MOBILE TELEPHONY AND HEALTH: THE POSITION OF ICNIRP

Paolo Vecchia
Chairman of ICNIRP

Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry

New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON NON-IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTION

ICNIRP is an independent scientific organization that:

provides guidance and advice on the health hazards of nonionizing radiation develops international guidelines on limiting exposure to nonionizing radiation that are independent and science based provides science based guidance and recommendations on protection 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 PROTECTION AGAINST 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 EFFECTS

Established health effects

Exposure level
Threshold of effects

Reduction factor

Exposure limit

Safe exposure

Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry

New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012

LIMITS FOR MOBILE TELEPHONY

Limits

on whole-body exposure Applicable to base stations Average SAR < 0.08 W/kg local Applicable to Local SAR < 2 W/kg on exposure handsets

Limits

Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry

New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012

COMPLIANCE OF HANDSETS

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)

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 published since the 1998 guidelines has provided no evidence of any adverse effects below the basic restrictions and does not necessitate an immediate revision of its guidance on limiting exposure 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 evidence

that exposure to RF shortens the life span of humans, induces or promotes cancer (WHO, 1998)

Available epidemiological studies on broadcastig antennas are

inconsistent 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 typical exposure levels lead to adverse reproductive outcomes or an increased cancer risk in exposed individuals.
ICNIRP Guidelines, 1998

We found [in 2009] the existing evidence did not support an increased risk of brain tumours in mobile phone users within the duration of use yet investigated. ICNIRP believes on preliminary review of the [Interphone] results, that they do not change the overall conclusions. ICNIRP therefore considers that the results of the Interphone study give no reason for alteration of the current guidelines
Note on the Interphone Study, 2010

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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 to disprove their possible existence but the plausibility of the various nonthermal mechanisms that have been proposed is very low. In addition, the recent in vitro and animal genotoxicity and carcinogenicity studies are rather consistent overall and indicate that such 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 AGAINST NO-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 AGAINST NO-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, normally 100 to 10 000 times lower than the ICNIRP guidelines and very much lower than the exposure from the handsets. The Nordic authorities agree that there is no scientific evidence for any adverse health effects from mobile telecommunication systems, neither from the base stations nor from the handsets, below the basic restrictions and reference values recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (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 increase overall exposure public worries There is evidence that precautionary measures, including the reduction of exposure limits, increases public concern

Reducing

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 YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

paolo.vecchia@icnirp.org

Ensuring Public Health and Safety in the Mobile Industry

New Delhi, India, 8 February 2012