CommissionElectromagnetic Fields and Health Research

In its advisory report to the State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) of 30 May 2006, the Health Council listed priorities for research to be conducted in the Netherlands, based on its own earlier advisory reports and the research agendas of the WHO.

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) has also made a number of suggestions for follow-up research based on its own report on electromagnetic fields in the workplace (the EMFIA report).

The programme includes scope for possible future expansion to include occupational health and safety research for specific work situations on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the private sector. These parties are jointly responsible for the implementation of the European Directive protecting workers from exposure to electromagnetic fields, which will be introduced in 2008.

Information supplied by central government and the Health Council played a very important role in the preparations for this programme. ZonMw also did the rounds of companies, citizens’ groups and researchers with an involvement in the field. It found that, besides the fact that this issue attracts attention from all quarters of society, there is also general consensus on the requirements for research. It should be independent, focus on relevant (scientific) questions (as set out by the Health Council and the WHO, for example), tie in with international research, and communication on the programme should be clear and accurate. These requirements have duly been adopted in the programme.