Adoption of ICNIRP guidelines by Indian Telecom Sector

ICNIRP
Terms & References of ICNIRP Develops International guidelines on limiting exposure to nonionizing radiation that and independent and science based Provides guidance and advice on health hazards of non-ionizing radiations Provides scientific guidance and recommendations on protection from non-ionizing radiation exposure ICNIRP guidelines are continuously revised and updated on the basis of new scientific findings ICNIRP 1998 guidelines used by many countries. International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Independent scientific group recognized by the WHO. Recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the European Union. Applied to both handsets and base stations.
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EMF Regulations and Limits Base Stations

ITU & WHO recommends ICNIRP for countries without regulations

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CELLULAR TOWERS WORK IN THE NON-IONISING SPECTRUM

Power Lines

AM RadioFM Radio Mobile Phones

Visible Infrared UV X-Rays Gamma Rays

1 KHz

100 KHz 10 MHz

1 GHz

100 GHz

100 Hz 10 KHz 1 MHz Frequency

100 MHz TV

10 GHz Satellite

Ionising Radiation

RF Transmission

Non-Ionising Radiation As you move towards the higher side of the spectrum, the electromagnetic energy & penetration power goes on increasing
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ICNIRP Basis : Distance And Power

RF exposures within accepted limits do not cause any adverse health effects
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Reference Level for general public exposure to time-varying electric and magnetic fields

Most of the CMTS/UASL providers come under this reference range

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Exposure Guideline - Base Station

The ICNIRP SAR levels are the basis for occupational exposure

The radio wave exposure levels from base station antennas are typically less than 1 % of the science-based ICNIRP guidelines
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ICNIRP Adoption in India

On July 23, 2008, the Telecom Commission, has approved the adoption of International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines, for limiting the Human exposure to EMF, for the Telecom Sector in India. The standards set by ICNIRP for emission levels are considered to be the safest, and have been adopted by most of the countries across the globe to ensure compliance against all the safety limits from EMF. The World Health Organization, is closely involved with the studies and research being carried out by various international bodies, and has recommended adoption of ICNIRP standards. As per their advice: The ICNIRP guidelines were developed to limit human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) under conditions of maximum absorption of the fields, which rarely occurs, and the limits incorporate large safety factors to protect workers and even larger safety factors to protect the general public, including children. Thus, the limits in the ICNIRP guidelines are highly protective and are based on all the available scientific evidence

Adoption of safest guidelines i.e. ICNIRP, has bought India inline with International Standards of public health & safety against EMF exposure.
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Amendment in UASL License Agreement

Licensee shall conduct an audit and provide self certificates annually as per procedure prescribed by TEC or any other agency authorized by licensor from Time to time for confirming to limits/Levels fro Antennae Base Station Emissions) for general Public exposure as prescribed by ICNIRP from time to time.
The compliance in the form of self certificate shall commence

six months after the date of issue of prescribed test procedure by TEC or any other agency authorized by Licensor.

TEC has issued the draft documents on Generic Requirement and Test Procedure for Measurement of Electromagnetic Fields from Base Station Antennas
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Evaluation Technique as Suggested by TEC

Evaluation of EMF for telecommunication installations can be done by following techniques:

1. Calculation Method
Following two methods are being prescribed. Either of which could be used for predicting compliance to the radiation limits. Prediction of RF Fields.

Calculation Method for determination of EIRPth

2. Field Measurement Approach

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 Experts from a renowned engineering college (Thiagarajar Engineering College Madurai) share their expertise on the test procedures and have prepared a report contextual to the Indian environment .

Finally, the report was submitted to TEC for their perusal and adoption.

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FIELD TEST FOR ESTIMATION OF BASE STATION ANTENNA FIELD PARAMETERS Recently a field test was conducted by Thiagarajar advanced Research Center, for the estimation of Base Station Antenna Field Parameters i.e. Electric Field (E) , Magnetic Field (H)& Power Density (S) and to check the compliance with the ICNIRP limit. Measurement Specifications are as follows: Frequency (f) Transmitter Antenna Gain (Gt) Receiver Antenna Gain (Gr) Antenna Dimension (D) 1835 MHz 16 dBi 4 dBi 1.32 m

Transmitter Power (Pt)

20 W
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COMPARISONS CHART BASED ON ACTUAL FIELD TEST

Measured Power Density (w/m^2)
0.0000293 0.0000293

Distance (R)
25 25.5 26 26.5 27 27.5 28 28.5 29 29.5 30

Power Received (W)

0.00000025 0.00000025 0.00000013 0.00000040 0.00000020 0.00000032 0.00000025 0.00000020 0.00000100 0.00000063 0.00000032

Measured E Field (V/m)

0.10517 0.10517 0.074517 0.13244 0.093883 0.11801 0.10517 0.093883 0.20993 0.16676 0.11801

Measured H Field (A/m)

0.0002789 0.0002789 0.0001976 0.0003512 0.0002490 0.0003130 0.0002789 0.0002490 0.0005568 0.0004423 0.0003130

ICNIRP Reference Levels for the respective frequency i.e. 1835 MHz

0.0000147
0.0000465 0.0000233 0.0000369 0.0000293 0.0000233 0.0001169 0.0000737 0.0000369

E Field Strength (V/m)

H Field Strength (A/m)

Power Density (W/m2)

General Public

58.9

0.1584

9.1

As shown above, the measured values for E field, H field and power density are Hundreds of times lower than the prescribed reference level by ICNIRP.
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Way Forward

Each service provider will establish necessary infrastructure for self- monitoring , self-testing and for auditing of EMF measurement for complying with emission limits as per ICNIRP guidelines.

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