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Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
MOBILE TELEPHONY AND HEALTH:THE POSITION OF ICNIRP
Paolo VecchiaChairman of ICNIRP
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ONNON-IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION
ICNIRP is an independent scientific organization that:
• provides guidance and advice on the health hazards of non-ionizing radiation
• develops international guidelines on limiting exposure to non-ionizing radiation that are independent and science based
• provides science based guidance and recommendations onprotection from non-ionizing radiation exposure
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
ICNIRP Statement
GENERAL APROACH TO PROTECTIONAGAINST NON-IONIZING RADIATION
Health Physics 82:540-548 (2002)www.icnirp.org
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
BASIC CRITERIA
• Recommendations based on science only
• Exposure limits based on established effects
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
ESTABLISHED EFFECTS FOR RF FIELDS
Absorption of electromagnetic energy
Increase of body temperature (general or local)
Thermal effects
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
LIMITS FOR THRESHOLD EFFECTSE
xpos
ure
leve
l
Established health effects
Reduction factor
“Safe” exposure
Threshold of effects
Exposure limit
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
LIMITS FOR MOBILE TELEPHONY
• Limits on whole-body exposureApplicable to base stationsAverage SAR < 0.08 W/kg
• Limits on local exposureApplicable to handsetsLocal SAR < 2 W/kg
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
All mobile phones legally on the market undergo standardized tests in order to prove compliance with international limits(SAR < 2 W/kg as averaged over any 10 g of tissue)
COMPLIANCE OF HANDSETS
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
CONFIRMATION OF ESTABLISHED EFFECTS
It is the opinion of ICNIRP, that the scientific literature publishedsince the 1998 guidelines has provided no evidence of anyadverse effects below the basic restrictions and does notnecessitate an immediate revision of its guidance on limitingexposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields.
ICNIRP Statement on the “Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric,Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields (Up To 300 GHz)”, 2009
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
LONG TERM EFFECTS?
• From the current scientific literature, there is no convincing evidencethat exposure to RF shortens the life span of humans, induces orpromotes cancer (WHO, 1998)
• Available epidemiological studies on broadcastig antennas areinconsistent and non informative (poor exposure assessment)
• Epidemiological studies on mobile phones are mostly negative
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
ICNIRP ON LONG-TERM EFFECTS
[...] the studies have yelded no convincing evidence that typicalexposure levels lead to adverse reproductive outcomes or an increasedcancer risk in exposed individuals.
ICNIRP Guidelines, 1998
We found [in 2009] the existing evidence did not support an increased risk ofbrain tumours in mobile phone users within the duration of use yet investigated.ICNIRP believes on preliminary review of the [Interphone] results, that they donot change the overall conclusions. ICNIRP therefore considers that the resultsof the Interphone study give no reason for alteration of the current guidelines
Note on the Interphone Study, 2010
.
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
PLAUSIBILITY OF NON-THERMAL EFFECTS
With regard to non-thermal interactions, it is in principle impossible todisprove their possible existence but the plausibility of the various non-thermal mechanisms that have been proposed is very low.
In addition, the recent in vitro and animal genotoxicity andcarcinogenicity studies are rather consistent overall and indicate thatsuch effects are unlikely at low levels of exposure.
ICNIRP Statement on the “Guidelines For Limiting Exposure To Time-Varying Electric,Magnetic, and Electromagnetic Fields (Up To 300 GHz)”, 2009
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
WHICH PROTECTION AGAINSTNO-THRESHOLD EFFECTS?
If available data permit the identification of an adverse effect, but not the
detection of a threshold […] the role of ICNIRP is to provide the general
recommendation that the occurrence of the adverse effect should be
minimized, e.g. by minimizing the exposure.
General Approach to Protection against Non Ionizing Radiation, 2002
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
WHICH PROTECTION AGAINSTNO-THRESHOLD EFFECTS?
ICNIRP should also attempt to analyze the risk in terms of levels of
consequences that could be quantified. The acceptability of such risks would,
however, be based also on social and economic considerations, and as such,
fall outside the remit of ICNIRP. National authorities responsible for risk
management may provide further advice on strategies to avoid the effect or
limit the risk.
General Approach to Protection against Non Ionizing Radiation, 2002
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
BI-DIRECTIONAL EXCHANGE OF ENERGY
Which are the proportions?
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
COMMON POSITION OF NORDIC COUNTRIES(Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden)
The exposure to the general public from base stations is extremely low, normally100 to 10 000 times lower than the ICNIRP guidelines and very much lower thanthe exposure from the handsets.
The Nordic authorities agree that there is no scientific evidence for any adversehealth effects from mobile telecommunication systems, neither from the basestations nor from the handsets, below the basic restrictions and reference valuesrecommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing RadiationProtection (ICNIRP).Mobile Telephony and Health: A Common View, 2004
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
AIM OF ACTIONS
Are actions additional to compliance with international limits aimed at…
•Reducing exposure levels?Some measures (e.g. displacement of base stations) may increaseoverall exposure
•Reducing public worriesThere is evidence that precautionary measures, including the reduction ofexposure limits, increases public concern
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
REDUCTION OF EXPOSURE?
• Exposure from mobile phones is much more important than exposure to
base stations
• Power emitted by mobile phones is limited by the adaptive power control
(APC)
• An increased distance from the base station results in little or no reduction
of the environmental level of electromagnetic fields and in a significant
increase of power emitted by the phones
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
REDUCTION OF WORRIES?
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
WIEDEMANN ET AL. 2005
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry
New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012
THANK YOUFOR YOUR ATTENTION
paolo.vecchia@icnirp.org