Managing Health and Safety The Role of Local Authorities

1. International Workshop TELECOMMUNICATIONS, ANTENNAS, DEVELOPMENT, INCLUSION AND HUMAN HEALTH Lima, Peru, 10 -11July 2014 Managing Health and Safety The Role of Local Authorities Dr E. van DeventerTeam Leader, Radiation ProgrammeDepartment of Public Health, Social and Environmental Determinants of Health

2. National management approaches • Relevant authorities • National level • Provincial level • Local level • Dispense building and planning permits • Direct contact with public and operators • May introduce further conservative measures based on politics rather than science

4. OUTLINE • What you should know about …. • The situation in your country regarding wireless networks • Your role as local authorities • How wireless networks operate • The health effects from wireless networks • The national and local rules and regulations • How to communicate effectively with stakeholders • Examples of some situations around the world

5. What is the situation in your country for wireless networks? • Are there national rules or guidelines that apply to the development of wireless network infrastructure? • Network operators’ obligations to provide coverage • Limits for exposures to RF fields • Requirements to demonstrate compliance with RF exposure limits and other obligations • Building permits • Constraints on mast / antenna siting and requirements to share sites • Visual impacts/aesthetics

6. What is the landscape in your country for wireless networks? (cont'd) • What local procedures apply? Are they compatible with any national rules? Are new rules / procedures needed? • What kinds of national support are available to assist at the local authority level? • What information is available to interested local communities / residents about the health and safety of wireless networks and how can they get it? • What consultation processes are in place if sites are controversial?

7. What is your role?

8. What should you know about how wireless networks operate? • Radiofrequency fields used in wireless networks are non-ionizing radiation • Different types of RF sources/antennas • Emitters vs. transmitters • Frequency (TV, AM, FM, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, …) • Power (strength, steady vs. traffic, intermittent)

10. There is no wireless network without the base stations!!! http://www.celtnet.org.uk/mobile-phone/img/cell-coverage.gif

11. What should you know about health effects from wireless networks? RF-EMF: Two types of exposure close to body environmental (near field) (far field) mobile phone cordless phone broadcast transmitter mobile phone base station other people’s mobile and cordless phones Source: M. Röösli, 2014

12. What should you know about health effects from wireless networks? • Where to find reliable information (from national authorities, international organizations) • Different types of studies • laboratory studies vs. epidemiological studies • Different health outcomes • Cancer and other health effects • Different populations • Children, pregnant women, EHS, people with pacemakers, …

13. What should you know about regulations • Exposure limits in your country • International limits • Basis for differences between countries • Your role regarding compliance and enforcement of limits, urban planning, siting, site sharing, administrative processes and timelines • Number of licences • Construction permits • Location of base stations • Site sharing/co-location

14. Management OptionsPlanning measures • Access around fixed installations Provisions to prevent public access around fixed installations

15. How to communicate effectively with stakeholders • Understanding basic risk perception concepts

16. Risk Perception • New technologies alarm people • Affecting children • influencing future generations • Potentially disastrous consequences • Cannot be seen or smelt • Unfamiliar • Cannot be controlled

17. How to communicate effectively with stakeholders • Understanding basic risk perception concepts • Who are your stakeholders?

18. With Whom to Communicate?

19. How to communicate effectively with stakeholders • Understanding basic risk perception concepts • Who are your stakeholders? • Local politicians, citizens, operators, national authorities, …. • Local media, social media • Information to stakeholders (local residents, users of public spaces) … priorto installing base stations • Dialogue with stakeholders on the health, social and environmental issues related to base station antennas • through forums, community outreach events (malls,…)

20. Management OptionsDialogue • Dialogue • public debates, mediation, focus groups, round tables www.who.int/emf 82% public announcements or inquiries 38 % meetings or information sessions Requirements for informing /consulting stakeholders in the planning process for fixed installations

21. What to Communicate? • Communicating the science • Use trustworthy sources • Explaining national and local policy measures • Putting the risk in perspective

22. Radiation EMF X-rays Radon UV Public Health Public Concern UV Radon X-rays EMF

23. Examples of some situations around the world

24. Examples of restrictive local regulations • Some municipalities enact local restrictive rules on cellular antenna siting • Consequences for the deployment of modern services (e.g. 4G/LTE) • Consequences for the customers / subscribers

25. Salzburg, Austria • UMTS expansion was delayed until agreement between the city and the operators in 2004 • Exposure limits mandatory in Austria based on 1999 EU Council Recommendation • Salzburg "milliwatt" limit (0.001 W/m2) was brought to parliament but rejected by majority in 2002

26. Brussels, Belgium Presented at the International Advisory Committee of the WHO International EMF Project, Paris, June 2013

27. Reducing Exposure Limits Impacts on Network CoverageAdditional Base Stations needed Existing outdoor coverage areas (marked in red) (left) and post-3 V/m estimation along with the number of additional base stations required for just one operator to restore coverage to existing levels (right) after required power reductions to obtain manageable compliance boundaries. About 40% more base stations required. (Example for Brussels).

29. Case study of France(2009-13)

30. Case study of France(2009-13) August 2013 • Multi-stakeholder operational committee (COMOP/COPIC) • Study the feasibility of lowering exposure to RF emitted by mobile phone masts while maintaining service coverage and quality • 16 communities over 1 year (ultimately 4 years) • Conclusions • Reducing exposure to 0.6 V/m would be accompanied by “a sharp deterioration in network coverage, particularly indoors.” To compensate for this loss of coverage, about three times as many antennas would need to be installed • increasing opportunities for public information and dialogue and decreasing the possibility for localities to adopt heterogeneous policies and practices

31. Martin Röösli Distanz

32. The International EMF Project Radiation and Environmental Health Public Health and Environment World Health Organization 21 Avenue Appia CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland email: emfproject@who.int website: www.who.int/emf