How policy approaches radiation exposure

The U.S. and other countries for decades have had the same laws and policies around regulating radiation levels from technology like cell phones.

Officials say limits are still set at safe and healthy levels.

The last time the Federal Communications Commission updated guidelines on human exposure to radio frequency, RF, in the U.S. was in 1996.

Specific absorption rate, or SAR, measures radio frequency, or RF, energy absorbed by someone using a wireless handset, according to the FCC. The federal limit set by the FCC for exposure from cell phones is a SAR level of 1.6 watts per kilogram.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that the current FCC guidelines remain safe for human health.

It’s been a while since the European Union significantly laid down new rules too. The EU set policies in 2003 that address ionizing radiation exposure risks at a slightly higher standard than the U.S.

In Europe, SAR can’t exceed 2 watts per kilogram, per the European Union. The national frequency agency in France, ANFR, recommends a higher limit when a device is closer to the body, like in a pocket, at 4 watts per kilogram.

Tests in France showed the iPhone 12 originally exceeded that limit, and the country in 2023 temporarily banned the phone until Apple instituted a software update. Experts said it still didn’t present a risk to human health.

There’s no evidence that RF exposure below existing safety guidelines directly causes symptoms like headaches and dizziness, according to the European Commission. However, a resolution from Parliament in 2009 acknowledged EMF emissions may adversely affect human health and called for more studies on the matter.

Some groups and individuals, in both Europe and the U.S., have voiced frustration that leadership isn’t doing enough to address radiation impacts to human health.

The think tank Environmental Health Trust is focused on the dangers of cell phone radiation. The organization highlights school boards and firefighting associations around the country and world that have banned cell phone towers within a certain proximity.

In New Mexico, individuals are trying to raise attention to the state’s Public Regulation Commission about smart utility meters.

Earlier this month, New Mexicans for Utility Safety filed a request with the PRC for disapproval of a grid modernization proposal from the Public Service Company of New Mexico that would install advanced metering infrastructure, or smart meters, in its service areas.

The filing included dozens of written comments from residents in and outside of New Mexico who believe smart meters cause a dangerous and unhealthy environment.

“I know people who have been egregiously harmed by them, people who were healthy until installation of a so-called smart meter drove them from their homes in agony and turned them into EMF refugees,” one person, Phoebe Anne Sorgen, wrote.

As the tech world advances, it’s likely more policy questions around electrosensitivity will arise.

What policies or laws do you want to see written about in Business Outlook? Send an email to mgleason@abqjournal.com.

Editor's note 6/24/24 7:51 a.m.: What SAR stands for has been corrected.