During the BioEM2018 conference in Slovenia on 26 June, ICNIRP presented the revised guidelines on exposure to radio frequencies.
The current ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) guidelines for radio frequencies (100 kHz – 300 GHz) were published in 1998.
These guidelines are based on WHO and ITU recommendations and were adopted by international authorities and the vast majority of national authorities in Europe, including France.
Considering the significant amount of relevant research carried out on radio frequencies since these guidelines were enacted in 1998, ICNIRP wanted to review them to include these new research results.
During the BioEM2018 conference in Slovenia on 26 June, ICNIRP presented the revised guidelines on exposure to radio frequencies, which will soon be available for public consultation. The official consultation process will start on 10 July and will last for three months.
ICNIRP has examined scientific literature to determine the threshold for health effects of electromagnetic fields, which are considered to be both negative to humans and scientifically justified. It concluded that there was “no evidence that radio frequencies cause illnesses such as cancer” and “no evidence that radio frequencies affect health other than effects which are due to established interaction mechanisms”.
The proposed ICNIRP radio frequency exposure limits will be further explained in the public consultation text, but they can be summarised as follows for mobile telephones:
- For antennas, the reference levels for frequencies between 400 MHz and 6 GHz are unchanged for whole body exposure but the proposed averaging time will increase to 30 minutes (currently 6 minutes)
- There are new reference levels for local exposure which will be particularly relevant for devices operating over 6 GHz
- For mobile devices (mobile phones, tablets, IoT, etc.) operating near to the body, the SAR (specific absorption rates) remain unchanged
