Report of the sounding board group meeting of the EMV knowledge platform

On March 18, there was another meeting of the sounding board group of the knowledge platform electromagnetic fields and health. The EMC-ESD association is also invited to this event and Jan-Kees van der Ven participated as a representative on behalf of the association.

The Electromagnetic Fields and Health Knowledge Platform is a partnership between RIVM, TNO, DNV-GL, Agentschap Telecom, GGD GHOR Nederland and ZonMw. In recent years, the EMV Knowledge Platform has played an active role in addressing and answering questions and concerns in society about the health effects of electromagnetic fields. This is done by giving interviews and organizing conversations. Another important medium is the website: https://www.kennisplatform.nl/.

The need for knowledge about electromagnetic fields and health is evident from the number of visitors to the website. In 2018 this was still 1200 on average per month, in 2019 this was already 4100 and last year there was an average of 11000 visits per month. That is why we worked hard on the website again last year to expand the available information. The website is set up in the form of questions and answers. It is a topic on which a lot of new information has been published this year working with an MRI scanner and the undergoing an MRI scan.

Other topics discussed in the past year include:

• The new precautionary policy for magnetic fields in parts of the electricity grid. There was no news about this during the meeting, but an update was provided shortly afterwards. Now we have to wait and see what the government's response will be and then this information will be processed on the website.
• A warning has been posted for the exposure to electromagnetic fields during cosmetic treatments. The risk of exceeding the exposure limits may be greater with improper use of the equipment, or with equipment purchased directly from suppliers outside the European Union.
• Various municipalities have been helped with information about 5G. The knowledge platform has also provided an explanation of various studies.
• New developments such as WIFI (WIFI 6) are monitored and the information on the website is updated if necessary.
• The knowledge platform has drawn up a first impression of the recommendations of ICNIRP for exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields.

At the end of the meeting two more discussions arose. The first was about low-radiation areas in the Netherlands to live. This turned out to be a complex subject, and it is not clear who feels responsible for designing such areas. Various parties are linked via the knowledge platform to see what they can jointly achieve in this area. The knowledge platform has a facilitating role in this.

The second discussion was about reporting complaints that are suspected to be related to 5G. People are advised to report these complaints to their GGD as they are the first point of contact in this area have a system for registering environmental health complaints.

In 2021, the knowledge platform wants to work again to expand the information on the website and update it where necessary. In addition, various forms of support are offered for questions from society and for organizing conversations.