1. COMMENTS ON THE NATIONAL TOXICOLOGY PROGRAM STUDY PEER REVIEW
ASSOCIATION ALERTE PHONEGATE
DR. MARC ARAZI – PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER
27th of March 2018

2. PRESENTATION : ALERTE PHONEGATE ASSOCIATION
AIMS OF THE ASSOCIATION :
TO SHARE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DATA ON CELL PHONE RADIATION
TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE REVISION OF RADIATION STANDARDS ON CELL PHONES FOR A BETTER HUMAN HEALTH PROTECTION
TO HELP CONSUMERS IN THEIR CHOICE OF A SAFE AND HEALTHY CELL PHONE
TO GIVE SAFTY RECOMMENDATIONS TO CELL PHONES USERS
TO TRIGGER A CHANGE IN DESIGN, HARDWARE, SOFTWARE OF CELL PHONES CREATED BY THE INDUSTRY

3. PRESENTATION : DR. MARC ARAZI
French physician whose work led to the release of French government documents that found cell phones emit radiation levels which surpass government limits. This scandal has received worldwide attention and been dubbed « PHONEGATE ».
Co-founder of a leading commercial company offering services to health professionals.
President ad co-founder of ALERTE PHONEGATE.

4. INTRODUCTION
Our comments will be restricted to the question of exposures that were used in the NTP study and how they relate to recently released data from the French government national frequencies testing agency.
NTP’s exposure is 2 to 10 fold underestimated compared to the French data released which revealed real life radiation exposure.

5. JOHN BUCHER’S INTERPRETATION
« The lowest energy level of the radio-frequency radiation we studied was similar to the highest level currently permitted for cell phone emissions » CNN reporting Bucher’s comment.
Throughout his comments on the present study, John Bucher minimized human exposures and led journalists worldwide to underestimate radiation risks.

6. Revelation of SAR tests on 442 cell phones of the French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR)
July 2016 : A report entitled « Exposure to Radiofrequencies and Child Health » is published by the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety.
9 cell phones out of 10 tested in 2015 by the French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) in contact with the body showed a SAR level higher than 2W/kg and 1 out of 4, a SAR level higher than 4W/kg.
These data can be found on :

7. Revelation of SAR tests : Examples

8. SAR comparison : 1gr and 10gr of tissue

9. Thermal health effect
« Quantifying SAR in small averaging regions is more relevant for evaluations of human health effect » NTP quotation page 29 (report on rats).
« Low levels of exposure to cell phone RFR may result in small temperature changes in localized areas of exposed tissues that cause conformational changes in temperature-sensitive proteins and induce the expression of heat shock proteins » NTP quotation pages 30 and 31.
Contrary to NTP’s conclusions and according to real life radiation exposure on humans revealed by the French Agency, the thermal effect must be taken into account.

10. GSM and CDMA frequency bands
NTP’s choice in using the « whole body » SAR to test health effects of cell phone GSM and CDMA frequency bands is not relevant.
According to Gilles Brégant, the Director-General of ANFR, whole body SAR is « not suitable for mobile devices », « it is the estimation of exposure for a source that is relatively far away and that will flood the whole body, for example an antenna » (Nextinpact, 8th of March 2018).
New frequencies (3G, 4G and now 5G), are more powerful and penetrating. Thus scientific research is always late in analyzing health effects of new technologies.

11. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aware of the French tests and studies
In June and September 2017, the Environmental Health Trust (EHTrust) informed the FDA of ANFR’s tests and the ANSES scientific report.
In October 2017, the FDA replied to the EHTrust and specified they had not yet formulated an opinion on the differences in test protocols between France (Europe) and the United States.
U.S. continues to mesure at 10 mm, while Apple decided to test its iPhone at 5 mm for more than 2 years.

12. Recommandations of the scientific expert committee of ANSES
Robert Genet, as Director-General of ANSES, had recommended to the French public authorities in his July 2016 report to:
“Re-evaluate the pertinence of the specific absorption rate (SAR) used in the establishment of limit values of exposure of people for means of protection against known and proven health effects (thermal effects) of radiofrequencies.”
“Develop a measurement representative of the actual exposure of users of mobile phones, no matter what the conditions of use: signal used, good or bad reception, type of use (calls, loading of data, etc.)”
“Ensure in all circumstances the respect of regulatory limit values of exposure, no matter what type of emitting devices are used and their conditions of use (positioning in contact with the body).”

13. Conclusion
Therefore, it seems essential that the statements of John Bucher should be clarified, when he added that he would not change anything for himself or for his children regarding their habits of mobile phone use.
The reason is that his comments could undoubtedly have serious consequences in terms of public health, especially in delaying simple measures of protection for billions of users.
Also, such remarks seem ethically questionable because they are unfounded, given the results of this study, and even more so, in the context of a massive overexposure to SAR body levels that can exceed more than 15 times the regulatory thresholds in terms of actual use of mobile phones.

14. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING