CELEX: 51980PC0340
Language: en
Date: 1980-06-19
Title: Proposal for a Council Directive laying down basic standards for the health protection of workers and the general public against the dangers of microwave radiation

N o C 249/6                         Official Journal of the European Communities                            26. 9. 80
                                                          II
                                                  (Preparatory Acts)
                                            COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Directive laying down basic standards for the health protection of
                      workers and the general public against the dangers of microwave radiation
                           (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 26 June 1980)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                    appropriate to eliminate them by measures for the
COMMUNITIES;                                                   approximation of such provisions;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                  Whereas this Directive is applicable without prejudice
European Economic Community, and in particular                to the Community provisions already in force in this
Article 100 thereof,                                          area and, in particular, to Council Directive
                                                               7 3 / 2 3 / E E C of 19 February 1973 on the harmo-
                                                               nization of the laws of the Member States relating to
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,            electrical equipment designed for use within certain
                                                              voltage limits ('),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
liament,                                                      Whereas the ever-increasing use of apparatus emitting
                                                               microwave radiation and the rapid development of
                                                              techniques involving such radiation will result in
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
                                                               increased health hazards for workers and the general
Social Committee,                                              public;
Whereas Article 117 of the Treaty establishing the
                                                              Whereas the European Parliament, in its resolution
European Economic Community expresses the desire
                                                              on the Sixth General Report for 1972, invited the
of the Member States to promote improved working
                                                              Commission to establish safety standards for health
conditions and an improved standard of living for
                                                              protection         against the hazards arising from
workers; whereas Article 118 of that Treaty provides          microwave radiation;
for close cooperation between Member States in the
social field, particularly in matters relating to the
prevention of occupational accidents and diseases and         Whereas action by the European Communities has
in matters relating to occupational hygiene;                   led to the adoption of a certain number of principles
                                                               relating in particular to the medical surveillance of
                                                               workers exposed to specific risks and of Council
Whereas the manufacture and use of apparatus                   Directive 76/579/Euratom of 1 June 1976 laying
emitting microwave radiation are governed by                   down the revised basic safety standards for the health
provisions laid down by law, regulation or                     protection of the general public and workers against
administrative action in the Member States; whereas            the dangers of ionizing radiation ( 2 );
such provisions present differences as regards
conditions of manufacture and use, which differences
directly affect the establishment and functioning              (') OJ No L 77, 26. 3. 1973, p. 29.
of the common market; whereas it is accordingly               O OJ No L 187, 12. 7. 1976.
 ---pagebreak--- 26. 9. 80                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                N o C 249/7
Whereas on this occasion the Economic and Social                  The unit of energy fluence is the joule per square
Committee recommended that the experience gained                  meter (Jm—2). A practical unit frequently used is
by the Commission in the field of radiation protection            the m W h c m - 2 (10 W h m - 2 or 3-6-10 4 Jm~ 2 );
should be extended to other fields of environmental
                                                              — energy fluence rate (ifi: quotient of dij/ by dt,
health protection;
                                                                  where dv|/ is the increment of energy fluence in
Whereas Article 100 of the Treaty stipulates that the             the time interval dt
Council shall issue directives for the approximation of
such provisions laid down by law, regulation or                                  rn     dY          d'R
administrative action in Member States as directly                               * ~ dT        "    dTTt
affect the establishment or functioning of the
common market;                                                    The unit of energy fluence rate is the watt per
                                                                  square meter (Wm~ 2 ). A practical unit frequently
Whereas disparities between the legal provisions of               used is the mWcm~ 2 (10 Wm ~ 2 ).
the Member States regulating the manufacture, use
and maintenance of apparatus emitting microwave
radiation are in fact liable to affect directly the free
circulation of these apparatus within the Community;                                     TITLE II
Whereas the protection of workers and of other
                                                                                          Scope
members of the public against the dangers of
microwave radiation demands that the prevention of
exposure be organized on a systematic basis and that                                     Article 2
adequate medical surveillance be provided,
                                                              Without prejudice to the provisions of Directive
                                                              73/23/EEC, this Directive shall apply to the manu-
                                                              facture, development, use, maintenance and repair of
                                                              apparatus involving hazards arising from microwave
HAS A D O P T E D THIS DIRECTIVE:
                                                              radiation. It shall not apply to the exposure of
                                                              patients for the purposes of medical examinations or
                          TITLE I                             treatments undergone by them.
                         Definitions
                                                                                        TITLE III
                          Article 1
                                                                     Limits of exposure to microwave radiation
 For the purposes of this Directive, the following
terms shall have the meaning hereby assigned to                                          Article 3
 them:
— controlled area: an area subject to special                  1.   The exposure of individuals to microwave
     requirements for the purposes of protection              radiation shall be as low as reasonably possible.
     against microwave radiation and to which access
     is regulated;                                            2.    Without prejudice to Articles 4 and 5, for
— microwave radiation: electromagnetic radiation of           normal environmental conditions over the frequency
     frequency between 300 M H z and 300 G H z ;              range 300 M H z to 300 G H z , the maximum energy
                                                              fluence rate shall be 100 Wm —2 as averaged over any
— microwave system: an assembly of electrical,                continuous 0 1 h period. In particular, exposure of
      mechanical and physical components which emits          any individual shall be kept below the limits set out in
      microwave radiation;                                    the Annex.
 — radiant energy (R): energy emitted, transmitted or
      received in the form of radiation.                                                 TITLE V
     The unit of radiant energy is the joule (J). A
      practical unit frequently used is the mWh (3-6 J);                 Principles of operational protection
 — energy fluence (\|/): quotient of dR by da, where                                     Article 4
     dR is the radiant energy incident on a sphere of
     cross-sectional area da
                                                               Where, independently of microwave exposure,
                         y .   dR                              working conditions are such as are liable to cause a
                               da                              significant increase in deep body temperature, or in
 ---pagebreak--- No C 249/8                          Official Journal of the European Communities                            26. 9. 80
the ambient environmental temperature, the appro-                                    Article 8
priate medical service shall take into account the
environmental factors in order, if necessary, to reduce      Medical surveillance of workers exposed to microwave
exposure to a level lower than the limits laid down in                               radiation
Article 3.
                                                             Workers whose occupational activity involves
                                                             exposure to microwave radiation shall undergo the
                                                             medical surveillance normally provided for in the
                        Article 5                            context of occupational medicine.
         Agreed exceptional exposure of workers              An appropriate medical service shall be available to
                                                             workers exposed to levels exceeding the limits laid
1.    For workers whose length and conditions of             down in Title III
exposure are under health surveillance as provided for
below, agreed exposure to levels higher than those
specified in Article 3 may be authorized by the appro-
                                                                                     Article 9
priate medical service referred to in Article 8.
                                                             Information and training with a view to protecting
2.    For agreed exposures to continuous waves with
                                                                                      workers
energy fluence rates over 1000 ¥ m " ! (100 mWcm _ ! )
or to an equivalent pulse radiation, the radiation
incident on the body shall be appropriately reduced          Any worker liable to be exposed to occupational
by the wearing of protective clothing which shall be         microwave radiation shall be provided with adequate
tested periodically.                                         information on microwave radiation hazards and an
                                                             appropriate training on the measures to be
                                                             implemented with the view to preventing or limiting
                                                             the hazards.
                        Article 6
             Demarcation of controlled areas                                        Article 10
Areas in which, in normal operating conditions, the                       Protection of the general public
energy fluence rates may exceed the limits laid down
in Article 3 shall be designated as controlled areas.        In order to comply with the limits laid down in this
Access to such areas shall be restricted to workers          directive, for certain microwave systems an emission
subject to control procedures.                               standard at certain distances from the source may be
                                                             introduced. The essential characteristics which must
Members of the public shall not normally have access         be known and complied with if the apparatus is to be
to such areas. If necessary, temporary controlled            used without danger and in a manner in keeping with
areas shall be demarcated. Appropriate warning signs         its intended purpose shall be indicated on the
shall be displayed at the boundaries of such areas.          appliance emitting microwave radiation or, if this is
                                                             not possible, on an accompanying label.
The manufacturer or distributor of a system or
apparatus emitting microwave radiation shall provide
the consumer with adequate information to enable
him to determine whether it is necessary to demarcate
a controlled area. The boundaries of such areas shall                                TITLE V
be fixed by the person responsible for security and
 surveillance.
                                                             Maintenance and surveillance of appliances emitting
                                                                               microwave radiation
                        Article 7
                                                                                    Article 11
            Warning signs for controlled areas
                                                             The manufacturer or distributor shall provide
The minimum requirement for a controlled area shall           adequate information to allow safe installation, main-
be the control of access by appropriate warning signs.       tenance and operation of the equipment.
 ---pagebreak--- 26. 9. 80                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 249/9
                        TITLE VI                                                           Article 13
                        Article 12                                Member States shall take the measures necessary to
                                                                  comply with this Directive within one year of its
1.     Each Member State shall ensure that individual             notification.
limits of exposure are kept below the values laid
down in Article 3.                                                Member States shall communicate to the Commission
                                                                  the provisions of national law which they adopt in the
2.     Each Member State shall ensure that an appro-              field governed by this Directive.
priate monitoring service is available, to the extent
necessary, to undertakings manufacturing, importing,
distributing or using microwave appliances.
3.    Without prejudice to subsequent Community                                            Article 14
provisions, Member States shall lay down the
emission standards provided for in Article 10.                    This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                          ANNEX
                                              Limits of exposure for individuals
              (a) For any period longer than 0 1 h, maximum energy fluence rates shall be lower than 100 W m ~ !
                  (10 rnWcm"').
              (b) For any period shorter than 0-1 h, energy fluences shall be lower than 3-6 • 10' Jm-"1
                  (1 mWhcm-"2) with a maximum energy fluence rate not exceeding 1 000 W m - 2 (100 mWcmr"2).