HC Deb 09 March 1999 vol 327 cc202-3W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the non-thermal effects of digital signals.[74974]

Ms Jowell

The Government obtain advice on restricting human exposure to electromagnetic fields from the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) who have published guidelines which apply to both digital and analogue signals. For radio frequencies, these are based on well-established thermal effects. Both the NRPB and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection agree that there is no clear evidence of adverse non-thermal health effects from either digital or analogue signals to which the public are normally exposed. Thus, the alleged non-thermal health effects cannot provide a basis for setting exposure restrictions, however they are the subject of current research.