Apple on Wednesday defended its popular iPhone 12 models after the French government ordered a halt to their sales due to radiation emission levels that breach European Union limits.
The move raised the prospect of other European countries following suit. Germany’s network regulator BNetzA said it might launch similar proceedings and Spain’s OCU consumers’ group urged authorities there to halt iPhone 12 sales.
In a statement, Apple said the model was certified by international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards, and they had provided results from both Apple and third-party laboratories to prove the phone’s safety to the French agency, which is called Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR).
Research has been conducted for years to assess health risks from mobile phone use, and according to the World Health Organisation, no established health effects have yet been related to mobile phone use.
On Tuesday, the ANFR told Apple to halt iPhone sales in France after tests that it said showed the phone’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which measures the amount of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment, was higher than allowed.
The regulator said it would send agents to Apple stores and other points of sale to ensure the model was no longer being sold. If Apple failed to take action, it said it would recall iPhone 12s sold to consumers.
Industry experts said there were no safety risks, as regulatory limits on SAR are set well below the levels where any evidence of harm has been found.
“From a health and safety point of view, it is not as if this is putting anyone at risk,” said Professor Rodney Croft from the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
France’s junior minister for the digital economy Jean-Noel Barrot said a software update would be sufficient to fix the radiation issues.
“Apple is expected to respond within two weeks”, he told the daily Le Parisien in an interview on Tuesday, adding: “If they fail to do so, I am prepared to order a recall of 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 EU member states. “In practical terms, this decision could have a snowball effect”, said Barrot.
Germany’s radiation watchdog BfS said the French decision could have implications for all of Europe.
Apple doesn’t break out its sales by country or model, but estimates say it sold more than 50 million iPhones in Europe last year.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer classed the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields resulting from mobile phone use as “possibly carcinogenic” in 2011 and it remains in that category.
Whilst no direct health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use, the initiative has been intended to motivate more research.
