HON ABIODUN AKINLADE, ON A BILL FOR AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMANS FROM CERTAIN LEVELS OF EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH ON WEDNESDAY, 15TH OF MAY, 2013

BEING A SPEECH DELIVERED BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, RT. HON ABIODUN AKINLADE, ON A BILL FOR AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMANS FROM CERTAIN LEVELS OF EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND FOR OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITH ON WEDNESDAY, 15TH OF MAY, 2013. Protocols, I am delighted to welcome you to this Public Hearing on A bill for an act to provide for the protection of humans from certain levels of exposure to electromagnetic fields and for other matters connected therewith this morning. Since the advent of the GSM and other communication devices in the country, experts have expressed worry over the negative health impact of the electromagnetic fields on the people and how to ensure that these effects are limited to a tolerable level. The Nigerian 1999 Constitution as amended guarantees right to life as it states in Chapter Four (33) that "Every person has a right to life save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of criminal offense of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria." It is the need to regulate this electromagnetic emissions that prompted the House to introduce this bill. You, as stakeholders, are expected to contribute dispassionately to this bill and offer professional advise that would go a long way in guiding this committee in particular and the House in general making a law that would stand the test of time. It is well recognized that there are established biophysical mechanisms that could lead to health effects as a consequence of exposure to sufficiently strong fields. For frequencies up to, say, 100 kHz the mechanism is stimulation of nerve and muscle cells due to induced currents and, for higher frequencies, tissue heating is the main mechanism. These mechanisms lead to acute effects. Existing exposure guidelines, such as those issued by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), protect against these effects. The current issue is the possibility that health effects occur at exposure levels below those where the established mechanisms play a role and in particular as effects of long term exposure at low level. Essentially, this Act when passed, is to establish limits on human exposure to electromagnetic fields that would provide protection against known adverse effects from any installation or devise emitting such fields. Our task here today is to collectively brainstorm on how to establish minimum requirements for the protection of the public and workers from risks to their health arising or likely to arise from their exposure to EMF in the frequency range 0 to 300. While it is expected that the recommendations in force by the ICNIRP with respect to basic restrictions and reference levels shall be adopted as the relevant EMF exposure limit, there is need for relevant authorities to ensure that any installation in the country complies with the exposure limit that this legislation seeks to set out. It is to this effect that I warmly welcome you all to this epoch making event as it is expected that you are going to give your professional input to lend credence to the making of a law that would measure up to the world's best standard.