Termin:
13.06.2001
17:00

Overcoming Regulatory Fears of Public Perceptions of Mobile Telephone Health Risks

The question of whether exposure to radio frequency radiation (RF) from mobile telephones constitutes a health risk has stimulated considerable public and scientific debate and regulatory activity. In most countries regulatory discussion of risk management for RF the public has been portrayed as scientifically ignorant, prone to panic, mislead by mass media sensationalism, and sometimes (but more rarely) manipulated by ill-informed activists with broader political agendas. These images are often set against the empirically questionable ideal of a consensus RF science, a single coherent entity determined authoritatively by expert committees exemplified by the activities of the World Health Organization (WHO). It will be suggested that these simplistic images which have dominated the RF regulatory mind set, have contributed to problems in achieving publicly credible and scientifically sustainable RF policy. The presentation concludes by making a number of recommendations for ways RF risk management strategies can be improved.

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