§ Mr. John TaylorTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister (1) if he will reduce the safety limit of 58 V/m for mobile phone and Tetra masts to the European limit of 0.002 V/m to 6 V/m; [152298]
(2) if he will amend safety limits on mobile phone masts to cover non-thermal influences; [152299]
(3) what assessment he has made of the latest evidence on the possible risks to health of mobile phone masts; and if he will take steps to bring UK safety measures into line with best practice in other European countries. [152305]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonI have been asked to reply.
The Government, along with other European Union member states, have adopted the exposure guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) as expressed in the 1999 European Council Recommendation 519/EC/ 1999. All mobile phone base stations and handsets should comply with these guidelines.
1051WThe Stewart Report on "Mobile Phones and Health" in May 2000 (www.iegmp.org.uk) included the following conclusions on base stations:
the balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near to base stations on the basis that exposures are expected to be small fractions of guidelines.Further reduction of guidelines was considered by the Stewart Group but this was rejected, as there was "no scientific basis" for it.
A review of recent research, entitled, "Health Effects from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields", published in January 2004 by the National Radiological Protection Board's (NRPB) Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation, came to similar conclusions:
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 the last three years the Radiocommunications Agency (RA), now part of Ofcom, has carried out and published radio frequency exposure level measurements near base station sites. The data show that exposure to signals from masts at locations accessible to the general public is very low compared with guideline levels advised by the ICNIRP (www.ofcom.org.uk).
The NRPB has the statutory responsibility for advising the Government on exposure guidelines for electromagnetic fields (EMFs). They issued a consultation document last year, in which they proposed new advice on exposure guidelines for all EMFs comparable with the international guidelines. Publication of the new NRPB guidelines is expected this spring.
I wrote to all right hon. and hon. Members on 21 January with a summary of the current position relating to mobile phone technology and health concerns.