Risk
evaluation of the health effects of mobile phone communication.
Results of a scientific dialogue
Procedures
and results of the risk dialogue on "mobile phone
communication and health"
The program group Mensch Umwelt Technik (MUT) [Humans
Environment Technology] of the Research Center Jülich
conducted a scientific dialogue from September 2003 to
April 2005. The goal was to develop a dialogue process
for a transparent risk evaluation of the "mobile
phone communication and health" topic.Twenty-five
subject matter experts from Germany and Switzerland, recognized
for having their own research programs, were won as experts
or advisory expert panelists. The selection of the experts
through the program group MUT was to ensure that the spectrum
of different expert opinions on each issue was represented.
Six topic areas were the focus of the risk dialogue:
- Genotoxic
(DNA-damaging) effects from high-frequency electromagnetic
fields,
- Laboratory
animal cancer studies,
- Epidemiological
studies on cancer,
- Effects
on the central nervous system as well as on cognitive
functions and sleep,
- Impairment
of well-being and
- Effects
on the blood-brain-barrier.
For
each of these topic areas, at least two experts who
themselves are active researchers in that field selected
the most important studies and evaluated their findings.
Research from the years 2000 until 2004 was examined.
For each topic area, a workshop was conducted with the
experts and additional advisory expert panelists. In
a subsequent collective workshop, the resulting conclusions
were discussed.
Thus, an evaluation of six important topic areas on
"mobile phone communication and health" can
be presented here. This evaluation is based on a broad
expert knowledge base and presents its underlying rules
of evaluation clearly and transparently. Only through
the prerequisite of a transparent and balanced presentation
can laypeople arrive at their own risk-aware judgment.
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PROGRAMME GROUP HUMANS, ENVIRONMENT, TECHNOLOGY (MUT)
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