
The EC and U.S. radio-frequency radiation guidelines do not cover athermal effects, such as cancer, that some believe can be caused by heavy use of pocket phones.
The World Health Organization also is putting together an RF research program to shed more light on the health issue.
A lot of current RF research in the United States has been conducted by Motorola Inc., the nation’s largest maker of mobile phones. The Schaumburg, Ill., manufacturer claims none of the studies it has conducted or sponsored suggest a cancer link.
Yet other research in the United States and abroad suggests mobile phones may pose health risks. The U.S. cellular industry has typically attacked that research as being flawed.
A five-year, $25 million research project funded by U.S. cellular carriers and manufacturers and administered by Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. is winding down and is expected to produce little, if any, in the way of fresh bioeffects research.
As a consequence, the health issue remains unsettled in a public that has made mobile phones a staple of everyday life. There are roughly 60 million mobile phone subscribers in the U.S.
Tauzin and the cellular industry oppose reserving any proceeds from federal property antenna siting fees for cancer research. Tauzin and the industry want the monies earmarked for state grants to upgrade E911 response centers.
The Tauzin bill, which lacks a Senate companion, also allows wireless carriers to tap into a new fund that would be created.
The General Service Administration disputes cellular industry claims that $1.5 billion will be generated from federal land antenna siting fees over the next five years, saying revenue will amount to a fraction of that figure.
Whatever monies are collected for E911 system improvements would be subject to the vagaries of annual appropriations.
The bill is due for subcommittee markup in July.
