Health ministers to call for limits on radiation from electrical goods

Date: 03/06/1999

By Renée Cordes and Peter Chapman

EU governments will call next week for Union-wide restrictions on the electromagnetic radiation emitted by power lines, mobile telephones and household appliances to protect citizens from immediate health risks.

Health ministers are set to support the initiative at a meeting in Luxem-bourg next Tuesday (8 June). They will call for limits to be imposed on emissions in line with the findings of an international panel of scientific experts, but say it should be left up to individual member states to decide what specific measures should be introduced.

Ministers will recommend different restrictions depending on the amount of actual radiation emitted by an appliance, taking into account, for example, that electrical goods used in the home give off less radiation and from a greater distance than mobile phones.

But they will stop short of suggesting limits on the amount of radiation emitted over a long time. "This is a general risk-prevention measure aimed at limiting short-term exposure," said one EU diplomat, stressing the need to protect workers and pregnant women.

The new ceilings would apply to low-frequency electromagnetic radiation - including ultraviolet radiation, visible light and microwave fields - which has been shown to cause adverse health effects by altering normal chemical reactions in living tissue. There are still widely differing opinions as to whether exposure causes cancer in the long run.

The initiative is being launched following calls from the European Parliament earlier this year for tougher measures to protect the general public.

But industry lobby groups are fiercely opposed to the move, amid concerns about rising investment costs for new equipment and fears of a patchwork of differing national and international standards. "We still fear that some possible trade barrier could arise from this recommendation," said Stefano Casandrini, an expert with EU domestic appliance lobby group CECED, which insists industry is constantly conducting research to improve product safety.

Meanwhile, the European Comm-ission is planning to increase funding for research into the health effects of mobile phones.

Existing R&D is being led by scientists working on two separate projects at Italy's Rome University and Croatia's Zagreb University.

The Rome scientists are coordinating efforts to improve the testing and measurement of radiation in mobile phones, while the Zagreb team is leading a broader project assessing risks from electromagnetic fields emitted from a wide range of equipment.

Scientists have now been asked by the Commission to come forward with proposals for new research as part of the Union's new multi-billion-euro Fifth Framework R&D programme.