Yea, "someone told us" seemingly without any further evidence should not be the basis of such an article. Without verifying claims, human rights watches are bound to be abused for propaganda purposes.

One thing I always like to remind people of: The fact that these effects are, if at all existent, so small that they can barely be observed also means that if they do turn out to be harmful, it’s not too bad, as the harm is also small. It’s not like e.g. lead in the water where you can very clearly prove a significant harm.