By some estimates, Apple sold more than 50 million iPhones in Europe last year. (Representative)
Paris:
Apple on Wednesday defended its iPhone 12 model after a French watchdog ordered sales halted, citing violations of the European Union’s radiation exposure limits.
The French move raised the prospect of further bans in Europe. German network regulator BNetzA said it may launch a similar procedure and was in close contact with French authorities, while Spain’s OCU consumer group urged authorities there to halt sales of the iPhone 12.
Apple said in a statement that the iPhone 12, launched in 2020, has been certified by multiple international agencies as being compliant with global radiation standards, that it has provided several Apple and third-party laboratory results showing the phone complies with the French agency, and that it disputed its findings.
Researchers have conducted a large number of studies over the past twenty years to identify the health risks of mobile phones. According to the World Health Organization, no adverse health effects caused by cell phone use have been identified to date.
France’s Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR) on Tuesday told Apple to stop sales of the iPhone12 in France after tests reportedly showed the phone’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – a measure of the speed of radio frequency – energy absorbed by the body through a device. – was higher than legally permitted.
The watchdog said it would send officers to Apple stores and other distributors to check if the model was no longer being sold and that failure to take action would result in the recall of iPhone 12s that had already been sold to consumers.
Industry experts said there were no safety concerns because the legal limits for SAR were well below the level at which scientists found evidence of harm.
“From a health and safety perspective, this doesn’t put anyone at risk,” said Professor Rodney Croft, chairman of the International Commission for the Protection of Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP), which sets global guidelines on SAR limits .
The limits – based on the risk of burns or heat stroke from the phone’s radiation – are already ten times lower than the level at which scientists have found evidence of damage.
Croft said the French findings could differ from those of other regulators because ANFR assesses radiation using a method that assumes direct skin contact, without intervening textile layers, between the device and the user.
A French government source also said the French test was different from the method Apple used.
Radiation tests for smartphones have so far led to 42 sales freezes in the country. It is the first time that Apple has been affected by such a move.
Think of the threat
The ANFR said accredited laboratories had determined the body’s absorption of electromagnetic energy at 5.74 watts per kilogram during tests that simulated when the iPhone 12 was held in the hand or kept in a pocket. The European standard is a specific absorption power of 4.0 watts per kilogram.
ANFR added that the tests showed that the phone met so-called body SAR standards when in a jacket pocket or bag. It has also passed French tests when held directly against the head as if you were having a telephone conversation.
France’s deputy minister for the digital economy, Jean-Noel Barrot, said a software update would be enough to solve the radiation problems.
“Apple is expected to respond within two weeks,” he told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview on Tuesday, adding: “If they do not, I am prepared to order a recall for all iPhones 12 in circulation The rule is the same for everyone, including the digital giants.”
ANFR will now pass on its findings to regulators in other European Union member states. “In practical terms, this decision could have a snowball effect,” Barrot said.
“The procedure in France has a leading role for Europe as a whole,” said German network regulator BNetzA, adding that it could initiate similar procedures in Germany.
Germany’s radiation watchdog BfS also said the French decision could have consequences across Europe.
Apple does not break down its sales by country or model. Sales in Europe last year amounted to approximately $95 billion, making the region the largest after America. By some estimates, it sold more than 50 million iPhones in Europe last year. The company launched the iPhone 15 on Tuesday.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which sets global guidelines for SAR limits, classified the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields resulting from cell phone use as “possibly carcinogenic” in 2011.
This designation – which also includes the sweetener aspartame, aloe vera extract and some pickled vegetables – indicates that there is limited evidence that something may cause cancer, and is also intended to motivate more research.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
