EMF Scientists Appeal to United Nations

The Advisors to the EMF Scientists Appeal sent a letter to the U.N. Human Rights Advisory Committee commenting on its July 2019 Resolution, entitled “New and Emerging Digital Technologies and Human Rights”:

Image of telecommunications mast - EMF Scientists Appeal

“Date: October 15, 2019

To: The Secretariat of the U.N. Human Rights Council Advisory Committee OHCHR – United Nations Office at Geneva, Switzerland

Re: Comments on the U.N. Human Rights Commission’s Resolution entitled, “New and Emerging Digital Technologies and Human Rights” – adopted July 11, 2019

From: These comments are being transmitted on behalf of the Advisors to the International EMF Scientist Appeal.

The International EMF Scientists  Appeal was initiated in May 2015 and is addressed to the U.N. Secretary General, the World Health Organization Director General, the Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme and to all Member States. It is now signed by over 240 EMF scientists in 43 nations who have published peer-reviewed papers on the biological or health effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF), part of the electromagnetic spectrum that includes extremely-low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields emitted by electrical power delivery networks and electrical devices; and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) used for wireless communications. Scientists who have published peer-reviewed papers in related fields and have been significantly engaged in EMF education, are recognized as Supporting Scientists.

The Appeal urgently calls upon the United Nations, the WHO, UNEP and the UN Member States to address the global public health concerns related to exposure to cell phones, power lines, electrical appliances, wireless devices, wireless utility meters and wireless infrastructure in residential homes, schools, communities and businesses. The greatest concerns of these scientists are for the protection of children, pregnant women and for those who are electromagnetically hypersensitive.

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) is encouraged to exert strong leadership in fostering the development of more protective EMF-exposure guidelines, to call for precautionary measures, and to educate the public about health risks, particularly risks posed to children and fetal development. By not acting, the WHO is failing to fulfill its role as the preeminent international public health agency.
  • The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is the U.N.’s “voice for the environment” and is uniquely positioned to take a planetary view of the potential for harm that EMF pollution presents to living organisms world-wide including well-being, health, reproduction, survival and evolution. We encourage the U.N. to ask UNEP to evaluate the scientific evidence and initiate an assessment of alternative exposure standards and practices that could substantially lower environmental exposures to nonionizing electromagnetic fields. This request was restated in a letter to Inger Andersen, UNEP’s Executive Director, on July 9, 2019, but there has been no formal reply to date.
  • In September 2017, the Advisors to the Appeal recommended that–in keeping with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to “Protect, Respect and Remedy”–5G wireless communications technologies should be subjected to an independent health and safety assessment before they are deployed. It is required for newly-developed drugs and should be mandatory for all non-ionizing electromagnetic fields to which a large population is or is going to be exposed.

Image of telecommunications mast - EMF Scientists Appeal

Technological innovation offers social and economic benefits to society. Wireless communication technologies are rapidly becoming an integral part of every economic sector. But there is a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence of harm to people, plants, animals, and microbes caused by exposure to these technologies. It is our opinion that adverse health consequences of chronic and involuntary exposure of people to non-ionizing electromagnetic field sources are being ignored by national and international health organizations despite our repeated inquiries as well as inquiries made by many other concerned scientists, medical doctors and advocates. This constitutes a clear violation of human rights, as defined by the United Nations:

“Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other status. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education.”

We strongly urge the U.N. Human Rights Council to be a strong voice for the human rights of all people and an effective catalyst within the United Nations with regards to seeking greater health protection for humankind and both flora and fauna from serious harm and increased health risks posed by non-ionizing electromagnetic fields.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Kelley, MA Director, EMFScientist.org

On behalf of Scientific Advisors to the International EMF Scientist Appeal: Annie Sasco, MD, DrPH; Ronald L. Melnick, PhD.; Magda Havas, PhD; Henry Lai, PhD; and, Joel M. Moskowitz, PhD.”

Source: Appeal to U.N. Human Rights Council Advisory Committee OHCHR 

To assist you in searching for publications of the EMF scientists who signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, we are providing the following links:

Effects of Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields: 833 Studies

EMF-Portal

Oceana Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Committee Database

PowerWatch: 1,670 Scientific Papers on EMF (1979 2018)

Recent Research on Wireless Radiation and Electromagnetic Fields