mobile telephony and health

examples from other France Telecom subsidiaries

France Telecom is a group with subsidiaries in many countries, in Europe, in Africa and in the Middle East. Two representative subsidiaries of the group are located in France and in the United Kingdom.

As is the case in most European Union states, the regulations comprised in European Council Recommendation 519/1999 are in force (they’ve also been adopted by Romanian legislation). Contrary to opinions expressed in various media channels, in France there are no restrictions to building base stations inside cities. If these base stations hadn’t been placed inside cities, it wouldn’t be possible to communicate using mobiles. You can see the location of these stations and other radio transmitters on the website www.cartoradio.fr belonging to the National Agency of Frequencies (ANFR). There you’ll also find measurement reports carried out by the agency at various locations.

In the United Kingdom, exposure norms used to be a little less strict than those proposed by Recommendation 519/1999 (ICNIRP norms), but in the end they have been replaced by the European norms. The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has created an Internet site similar to the French one mentioned previously: www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk

In France, the installation of base stations is being carried out according to the recommendations of government Circular of 16 October 2001. It sets the minimum distances which must be free around a GSM aerial (the exclusion area in the immediate neighbourhood of the aerial), in the various possible configurations. Generally, it extends to up to 3 m in front of the aerial, 1 m to the sides and 0.5 m behind and below it. If the station functions in two frequency bands, the distance in front of the aerial mustn’t be less than 4.5 m. In the case of micro base stations, usually installed on the façade of buildings and using less power, the exclusion zone extends to just 50 cm in front of the aerial.

In addition, the circular recommends that, if a school or a hospital is located less than 100 m from the station, aerials not be aimed at play areas or adjacent walking areas, ie that their main lobe not be directed towards such locations.

The National Agency of Frequencies also published two synthetic reports of electromagnetic field measurements, one in 2001 (www.anfr.fr/doc/panorama_2001.pdf) and the second in 2004 (www.anfr.fr/doc/docenligne/prr_2004.pdf). Their conclusion is that, generally, the level of the field is very low and mobile telephony isn't necessarily the most significant source, as its emissions are comparable to or lower than those coming from radio and television broadcasting transmitters.

In the United Kingdom, exposure norms used to be a little less strict than those proposed by Recommendation 519/1999 (ICNIRP norms), but in the end they have been replaced by the European norms. At the initiative of the UK government, an independent expert group was set up (IEGMP) to analyse the scientific studies carried out in the field. It published a report in 2000 (see www.iegmp.org.uk). The task of carrying out these analyses was then taken over by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB).

Another official organisation, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) created an Internet site: www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk, where you can find out the location of base stations in the United Kingdom and you can read reports on the measurements carried out by this institution.

The limits set by Recommendation 519/1999 were also fully adopted in Spain, Portugal and The Netherlands. In the latter country, the Health Council (Gezondheidsraad) set up an expert commission for the purpose of investigating the scientific knowledge in the field and to generate reports and recommendations on this topic. They can be downloaded from the institution’s site: http://www.gr.nl

In Belgium, the starting point used consisted of ICNIRP’s norms and an acceptable level four times lower than that was set. In addition, the federal government financed an Internet site which presents information on this subject: www.infogsm.be. A similar measure was taken in Switzerland, where limits are 10 times lower than those recommended by ICNIRP.