According to foreign media reports, Apple was recently banned from selling iPhone 12 in France. The French National Bureau of Frequency (ANFR) said that the electromagnetic wave absorption ratio (also known as SAR value) of the iPhone 12 was beyond the range stipulated by law, and the company must immediately stop selling the equipment.
What is SAR? In the simplest terms, the value of SAR indicates how much electromagnetic radiation power the human body will absorb in a short time, which can directly reflect the influence of electronic instrument radiation on the human body.
SAR values are usually in units of W/kg (watts per kilogram). The smaller the SAR value, the smaller the absorption of mobile phone radiation to human body, and vice versa. This standard is to ensure that the radiation of mobile phones and wireless products is within a reasonable range to protect the health of users.
The agency tested 141 mobile phones, including the iPhone 12, which has been on the market for three years, and found that the SAR value was 5.74 W/kg when the mobile phone was put in the pocket. The EU SAR standard is 4.0W/kg.
ANFR stated that Apple must take “all means” to solve this problem quickly, or it will be ordered to recall all equipment sold in European countries. Jean-Noel Barrot, French Deputy Minister of Digital Economy, said that Apple could solve this problem through software update, which is expected to be completed within two weeks.
This move by France triggered the possibility of a ban on sales in other European countries. German network regulator BNetzA said it might start a similar procedure and keep close contact with French authorities, while Spanish consumer organization OCU urged Spanish authorities to stop selling iPhone 12.
For its part, Apple said that iPhone 12 has been certified by many international organizations and meets the global radiation standards. Apple has provided a number of Apple and third-party laboratory results to French institutions to prove that the mobile phone meets the standards. Apple is questioning the survey results of French institutions.
In the past two decades, researchers have done a lot of research to evaluate the health risks caused by mobile phones. According to the World Health Organization, so far, it has not been proved that using mobile phones will have adverse effects on health.
According to experts in the industry, there is no safety risk to human body because the regulatory restrictions on SAR are far below the level that scientists have found evidence of harm.
Professor Rodney Croft, Chairman of the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), said: “From the perspective of health and safety, this will not bring risks to anyone.” France’s restrictions on SAR values-based on the risk of being burned or heatstroke by mobile phone radiation-have been ten times lower than the level at which scientists have found evidence of harm.
So far, the radiation test of smart phones has caused France to stop selling 42 smart phones. This is the first time that Apple has been affected by this.
In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is responsible for formulating global SAR restriction guidelines, classified the RF electromagnetic fields generated by using mobile phones as “possibly carcinogenic”.
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Post time: Sep-15-2023