The city of Paris has announced a series of measures to limit the exposure of residents to electromagnetic waves.
Science has yet to reach a consensus on the toxicity of electromagnetic waves. For the WHO (World Health Organization), they are “potentially carcinogenic”, but the question remains unresolved. In this health vagueness, Paris has decided to take the lead. The French capital will reduce the exposure of its inhabitants to electromagnetic waves by 30%, the town hall announced on Thursday.
This decision is linked to the conclusion of a charter between the City and the mobile telephone operators in order to limit the maximum threshold of relay antennas to 5 / Vm (volt per meter).
“Strict standards”
This charter, which renews a previous agreement, will lower the exposure threshold from April 1 from 7 V / m to 5 / Vm. Paris has 2,240 relay antennas, which will be subject to this maximum threshold. Future branches will also have to comply with this charter.
Paris “thus becomes the most protective metropolis in Europe, ahead of Brussels, which has set a threshold at 6 V / m. These are extremely strict standards, ”said Julien Bargeton, Finance Assistant to Paris PS mayor Anne Hidalgo, quoted by AFP.
It is a question of operating a “balance between the concerns of public health, by controlling the levels of exposure, while remaining a world capital of digital”, specifies the town hall.
An Observatory of waves
According to the charter, the period of consultation with the inhabitants during the installation of an antenna will be reduced to four months, instead of the current two. The files submitted will have to be more detailed and a “more global monitoring strategy” will be put in place.
Finally, the town hall announced the creation of a municipal wave observatory in order to “inform, monitor and amplify the already existing measurement campaigns”. It will bring together elected officials, experts, associations as well as the Ministry of the Environment.
The city is not the only one to seize on this problem strewn with unknowns. This summer, a decree published in Official newspaper strengthened the protection of employees against electromagnetic waves. Since January 1, 2017, companies must deploy measures to limit the level of exposure of their workers, through multiple sources (smartphones, tablets, electrical devices, etc.).
They are therefore required to assess the risks and include the results in a single risk assessment document available to employees. If the company exceeds the threshold (300 gigahertz), it must put in place a “graduated approach” to protect the most vulnerable, especially pregnant women.
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