Presentation made at the Government of Rajasthan seminar 'Ensuring Public Health & Safety in the Mobile Industry' in Jaipur on 2 June 2012.

1. International Practices In Safety Norms for
Mobile Networks
Jack Rowley, PhD,
Senior Director Research & Sustainability
GSM Association
‘Ensuring Public Health & Safety in the Mobile Industry’
Jaipur, India
2 June 2012
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012

2. Radio Signals are a form of Electromagnetic Fields
Radio signals are not x-rays.
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
High intensity radio signals cause heating.
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3. WHO International EMF Project
www.who.int/emf
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
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4. International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation
Protection
 Partner of the World Health Organization.
 ICNIRP is an independent group of international experts responsible
for providing scientific advice to international bodies, national
authorities and the public on possible health effects of non ionizing
radiation and for assisting in the development of protection policies.
 ICNIRP Recommendations:
– Evaluation of all scientific evidence.
– Include substantial safety factors.
– Protective of all persons (young, old, sick) from all established hazards.
www.icnirp.org
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
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5. Safety Thresholds for RF Exposure
Exposure
Adverse effects threshold
www.icnirp.org
10%
2%
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
Worker Public
Limit Limit 4

6. International Guidelines Protect Everyone
‘…The main conclusion from the WHO reviews is that EMF
exposures below the limits recommended in the ICNIRP
international guidelines do not appear to have any known
consequence on health.’
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
WHO Standards and Guidelines
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7. ICNIRP Supported by WHO and ITU
 …endorses the guidelines
of the International  If such limits do not exist,
Commission on Non- or if they do not cover the
Ionizing Radiation frequencies of interest,
Protection (ICNIRP) and then ICNIRP limits
encourages Member (Appendix I) should be
States to adopt these used.
international guidelines.
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
WHO Standards and Guidelines
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8. WHO Recommended Limits Are Widely Adopted
Australia Singapore Taiwan S. Korea
Japan USA Hong Kong Canada
Brazil Israel New Zealand France
UK France Costa Rica Ghana
Portugal Denmark Finland Germany
Ireland Botswana Kenya Netherlands
Peru Ecuador Norway Turkey
Austria Hungary Czech Rep. Latvia
Nigeria Malta Sweden Slovakia
Cyprus Estonia Argentina Colombia
Sweden Paraguay Chile Malaysia
Honduras India Croatia Mauritius
Pakistan Philippines Tanzania S. Africa
Thailand Venezuela Bolivia Spain
Zambia Brunei Iran Cambodia
Lebanon Iceland Suriname Rwanda
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
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9. Exposure Reduces Rapidly with Increased Distance
Distance doubles
Public limit
Exposure reduces by 4 Worker limit
Small fraction of limit
© GSM Association 2012
Compliance zones near to the antennas.
J. Rowley, June 2012
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10. WHO - Wireless Networks (May 2006)
 ‘…RF exposures from base stations…lower or comparable to RF exposures
from radio or television broadcast transmitters.’
 ‘…Given the widespread presence of base stations in the environment, it is
expected that possible cancer clusters will occur near base stations merely by
chance...’
 ‘Considering the very low exposure levels and research results collected to
date, there is no convincing scientific evidence that the weak RF signals
from base stations and wireless networks cause adverse health effects.’
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
WHO fact sheet 304, May 2006
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11. Typical Maximum Public Exposures - Networks
2%
‘…there is no scientific basis for establishing
minimal distances between base stations and
areas of public occupancy, as has been
suggested in some countries. There are many
sources of exposure to RF fields, and it would
in practice have little impact on people’s overall
exposure.’
Less than 0.02%
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
Public Mobile UK HPA, 2004
Limit Network 10

12. Base Stations - Systematic Review
 ‘…our review does not indicate an association between any health
outcome and radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure...’
 Evidence strong for acute effects.
 Less evidence available on long-term exposures and children.
© GSM Association 2012
Röösli et al., 2010.
J. Rowley, June 2012
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13. Evidence Subject to Regular Expert Review
‘In summary, although a substantial amount of research has been
conducted in this area, there is no convincing evidence that RF
field exposure below guideline levels causes health effects in
adults or children.’
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
Health Protection Agency, 2012
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14. Electrohypersensitivity
 46 provocation studies, 1175 IEI-
EMF volunteers.
 ‘…The symptoms are certainly
real…there is no scientific basis
 Symptoms not caused by EMF.
to link EHS symptoms to EMF
exposure. Further, EHS is not a
 ‘…support the role of the nocebo medical diagnosis, nor is it clear
effect in triggering acute that it represents a single
symptoms in IEI-EMF sufferers.’ medical problem.’
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
Rubin et al., 2010.
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15. Precautionary Measures = Increased Concern
 Study conducted in Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, Germany, The
Netherlands, South Africa, UK and USA.
– ICNIRP recommends limits, however, in some countries debate continues.
◄ Less concern More concern ►
Base station information
Precautionary limits
Protect sensitive areas
Minimise exposure
© GSM Association 2012
All precautionary measures increased concern.
J. Rowley, June 2012
Wiedemann, 2011
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16. Health Benefits
 About a quarter of UK calls to ambulances come from mobile phones.
– ‘Mobile phone compared to landline reporting of emergencies resulted in
significant reductions in the risk of death at the scene.’
– Equivalent to 137 fewer deaths at scene per 100,000 patients.
 Mobile healthcare opportunity:
– Health lines, monitoring, emergency, data, remote diagnostics, counterfeit
drugs, maternal care, rural care, disease rates and many more.
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
Wu et al., 2012.
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17. Policy Responses to Public Concern
 Adopt the international (ICNIRP) limits that provide
protection for all persons against all established hazards.
 Establish a program to assess compliance of antenna
sites and demonstrate that compliance is being
monitored.
 Communications by trusted agencies using clear
information.
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
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18. Thank You
 Contact: Dr Jack Rowley
 Job title: Senior Director
Research & Sustainability
 email address:
jrowley@gsm.org
 Tel: +353 86 806 0849
 Website:
www.gsma.com/health
© GSM Association 2012
J. Rowley, June 2012
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