European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation

Cell phones base stations

Electromagnetic fields from power lines, electric appliances, cell phones and such are suspected to put risks on human and animal health. Although scientific studies do not show an operational consensus, the precautionary principle should lead us to limitate those fields as much as possible. Exposure to fields from cell phone antenas is particularly worrying since they operate in urban areas at high power.

CENELEC has established the technical committee CLC/TC 106 on "Electromagnetic fields in the human environment" and its Working Group 1 "Mobile phones and base stations" following a mandate from the European Commission. Their task is to draft standards defining the requirements to protect human beings from hazardous effects which may be caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by base stations. The standards must relate to the apparatus covered by the "Low Voltage Directive" of 1973 and the "Radio Equipment and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive" of 1999.

ECOS has sent experts to this group since 2003 to ensure an appropriate implementation of the precautionary principle and a high level of health protection from electromagnetic fields.

Links and attachements

Mandate of the European Commission on safety of electromagnetic fields