ARPANSA adds $350K to WHO radio wave research

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) is to contribute $350,000 to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) research into the health impacts of radio waves, including those used in mobile telecommunications.

The contribution is ARPANSA’s first research commitment under the federal government’s enhanced Electromagnetic Energy (EME) program.

“As Australia’s national radiation protection and nuclear safety authority, ARPANSA is proud to support this gold-standard research project that will evaluate scientific evidence relating to radio wave safety,” said ARPANSA’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson.

“The project is an important input into ARPANSA’s EME Action Plan, and will ensure that ARPANSA continues to deliver on its vision for a safe radiation environment for the Australian community.”

The three-year WHO project has four key objectives:

• Systemically review the scientific literature on the potential adverse health effects from radio waves.
• Perform a health risk assessment of all studied endpoints as far as evidence can offer.
• Provide good practice actions and compile a summary of national radio wave policies around the world.
• Identify gaps in knowledge.
   

“On behalf of the World Health Organization, I would like to thank ARPANSA for their financial contribution to this project, and I look forward to sharing the valuable insights we gain from the research to better support radiation-related health protection globally,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO.

The project will also assist WHO in providing independent, science-based information on radio wave safety to all 194 member states, supporting the development of best-practice governance and legislation.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Sergey Ryzhov