ICNIRP reconfirms RF exposure guidelines

17 August 2009

The International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) published a statement on 13 August 2009 reconfirming the 1998 EMF exposure guidelines.

The ICNIRP statement concluded:   

• "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."

• "Therefore, ICNIRP reconfirms the 1998 basic restrictions in the frequency range 100 kHz-300 GHz until further notice."

On base stations the statement concluded:

• "Epidemiological data on possible health effects of chronic, low-level, whole-body exposure in the far-field of radiofrequency (RF) transmitters are poor, especially because of lack of satisfactory individual exposure assessment. The few studies with adequate exposure assessment did not reveal any health-related effects."

Mike Dolan, Executive Director of the Mobile Operators Association, said: "I welcome this statement by independent scientific experts on the continuing relevance of the 1998 ICNIRP guidelines. The public can be reassured that a thorough review of scientific studies has been carried out prior to confirming the 1998 guidelines. ICNIRP will continue to keep the guidelines under review."

ICNIRP also published a review of science on 14 July 2009 that will be part of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) risk assessment of high frequency electromagnetic fields and health expected to be completed within the next two years.

ICNIRP Statement on the "Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz)" is available from ICNIRP's website http://www.icnirp.de/ as a pdf: http://www.icnirp.de/documents/StatementEMF.pdf.

The review “Exposure to high frequency electromagnetic fields, biological effects and health consequences (100 kHz-300 GHz)” is available from ICNIRP’s website http://www.icnirp.de/ as a pdf: http://www.icnirp.de/documents/RFReview.pdf.