Updated standard for radiofrequency (Safety Code 6) published in Canada 13 March 2015
“Safety Code 6 has always established human exposure limits that are far below the established, scientific threshold for potentially harmful health effects. The limits in Safety Code 6 are based on established, scientific evidence, and provide protection against all known harmful health effects for all individuals,” the regulator said in a statement.
In 2013, Health Canada proposed several revisions to bring Safety Code 6 (SC6) –which was last updated in 2009 – in line with current scientific knowledge and other international standards and asked the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) to form an Expert Panel to review the proposed changes to the standard.
The 2014 report produced by the independent RSC panel found that the balance of evidence showed no negative health effects from exposure to wireless signals below the limits then stipulated in the standard. However, the RSC panel recommended changes in some frequency ranges to ensure that the large safety margins are maintained.
Following a further period of public consultation the final revised Safety Code 6 (2015) has now been published.
Health Canada explains that the 2015 standard considered improved modelling of the interaction of radiofrequency fields with the human body.
“The updated Safety Code includes slightly more restrictive reference levels in some frequency ranges to ensure even larger safety margins to protect all Canadians, including newborn infants and children,” according to Health Canada.
A fact sheet accompanying the revised Safety Code 6 addresses myths about the standard. In response to the myth that “Safety Code 6 does not protect my health” the fact sheet states:
“The limits for human exposure to RF energy are designed to provide protection for all age groups, including children, on a continuous (24 hours a day/seven days a week) basis. This means that if someone, including a child, were to be exposed to RF energy from multiple sources for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, within the Safety Code 6 limits, that person would experience no adverse health effects.”
| The GSMA has issued a response: The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has developed guidelines for exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic energy that are widely used as the basis for most national safety standards around the world. These are currently under review and the updated guidelines are expected to be published in late 2015. Safety Code 6, like many other standards, contains basic restrictions directly related to the absorbed radio frequency energy and derived reference levels that are more easily measured when assessing compliance for fixed installations, such as mobile network antennas. “The changes to Safety Code 6 may affect the size of the compliance area that must be managed by an operator. They will have little direct impact on typical levels in the community, which are typically many thousands of times below the international guidelines,” Dr Rowley of the GSMA said. The updated Health Canada guidelines also maintain alignment with the USA for the limit applicable to mobile phones rather than taking a step towards international harmonisation of limits. GSMA news item in full: http://www.gsma.com/publicpolicy/new-canadian-wireless-safety-standard-announced |
Health Canada webpage: http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=949109&tp=1
Health Canada fact sheet: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/ftr-ati/_2014/2014-023fs-eng.php