Reading Time: 4 minutes

PARIS (Reuters)

Apple must stop selling its iPhone 12 model in France due to above-threshold radiation levels, France’s junior minister for the digital economy told newspaper Le Parisien in an interview published on Tuesday (September 11).

France’s radiation watchdog ANFR notified Apple of its decision to ban iPhone 12 sales after it had carried out tests which showed the smartphone’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) was slightly higher than legally allowed, Jean-Noel Barrot told the paper.

Apple did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Barrot said a software update would be sufficient to fix the radiation issues linked to the phone which the U.S. company has been selling since 2020.

“Apple is expected to respond within two weeks”, he said, 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.”

The European Union has set safety limits for SAR values linked to exposure to mobile phones, which could increase the risk of some forms of cancer according to scientific studies.

The French watchdog 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.

The French move raised the prospect of further bans in Europe. Germany’s network regulator BNetzA said it might launch similar proceedings and was in close contact with French authorities, while Spain’s OCU consumers’ group urged authorities there to halt the sales of the iPhone 12.

In 2020, France widened regulations requiring retailers to display the radiation value of products on packaging beyond cell phones, including tablets and other electronic devices.

Apple defended its iPhone 12 model on Wednesday, September 13. The company said in a statement, that the iPhone 12, launched in 2020, was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards, that it had provided several Apple and third-party lab results proving the phone’s compliance with the French agency, and that it was contesting its findings.

Researchers have conducted a vast number of studies over the last two decades to assess health risks resulting from mobile phones. According to the World Health Organisation, no adverse health effects have so far been established as being caused by mobile phone use.

The watchdog said it would send agents to Apple stores and other distributors to check the model was no longer being sold and a failure to act would result in the recall of iPhone 12s already sold to consumers.

Industry experts said there were no safety risks as regulatory limits on SAR were set well below levels where scientists have found evidence of harm.

From a health and safety point of view, it is not as if this is putting anyone at risk.

Professor Rodney Croft, the chair of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which sets global guidelines on the SAR limits.

The limits – based on the risk of burns or heatstroke from the phone’s radiation – are already set ten times below the level where scientists found evidence of harm.

Croft said the French findings could differ from those recorded by other regulators because ANFR assesses radiation with a method that assumes direct skin contact, without intermediate textile layers, between the device and user.

A French government source also said the French test was different from the method used by Apple.

Smartphone radiation tests have so far led to 42 sales stops in the country. It is the first time Apple has been affected by such a move.

RECALL THREAT

The ANFR said accredited labs had found absorption of electromagnetic energy by the body at 5.74 watts per kilogramme during tests simulating when the iPhone 12 was being held in the hand or kept in a trouser pocket. The European standard is a specific absorption rate of 4.0 watts per kilogramme.

ANFR added the tests showed the phone complied with so-called body-SAR standards when it was in a jacket pocket or bag. It also passed the French tests when held directly to the head as if making a phone call.

Germany’s radiation watchdog BfS also said the French decision could have implications for all of Europe.

Apple doesn’t break out its sales by country or model. Its revenues totalled about US$95 billion in Europe last year, making the region its second biggest behind the Americas. Some estimates say it sold over 50 million iPhones last year in Europe. The company launched the iPhone 15 on Tuesday.