Apple defends iPhone 12 radiation level after France ordered national sales ban
- Apple says the iPhone 12, launched in 2020, was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards
- A French watchdog has told Apple to halt iPhone 12 sales in France after tests showed the device breached EU radiation exposure limits
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.
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 Organization, no adverse health effects have so far been established as being caused by mobile phone use.
France’s Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR) told Apple on Tuesday to halt iPhone 12 sales in France after tests that it said showed the phone’s Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) – a gauge of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from a piece of equipment – was higher than legally allowed.
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.
