The Venice Resolution

The Venice Resolution
Initiated by the International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety,
June 6, 2008.

As stated in the Benevento Resolution of September 2006, we remain concerned about the effects of human exposure to electromagnetic fields on health. At the Venice Workshop, entitled, “Foundations of bioelectromagnetics: towards a new rationale for risk assessment and management,” we discussed electro-hypersensitivity, blood brain barrier changes, learning and behavioral effects, changes in anti-oxidant enzyme activities, DNA damage, biochemical mechanisms of interaction, biological damage and, experimental approaches to validate these effects.  As an outcome, we are compelled to confirm the existence of non-thermal effects of electromagnetic fields on living matter, which seem to occur at every level of investigation from molecular to epidemiological.       

An urgent task before international researchers is to discover the detailed mechanisms of non-thermal interactions between electromagnetic fields and living matter. A collateral consequence will be the design of new general public and occupational protection standards. We, who are at the forefront of this research, encourage an ethical approach in setting of exposure standards which protect the health of all, including those who are more vulnerable. We recognize the need for research to reveal the critical exposure parameters of effect and risk from exposure to electromagnetic fields.
 
The non-ionizing radiation protection standards recommended by international standards organizations, and supported by the World Health Organization, are inadequate. Existing guidelines are based on results from acute exposure studies and only thermal effects are considered. A world wide application of the Precautionary Principle is required. In addition, new standards should be developed to take various physiological conditions into consideration, e.g., pregnancy, newborns, children, and elderly people.  
 
We take exception to the claim of the wireless communication industry that there is no credible scientific evidence to conclude there a risk. Recent epidemiological evidence is stronger than before, which is a further reason to justify precautions be taken to lower exposure standards in accordance with the Precautionary Principle.

We recognize the growing public health problem known as electrohypersensitivity; that this adverse health condition can be quite disabling; and, that this condition requires further urgent investigation and recognition. 

We strongly advise limited use of cell phones, and other similar devices, by young children and teenagers, and we call upon governments to apply the Precautionary Principle as an interim measure while more biologically relevant standards are developed to protect against, not only the absorption of electromagnetic energy by the head, but also adverse effects of the signals on biochemistry, physiology and electrical biorhythms.

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Contact: Elizabeth Kelley, Managing Secretariat, International Commission for Electromagnetic Safety, info@icems.eu


Signed,
Pasquale Avino, Italian National Institute for Prevention & Worker Safety, Rome, Italy
Alessandro d’Alessandro, ICEMS, M.D. Benevento, Italy
Angelico Bedini, Italian National Institute for Prevention and Worker Safety, Rome, Italy
Igor Belyaev, Associate Professor in Toxicological Genetics, Dept. of Genetics, Microbiology and Toxicology,
Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Fiorella Belpoggi, ICEMS, Vice Scientific Director, European Foundation for Oncology & Environmental
Sciences "B. Ramazzini". Bologna, Italy
Carl Blackman, ICEMS; President, Bioelectromagnetics Society (1990-91), Raleigh, NC, USA
Martin Blank, Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, USA
Natalia Bobkova, ICEMS, Institute of Cell Biophysics, Pushchino, Moscow Region
Bill Bruno, Theoretical biophysics, earned at Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Zhaojin Cao, National Institute Environmental Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control, China
Simona Carrubba, PhD, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA, USA.
Catarina Cinti, ICEMS, Director, National Research Center, Institute of Clinical Physiology, Siena, Italy
Mauro Cristaldi, Dip, B.A.U. Universita degli Studi "La Sapienza", Roma, Italia
Suleyman Dasdag, Biophysics Department of Medical School, Dicle University, Diyarbakir,Turkey
Devra Lee Davis, PhD, MPH Director, Ctr. Environmental Oncology, Univ.Pittsburgh Cancer Institute
Prof. Dept. Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, Univ.Pittsburgh, USA
Antonella De Ninno, ICEMS, Italian National Agency, Energy, Environment & Technology, Frascati, Italy
Emilio Del Giudice, ICEMS, International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss, Germany
Alvaro de Salles, ICEMS, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Sandy Doull, Consultant, Noel Arnold & Associates, Box Hill VIC, Australia
Christos Georgiou, ICEMS, Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Biology. University of Patras, Greece
Reba Goodman, Prof. Emeritus, Clinical Pathology, Columbia University, New York, New York USA
Settimo Grimaldi, ICEMS, Inst. Neurobiology & Molecular Medicine, National Research, Rome, Italy
Livio Giuliani, ICEMS Spokesman; Deputy Director, Nat. Inst. Prevention & Worker Safety, East Veneto & South Tirol,
Camerino University. Italy
Lennart Hardell, ICEMS, Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden
Magda Havas, ICEMS, Environmental & Resource Studies, Trent University, Ontario, Canada
Gerard Hyland, ICEMS, International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss, Germany
Florian M. Koenig, D.Sc., ICEMS, Germering, Director, FKE Sferics Research Institute, Germering, Germany.
Antonella Lisi, ICEMS Inst. Neurobiology & Molecular Medicine, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
Louisanna Ieradi, Istituto per lo Studio degli Ecosistemi C.N.R., Roma, Italia
Olle Johansson, Assoc. Prof. The Experimental Dermatology Unit, Department of Neuroscience,
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
Vini G. Khurana, Neurosurgeon, Canberra Hospital and Assoc. Prof. of Neurosurgery,
Australian National University Medical School
Henry Lai, ICEMS, Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Lukas Margaritas, Professor of Cell Biology and Radiobiology, Athens University, Athens, Greece
Fiorenzo Marinelli, ICEMS, Institute of Molecular Genetics National Research Council, Bologna Italy.
Andrew A. Marino, Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; Louisiana State University; Shreveport, Louisiana, USA
Vera Markovic, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Nis, Serbia
Ed Maxey, M.D. retired surgeon, Fayetteville Arkansas
Gerd Oberfeld, Public Health Department, Salzburg State Government, Salzburg, Austria and Speaker for
Environmental Medicine for the Austrian Medical Association, Vienna, Austria
Jerry Phillips, Director, Science Learning Center, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colo. USA
Elihu Richter, ICEMS, Head, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Hebrew University-Hadassah, Israel
Leif Salford, ICEMS, Professor and Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Lund University, Sweden
Massimo Scalia, Professor, Evolution Models in Applied Sciences, Mathematical Physical and Natural Science,
University of "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy
Nesrin Seyhan, ICEMS, Head, Department of Biophysics; Director, Gazi NIRP Center, Ankara, Turkey
Zamir Shalita, Consultant on Electromagnetic Hazards, Ramat Gan, Israel
Morando Soffritti, ICEMS, Scientific Director, European Foundation for Oncology & Environmental
Sciences, "B. Ramazzini", Bologna, Italy
Stanley Szmigielski, ICEMS, Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Warsaw, Poland
Ion Udroiu, Italian National Institute for Prevention & Worker Safety, Rome, Italy
Clarbruno Verduccio, Prof. Lt. Col. Commander C.F, Marine Military, La Spezia. Italy
Mehmet Zeyrek, Professor of Physics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
Mikhail Zhadin, ICEMS, Honorary Scientist of Russian Federation, Institute of Cell Biophysics, Pushchino, Russia
Stylianos Zinelis, M.D., ICEMS, Vice President, Hellenic Cancer Society, Cefalonia, Greece
Anna Zucchero, ICEMS, MD, Internal Medicine Department. Venice-Mestre Hospital, Venice, Italy

Additional signers who are qualified but have not published EMF papers or published prior to 2000.
Stéphane Egot-Lemaire, Temple University, School of Medicine, Center for Biomedical Physics, Pennsylvania USA.
Andrew Goldsworthy, Lecturer in Biology (retired), Imperial College London.
Sarah J. Starkey, PhD, Neuroscience, University of London, London, United Kingdom.

Disclaimer statement:  The signatories to these resolutions, have signed as individuals, giving their professional affiliations, but this does not necessarily mean that this represents the views of their employers or the professional organizations they are affiliated with.

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