ICNIRP are the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Their 1998 guidelines cover the frequency range 0 - 300 GHz and form the basis of both the 1999 EU Recommendation on public exposure and the 2004 EU Directive on occupational exposure. In turn, these EU documents form the basis of the exposure guidelines in force in the UK and some other European countries. So the ICNIRP numbers apply in the UK (although the framework surrounding those numbers - the definitions of when and where they apply - is set by the EU not by ICNIRP).
In July 2009 ICNIRP published a consultation draft of new guidelines covering 1 Hz to 100 kHz. They had previously published new guidelines on static fields and intend to revise the guidelines for the higher frequencies later. The consultation ran until October, after which the document was withdrawn from the ICNIRP site.
Because this is only a draft for consultation, it has no force. It would not come into effect in the UK unless and until it it is adopted by ICNIRP and then incorporated into EU provisions and then in turn implemented in the UK.
What it says on exposure limits
ICNIRP propose continuing to base the numerical guidelines on evidence of stimulation of neural networks, in particular magnetophosphenes. But they propose changing the basic restriction from induced current density to induced electric field. The reference levels are unchanged as is the factor of five between occupational and public exposure but the basic restrictions themselves change:
|
existing ICNIRP
1998 |
Draft new ICNIRP
2009 |
| Occupational exposure |
| basic restriction |
10 mA/m2 |
100 mV/m |
|
magnetic field reference level |
500 μT |
|
electric field reference level |
10 kV/m |
| General public exposure |
| basic restriction |
2 mA/m2 |
20 mV/m |
|
magnetic field reference level |
100 μT |
|
electric field reference level |
5 kV/m |
|
See more detail on these numbers, how they relate to the latest dosimetry, and how they compare with the existing ICNIRP and ICES guidleines.
What it says on chronic effects
As with previous guidelines from ICNIRP and HPA, the draft says:
"It is the view of ICNIRP that the currently existing scientific evidence that ELF magnetic fields is causally associated with childhood leukemia is too weak to form the basis for exposure guidelines."
See also more detail on what the draft says about each suggested health effect.
Responses to the consultation
Responses to the consultation were made direct to ICNIRP and there is no reason why they should be made public. However, when we are aware of responses which are publicly available, we link to them here.
Result of the consultation
The new ICNIRP guidelines were published in 2010.
