INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON NON‐IONIZING RADIATION PROTECTIONICNIRP STATEMENTON THE “GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING EXPOSURE TOTIME‐VARYING ELECTRIC, MAGNETIC, AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (UP TO 300 GHZ)”

PUBLISHED IN: HEALTH PHYSICS 97(3):257‐258; 2009

ICNIRP PUBLICATION – 2009

ICNIRP Statement

ICNIRP STATEMENT ON THE “GUIDELINES FOR LIMITINGEXPOSURE TO TIME-VARYING ELECTRIC, MAGNETIC, AND
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (UP TO 300 GHz)”The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection*INTRODUCTIONeffects such as “work stoppage” caused by mild wholebody heat stress and/or tissue damage caused by excessive localized heating (D’Andrea et al. 2007). With
regard to non-thermal interactions, it is in principle
impossible to disprove their possible existence but theplausibility of the various non-thermal mechanisms thathave been proposed is very low. In addition, the recent invitro and animal genotoxicity and carcinogenicity studies
are rather consistent overall and indicate that such effects
are unlikely at low levels of exposure. Therefore, ICNIRP
reconfirms the 1998 basic restrictions in the frequency
range 100 kHz–300 GHz until further notice.
ICNIRP notes that there has been considerable
advance in dosimetric investigations in terms of precision and resolution (Lin 2007). A special concern wasraised with regard to numerical computations using
anatomical models of human bodies which might influence the derivation of reference levels from the basic
restrictions. Some published studies (Wang et al. 2006;
Dimbylow and Bolch 2007; Conil et al. 2008; Nagaoka etal. 2008; Kuehn et al. 2009) showed that in the frequency
ranges of body resonance (⬃100 MHz) and from 1 to 4
GHz for bodies shorter than 1.3 m in height (corresponding approximately to children aged 8 y or younger) at therecommended reference level the induced SARs could be
up to 40% higher than the current basic restriction underworst-case conditions. However, this is negligible compared with the large reduction factor of 50 (5,000%) for
the general public.
Many epidemiological studies initiated recently
have focused primarily on possible biological and adverse health conditions that might be associated with theoperation of modern telecommunication systems. TheInterphone Study, a multi-country coordinated casecontrol study, addresses possible cancer risks due to therelatively high local exposure of the user’s head whenusing mobile phones. The pooled analysis of all national
data is not yet published. However, individual nationaland multinational results published thus far do notindicate an elevation of the risk of cancers in the head

SINCE THE publication of the ICNIRP “Guidelines forlimiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, andelectromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz)” (ICNIRP 1998)
many scientific studies of the effects of such fields havebeen published. In the frequency range up to approximately 100 kHz several scientific reviews and healthhazard assessments have been undertaken by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO2006, 2007), national radiation protection institutions(HPA 2006, 2008), and by ICNIRP (2003). For static andextremely low frequency (ELF) fields, ICNIRP’s processof reviewing its guidelines is, respectively, finalized(ICNIRP 2009) or in progress.
For frequencies above 100 kHz, including frequencies used for modern wireless communications, several
major national and international research programs havebeen completed recently (e.g., MTHR 2007; Federal
Office for Radiation Protection 2008) and others areongoing. The new data need to be reviewed and assessedwith respect to possible health hazards prior to a revisionof ICNIRP’s recommendations in this frequency band.
This process of review and assessment is currently inprogress.
However, it is the opinion of ICNIRP that thescientific literature published since the 1998 guidelines
has provided no evidence of any adverse effects below
the basic restrictions and does not necessitate an immediate revision of its guidance on limiting exposure tohigh frequency electromagnetic fields. The biologicalbasis of such guidance remains the avoidance of adverse* ICNIRP, c/o BfS—G. Ziegelberger, Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1,85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany.
For correspondence contact G. Ziegelberger at the above address,
or email at info@icnirp.org.
(Manuscript accepted 26 May 2009)
0017-9078/09/0
Copyright © 2009 Health Physics Society257

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Health Physics

with cell phones within 10 years of first use. More data
are needed before conclusions can be drawn for longer
durations (ICNIRP in press).
Epidemiological data on possible health effects ofchronic, low-level, whole-body exposure in the far-fieldof radiofrequency (RF) transmitters are poor, especiallybecause of lack of satisfactory individual exposure
assessment. The few studies with adequate exposure
assessment did not reveal any health-related effects.
Exposure levels due to cell phone base stations are
generally around one-ten-thousandth of the guideline
levels.
Details of the approach that ICNIRP follows inproviding science-based independent advice on nonionizing radiation protection are outlined in the Statement“General Approach to Protection against Non-Ionizing
Radiation” (ICNIRP 2002).
During the preparation of the statement, the composition of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing
Radiation Protection was as follows:
P. Vecchia, Chairman, Italy
R. Matthes, Vice-Chairman, Germany
M. Feychting, Sweden
A. Green, Australia
K. Jokela, Finland
J. Lin, U.S.
A. Peralta, Philippines
R. Saunders, United Kingdom
K. Schulmeister, Austria
P. Söderberg, Sweden
B. Stuck, U.S.
A. Swerdlow, United Kingdom
B. Veyret, France
Chairman Emeritus, M. Repacholi, Australia
Scientific Secretary, G. Ziegelberger, Austria

Acknowledgments—The support received by ICNIRP from the European
Commission, and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment isgratefully acknowledged.

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