PARIS – A report published by the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has concluded that further research was needed to determine the long-term impact of electromagnetic fields on health.

Electromagnetic fields come from various devices such as power lines, electrical appliances, mobile phones, video displays and diagnostic instrumentation.

Exposure to strong fields can have effects on health. At frequencies below 100kHz, this happens through the simulation of nerve and muscle cells due to induced currents. For higher frequencies, however, tissue heating is the main mechanism, as explained in a statement issue by the Community Research & Development Information Service (CORDIS).

“The balance of epidemiologic evidence indicates that mobile phone use of less than 10 years does not pose any increased risk of brain tumour or acoustic neuroma,” explained the authors of the report. “There is little evidence of an increased risk for brain tumours in long term users, although there are indications of an association with long-term use and acoustic neuroma.

Authors suggest a cohort study to explore the long term effects of mobile phone use, as well as a study using personal dosimeter to precisely measure individual exposure to RF fields.

In parallel, studies on children are “urgently needed” as they may be more sensitive to RF fields.

Specifying that there is little data on intermediate frequency (IF) field, coming from anti-theft devices and card readers, experts declared: “Proper evaluation and assessment of possible health effects from long term exposure to IF fields are important because human exposure to such fields is increasing due to new and emerging technologies.”

More research is also required on extremely low frequency fields, coming from power lines, domestic appliances and electric engines in cars and trains, and on static fields, coming from video displays as well as medical technologies such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) equipment. The SCENIHR indeed confirmed that ELF magnetic fields could be a carcinogen, based on their association with childhood leukaemia.