The Ministry of Science and Technology established a committee to examine non-ionizing radiation and its effect on public health

The committee, headed by the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology Avi Anati, includes representatives from the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Communications, the Research Center in Nahal Shurk, as well as representatives from the green organizations, the Consumer Council and the Academy

The Ministry of Science and Technology established a committee that will work to establish a center to test the impact of non-ionizing radiation on public health. The national research knowledge center for this subject, which will be established in the coming year, will conduct and coordinate research on the subject, provide information to the general public as well as practical recommendations to the government.

The committee, chaired by the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Science and Technology Avi Anati, includes representatives from the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Communications, the research center in Nahal Shurk, as well as representatives from the green organizations, the Consumer Council and academia.

Despite government decisions since 2004 that determined the need to establish a center for testing non-ionizing radiation, the decision has not been realized so far. Now, the Ministry of Science and Technology has set itself the goal of leading this year's national project, which begins with the establishment of the committee that will accompany the issue and continues with the establishment of the center.

The national scientific steering committee for the subject that met for the first time yesterday began preparations for the establishment of the center. In the coming weeks, the Ministry of Science and Technology will publish a call for proposals for the establishment of the center. The committee will accompany the establishment of the center and its operation, will determine the structure of its activity, the infrastructure and the conditions for carrying out scientific and research activities there, will examine the center's compliance with national scientific goals and will submit an annual report on the center's activities to the Minister of Science and Technology.

In the first phase, an information unit will be established within the center, and then the unit for epidemiological studies, basic studies and risk assessment will be established in the same center. In the first phase, the information unit's budget will be three million shekels for three years from the budget of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The purpose of the center that will be established will be to respond to the public's concerns about the radiation coming from mobile phones, high voltage lines, cellular company antennas, etc. The information unit at the center will be engaged in providing a professional response to the inquiries of the public and the government regarding radiation and its health effects, will coordinate standards and relevant recommendations, and will provide information on the subject. The Unit for Epidemiological Studies, Basic Studies and Risk Assessment will perform an assessment of the set of health risks to humans from radiation and their extent, as well as cost, risk and benefit assessments as an aid to decision makers. The unit will also carry out studies with the aim of testing the health effect of non-ionizing radiation and detailing its possible effect on the formation of benign and malignant tumors.