Radiofrequency Exposure and Human Health

Abstract

Research on the biological and health efiects of radiofrequency (RF) flelds has been conducted for more than 50 years and the RF database available in the 1990's proved adequate for the development of the human exposure limits recommended in 1998 by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) (1). The ICNIRP guidelines are recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and have been adopted by more than 35 countries. The database that led to the development of the ICNIRP guidelines has grown, with about 500 studies at mobile phone frequencies including many modulated signals. The WHO database (2) has more than 1500 original, peer-reviewed papers useful for public health risk assessment of RF exposure. The database provides even stronger evidence today that RF exposures within ICNIRP limits associated with mobile telephony pose no known health risks and warrant no special precautions for any segments of the population. WHO has stated that scientiflc knowledge on electromagnetic flelds including RF flelds is now more extensive than for most chemicals (3). Expert scientiflc organizations, international organizations and government agencies that have reviewed the available database since the publication of the ICNIRP guidelines include the UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (Stewart Report) (2000); German Commission on Radiological Protection (2001); Australian Communications Authority (2003); French Environmental Health and Safety Agency (2003); Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (2003), Health Council of the Netherlands (2004); UK Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (2004), UK National Radiological Protection Board (2004); US Food and Drug Administration (2005); and the World Health Organization (2005, 2006). All of these reviews have consistently concluded that there is no credible or convincing evidence that RF exposure within ICNIRP limits causes adverse human health efiects. This paper describes a) the extensive database on the biological and health efiects of exposure to RF energy, b) the ICNIRP RF safety guidelines, and c) recent conclusions of national and international expert groups that have evaluated the scientiflc and medical evidence on the potential health efiects of RF exposure. DOI: 10.2529/PIERS060906133215 1. RADIOFREQUENCY (RF) DATABASE