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Appendix DJoint Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural ResourcesMeeting on 25th January 2005 Presentation by the Chief Technical Advisor (Energy), Department of Communications, Marine and Natural ResourcesPreambleAlthough I have been asked to give evidence to this Committee and have prepared this submission, I must point out that, as a result of a decision taken early in the New Year, I am currently in the process of handing over responsibility in this area to my colleague, Roger O’Connor, Director of Business & Technology in the Department, who is here with me today. It was felt that it would assist the work of the Committee if I attended as well as Mr. O’Connor. ContextWhen my predecessor, Dr Tom McManus, gave evidence to the Joint Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport meeting on 26 March 1998, which also studied non-ionising radiation emissions from communications masts, he pointed out that concerns about possible health effects from non-ionising radiation first became a matter of public interest in 1976, when it was disclosed that Russia had been bombarding the American embassy in Russia with microwave radiation for over 20 years. A major examination of the health of the 3,500 staff affected was undertaken. Two years later, it was concluded that no-one had suffered any ill effects from their exposure to this radiation. The attention of the public, the authorities and the research community having been drawn to the issue, concern was first centred on electromagnetic fields from high-voltage overhead power transmission lines, as at that time very visible programmes of construction were taking place in many countries. At that time, some historians pointed out that some rural communities in America had expressed concerns about the possible adverse health effects from the telegraph system when it began to string wires on poles. It is worthwhile pointing out here that, although our use of electricity has multiplied some 30 times in the past 40 years, the incidence of cancer in the population has remained constant. These days, it is the, again, very visible rollout of third generation mobile phone base stations which is causing most alarm in some countries. This is because of the number of masts involved, requiring them to be sited close to users of mobile phones and therefore almost everywhere. What is non-ionising radiation and how do mobile phones work? The word “radiation” has an emotive connotation about it, particularly for us in Ireland when we think of nuclear safety issues. However, light and heat are also forms of radiation and we do not generally consider them to be hazardous to health.
We are permanently exposed to a certain amount of background level of electromagnetic energy due to both natural and man-made situations. The earth’s magnetic field and electrical activity in the atmosphere contribute, as do TV and radio transmitters, overhead power lines, mobile phone installations and appliances in our homes and workplaces. The levels of exposure caused by computers, televisions and even the wiring in our homes is very much greater than that due to telecommunications masts, but even these levels are some 50 times lower than the guidelines for exposure which have been internationally agreed and to which Ireland subscribes. Comparison of typical Electric and Magnetic Field Strengths:
Communications facilities, including telecommunications masts, emit a form of electromagnetic energy known as non-ionising radiation. This sets it apart from ionising radiation, such as X-rays, which can disrupt the atomic structure of tissue and which can therefore cause serious adverse health effects. Exposure to X-rays is always undertaken under carefully controlled conditions. Non-ionising radiation, on the other hand, cannot cause disruption to atomic structure. As previously stated, light and heat are forms of non-ionising radiation. Mobile phones are basically radio receiver/transmitters that use ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio waves to communicate information. The radio signals from the handset are transmitted through the air to the antenna (or aerial) of the nearest base station, which then passes the signal on to the network and through to its destination. The building blocks of these networks are the radio base stations. UHF radio waves travel in straight lines. Large television transmitters send radio waves to television sets at output powers of the order of 100,000 watts. Mobile base stations transmit much lower power levels, ranging from a few watts up to 150 watts, so they have to be close to the target phones in order to work. Each base station covers a small area — in urban areas this can be as little as a hundred metres. Mobile communications over a large area require a network of many base stations. Due to their close proximity to users, they attract more attention than much larger, more powerful television and radio transmitters situated on distant hilltops. What research is being done? Having regard to public concerns, and recognising that in previous cases of risk assessment insufficient work was done early enough - in particular the long delay in recognising the harmful effects of smoking - governments, equipment manufacturers, the research community and relevant international organisations promptly commenced programmes of research into the possibility that the electromagnetic emissions from mobile phones and their base stations could be harmful. To date some 25,000 peer-reviewed reports have been published, and every type of research, from studies of cognitive behaviour through to in-vivo laboratory programmes utilising human and animal tissue, has been undertaken. In 2004 alone, there were six major conferences on this subject, each with approximately 100 tabled and poster presentations. Ireland was represented at all of them. The scale of the worldwide research effort has been estimated at $40M in the past 10 years. In recent years there has been a specific focus on the possible effects of radio frequency (RF) signals on children. Mobile phones and childrenConcerns about the possible sensitivity of children to electromagnetic fields were first raised by a review of the available research related to biological and health effects of electromagnetic fields from mobile telephones. This was carried out by the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Telephony in the United Kingdom in 2000 (the first “Stewart” report). The review did not find any definite adverse health effects due to mobile phones, but did not conclude that there were none. The Group felt that, because of children’s developing skulls and the likelihood that they would have longer lifetime exposure than adults, they would be more vulnerable to any as-yet-unknown health effects than adults. The Group therefore recommended a precautionary approach on mobile telephone use by children. In 2002 the Health Council of Netherlands, after a separate evaluation of the health effects of mobile telephones, concluded that there was no reason to recommend that mobile telephone use by children should be limited. In 2003 The National Radiological Protection Board of the United Kingdom (NRPB 2003), noted that little had been published on childhood exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. To examine the question of children’s sensitivity to electromagnetic fields the World Health Organisation International EMF Project undertook a focussed programme of work and reported on this at an expert workshop in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 2004. The workshop concluded that carefully controlled cognitive performance tests on children with electromagnetic fields at the top of the range of those from current mobile phones did not show any significant difference in performance between those exposed and those not. The two “Stewart Reports” On 10 January 2005, the National Radiation Protection Board in the UK published a report of an independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation entitled “Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields”. This report will inevitably become known as the second Stewart report, as it follows a previous report by the same group in 2000. This previous report is the best known and most often cited review report in the field. The original Stewart Report was not, as is often been reported, a National Radiological Protection Board report, but the report of an independent expert group on mobile phones. Significantly, the NRPB published its response to the Stewart report, “Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields”, Doc NRPB 12(2) in 2003. The first Stewart report represented a review of the information available at that time, and was quite an authoritative work in its day. It led directly to focussed programmes of research, some carried out in the UK and some carried out in other countries and coordinated by the World Health Organisation, to deal with some of the issues left unresolved or open. Substantial new information is to hand from this work since the report was published. Key statements from the first Stewart Report, which were revisited in the new report, and the current scientific understanding, follow: “it is not possible at present to say that exposure to RF radiation, even at levels below national guidelines, is totally without potential adverse health effects. The reason is that research is not being done on the issue.” It is still not possible to give an absolute guarantee that RF radiation is totally without potential adverse health effects, just as it is not possible to guarantee that breathing city air or drinking tapwater is totally without potential adverse health effects for an entire population. However, following the publication of the first Stewart report, a lot of research was done on the issue. The NRPB in its 2003 report, following a review of all the work carried out since the Stewart report, stated that: “In aggregate the research published since the IEGMP report [the Stewart report] does not give cause for concern. The weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are adverse health effects from exposures to RF fields below guideline levels.” The World Health Organisation International EMF Project stated at its 2004 meeting that no causal relationship had been established between radio-frequency emissions and any adverse health effects, notwithstanding very determined scientific efforts to establish such relationships. “the gaps in knowledge are sufficient to justify a precautionary approach.” A precautionary approach has indeed been adopted by many countries, including Ireland. This has involved Ireland adopting recognised international guidelines for exposure to electromagnetic radiation. These guidelines limit the exposure to levels which are many times less than the experimental levels at which no adverse effects have been established. Neither the organisations which set these guideline levels nor the governments or authorities who adopt them are suggesting in any way that radio frequency emissions from mobile phone installations represent a hazard to health. “an independent random, ongoing, audit of all base stations should be carried out to ensure that exposure guidelines are not exceeded” The communications regulator, ComReg, audits Irish sites on a random basis to ensure compliance with licences. In addition, ComReg has just concluded a programme of measurements of 400 sites around the country. While the final report is awaited, it is understood that no site was found to exceed the guidelines. “...recommends that planning should be extra-cautious around schools as children are more susceptible to the effects of radiation and will be exposed to it over their lifetime...... Children are indeed more susceptible and will be exposed over a much longer period than today’s adults. For this reason, a specific programme of research focussed on children was launched under the WHO project, and this work reported back in June 2004 that no adverse health effects in children arising from mobile phone base stations, or the use of mobile phone handsets which cause much greater exposure, had been found. “beams of greatest intensity” should not fall on any part of school grounds, to ensure that the accessible location where the greatest exposure to the radiofrequency radiation signal occurs was not within school grounds.” This was consistent with the other recommendations in the report. The most recent work, as mentioned above, has removed any validity for this recommendation. Further more, the U.K. Court of Appeal, in a landmark decision of 12 November 2004, ruled that mobile phone masts “do not pose a risk to public health that would justify a ban on positioning them near schools”. The Stewart report also said that, since there are no scientific grounds for setting guidelines below the levels set by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) for the public, the Expert Group avoided setting exposure limits for school buildings and grounds below these limits. For the same reason it did not wish to recommend that there should be a particular minimum distance between the base station and the school. The new report, published just over two weeks ago, revisits the same subject matter, with an emphasis on studies conducted since the previous Stewart report. Studies reviewed suggested possible cognitive effects of exposure to RF fields from mobile phones, and possible effects of pulse modulated RF fields on calcium efflux from the nervous system. The overall evidence on cognitive effects remains inconclusive, while the suggestions of effects on calcium efflux have not been supported by more recent, better-conducted studies. The biological evidence suggests that RF fields do not cause mutation or initiate or promote tumour formation, and the epidemiological data overall do not suggest causal associations between exposures to RF fields, in particular from mobile phone use, and the risk of cancer. Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low, and the overall evidence indicates that they are unlikely to pose a risk to health. In aggregate the research published since the last Stewart report does not give cause for concern. The weight of evidence now available does not suggest that there are adverse health effects from exposures to RF fields below guideline levels. The new report also notes that the published research on RF exposures and health has limitations, and mobile phones have only been in widespread use for a relatively short time. The possibility therefore remains open that there could be health effects from exposure to RF fields below guideline levels; hence continued research is needed. This is accepted by most countries, and as a result a continued, coordinated programme of research continues. What has Ireland been doing in recent times? Ireland participates in the work of several international bodies which undertake, review and monitor the latest research. Ireland contributes towards this work and participates in the relevant committees that direct and evaluate this work. Specifically, Ireland participates in: ➢World Health Organisation International EMF Project ➢COST 281 ➢EU JRC EMF Project Of the 25,000 peer-reviewed studies into possible health effects that have been published in recent years, approximately 8 have suggested possible associations between high levels of non-ionising radiation and adverse health effects, such as childhood leukemia. All of these studies were repeated under controlled conditions, but the results could not be replicated, so no causal links have been established. To put this issue into context, even if the very worst case postulated by the reports had been confirmed as valid, it might in theory result in one additional death due to cancer in Ireland in 10 years. Notwithstanding the overwhelmingly clean bill of health given to these technologies compared to other environmental risks which society willingly accepts, governments have adopted a precautionary approach — “absence of proof of harm is not proof of absence of harm”. By concensus amongst many countries, guidelines are established for safe levels of exposure to various kinds of electromagnetic emissions. These guidelines are set at levels which are many times less than the experimental levels at which no adverse effects have been established. Ireland has adopted the guidelines established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, and participates in the work of the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety, which sets standards in this area. All licensed telecommunications operators in Ireland are required to observe the ICNIRP guidelines for limiting exposure of the public to electromagnetic emissions from their facilities. ComReg, the regulator, conducts audit measurements to verify compliance with these limits. By arrangement with DCMNR, ComReg has just completed a major measurement programme at 400 sites around Ireland. The final report of this work is expected imminently; it is understood to show that no site measured exceeded the ICNIRP guideline levels of electromagnetic emissions. The results of these measurements will be displayed publicly on ComReg’s website. The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has for some time provided an expert advisory service to government, local authorities, other public bodies, community groups and members of the public. At this point it is appropriate for me to hand over to Mr. O’Connor, who will take a brief look at future priorities in this area. Bob Hanna Chief Technical Advisor Looking forwards The Department will continue to represent Ireland at relevant international bodies and track developments in international research. Particular attention will be paid to the closing stages of the World Health Organisation International EMF Project, and the new EU JRC EMF Project. It is expected that at least one international event in this field will take place in Ireland during the course of the year. Major work will be undertaken to update and reformat the literature which the Department currently utilises to disseminate information. We will continue to review and enhance the advisory service to public bodies and others in the light of levels of demand and feedback obtained. There will be a period of analysis of the experience and findings of the major 400 site measurement campaign undertaken by ComReg, followed by detailed decisions about what continuing survey work is appropriate and how this should be managed. In the context of emerging all-Island work in the Communications area, coordinated customer-facing work will be undertaken with colleagues in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Northern Ireland. Mr. Roger O’Connor Director of Business & Technology 24th January, 2005 |
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