WRITTEN QUESTION E-3457/01 by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. Electromagnetic pollution caused by telephone base stations.
Date: 2002-01-04
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU law - national law, Spain, cancer, competence of the Member States, educational institution, electromagnetic interference, public health, telecommunications equipment

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/119

Answer given by Mr Barnier on behalf of the Commission

(15 February 2002)

1.

2.

The Community does not at present grant any support to Knock Airport in Ireland.

The Community does not bear any running costs for the above mentioned airport.

Through the Irish Peripherality Operational Programme under

3.
the
1989-1993 period, Knock Airport (then known as Connaught airport) received a European Regional
Development Fund contribution of approximately € 270 000. Under this programme, improvements were
made to the terminal building and the meteorological station.

the Structural Funds for

(2002/C 160 E/154)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3457/01

by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(4 January 2002)

Subject: Electromagnetic pollution caused by telephone base stations

Article 8 of Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC (1) on exposure of the general public to electrom-
agnetic fields lays down requirements for the authorisation, planning and installation of radioelectric
stations, recommending in particular that their location should minimise as far as possible the levels of
emissions in sensitive areas such as schools, health centres, hospitals and public parks.

What scientific data did the Commission have to enable it to make the recommendation in Article 8
concerning sensitive areas?

Does it currently have any new scientific data to confirm that sensitive areas should be ruled out as
possible locations for radioelectric stations?

How does the Commission view the fact that, despite the Recommendation, the Spanish Government is
allowing the installation of eight telephone base stations with more than 30 antennae emitting radio-
frequency radiation, less than 100 metres from a college in which two cases of leukaemia and one case of
lymphoma have been diagnosed among the pupils?

Does it consider that the current Recommendation is adequate to guarantee the health of the population
and,
if not, does it intend to propose a directive which will go beyond the provisions of the 1999
Recommendation and include effective measures to ensure respect for the precautionary principle and
health protection?

(1) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999, p. 59.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(13 February 2002)

The Honourable Member is requested to refer to the Commission’s answer to her written question
P-3452/01 (1). The Commission would point out that Council Recommendation 1999/519/EC of 12 July
1999 on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic fields (O Hz to 300 GHz) (2) is
based on the opinion issued by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, which was
endorsed by the Commission’s Scientific Steering Committee (SSC).

The measures to implement the Recommendation are the responsibility of the Member States. Under the
terms of the Recommendation, the Member States must report to the Commission, within three years of
the adoption of the Recommendation, on the measures taken to adopt a framework for protecting the
public from the health effects of non-ionising radiation. The Commission will publish these measures in an
implementation report in 2002.

C 160 E/120

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

Based on the opinion published on 30 October 2001 by the Scientific Committee for Toxicity, Ecotoxicity
and the Environment, the Commission currently has no plans to change the recommended exposure limits.

(1) See page 115.
(2) OJ L 199, 30.7.1999.

(2002/C 160 E/155)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3471/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

Subject: Alternative methods of evaluating acute toxicity

(4 January 2002)

The MEIC (Multicenter Evaluation of In Vitro Cytotoxicity) research programme has examined over sixty of
the most promising alternative methods of evaluating the acute toxicity of chemical substances and has
compared the data obtained from human exposure, by animal testing and by means of alternative
methods.

The results appear to demonstrate that a series of three human cell tests can provide a more accurate
assessment of the acute toxicity of chemical substances and, consequently, a safer and faster means of
protecting public health, than the corresponding animal tests currently practised.

This being so:

1.

Is the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods aware of this series of studies?

2. Has the study and validation procedure required for official recognition of the relevant alternative

methods begun, or is it due to begin?

3.

If not, what does the Commission intend to do to ensure that awareness of these new methods does
not continue to be restricted to a few groups of specialists?

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(14 February 2002)

The European Centre for the validation of alternative methods (ECVAM) is fully aware of the Multi-center
evaluation of in vitro cytotoxicity (MEIC) research programme. The Head of ECVAM laboratory Unit
participated in the programme.

ECVAM was also involved in the international workshop on in vitro methods for assessing acute systemic
toxicity, organised by the United States Interagency Co-ordinating Committee on the validation of
alternative methods (ICCVAM), and held in Arlington, Virginia, United States, on 16-20 October 2000.
The MEIC programme was one of the main focuses of attention at this workshop.

One of the main recommendations of the ICCVAM workshop was that there should be a validation study
on the use of in vitro cytotoxicity assays for predicting rodent oral
lethal doses and human lethal
concentrations, since the MEIC programme was not designed to represent a formal validation study
conducted according to currently-accepted international criteria.

This study is now being planned as an ICCVAM/ECVAM collaborative project, which will involve the
testing of 60 coded chemicals in two assays, in three or four laboratories in the United States and in
Europe. It is expected that the results will be available by the end of 2002.