[en] Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies aim to identify any 'object', in the broadest sense of the term, fitted with an 'RFID tag', by means of data transmission via radio waves and without contact with an 'interrogator'. The use of radio frequencies for tag identification enables blind communication, at varying distances, and sometimes involving several hundred objects almost simultaneously. In 2009, the Afsset agency assessed the potential impact of these technologies on the environment and human health, particularly in terms of the electromagnetic fields emitted by these systems, and issued a series of recommendations

[en] The French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety was asked by the Ministries of Health and the Environment to set up a working group to carry out expert appraisal work on the exposure of the general population to radiofrequency and electromagnetic fields. This document presents a summary of the studies and results

[en] The Eqo is a body scanner which allows images of the whole body to be obtained for safety purposes, without any exposure to ionising radiations, in a reliable and non-intrusive way in comparison with pat-down searching. Its technology is based on the use of so-called 'millimetre' waves. This expertise report is an answer to a public body request for an assessment of health risks related to the use of such a device. The authors first present the context of this investigation, and the Eqo gantry (operation, physical parameters, obtained image, control capacity, gantry usage). They report the assessment of electromagnetic field levels emitted by the Eqo gantry (measurement conditions, measurements), and the assessment of exposure to millimetre waves in relationship with the use of the Eqo gantry as far as passengers, airport workers and flight crews, operators, and testers are concerned. After a presentation of the potential health and biological effects of waves with a frequency higher than 1 GHz, the authors also report an assessment of health risks related to the use of Eqo (depth of penetration of waves into the body, issue of potential thermal and non thermal effects). Some recommendations are made

[en] Eqo is a detection scanner portal used in airports for the detection of various materials on passengers. After a presentation of the context, scope and modalities of this expertise, this report presents the Eqo portal (main actors, operation, physical parameters, obtained image, control capacity, uses) and reports the assessment of the levels of electromagnetic fields emitted by this portal (measurement conditions and measurement devices, results in terms of frequency spectrum, time variations and power density) and the assessment of the exposure to millimetre-wavelength waves in relationship with the use of the Eqo portal (passengers, workers in the airports and airline personnel, operators). Then, it addresses the case of waves with a frequency higher than 1 GHz (potential biological and health effects, depth of penetration, biological studies, and epidemiological studies). The last part proposes an assessment of health risks related to the use of the Eqo portal

[en] On 28 October 2013, ANSES received a request from the Directorate General for Health (DGS) and the Directorate General for Labour (DGT) to undertake an expert appraisal on the potential impacts of climate change on the health and safety of workers. This formal request was issued as part of efforts to strengthen the management of occupational risks posed by climate change, which is one of the actions set out in the first French National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (PNACC) presented in July 2011. Climate change, defined as a change in the state of the climate that persists for an extended period, is part of 'global change'. Sometimes referred to as 'global environmental change', this was defined by the Working Group in charge of the expert appraisal as all major worldwide environmental and societal changes caused by human activities as well as natural factors. Among other things, climate change is likely to affect human health, with specific or compounded effects on the health of certain professionals. French Planning Law No 2009-967 of 3 August 2009 on the implementation of the Grenelle environmental round table provided for the preparation of a PNACC as part of the State's commitment to climate change adaptation in France. In 2011, following a broad consultation, France drew up an inter-sector and inter-ministerial PNACC drawing together recommendations translated into action sheets for a five-year period. The sheet relating to health issues included an action on the development of preventive health measures that take into account the consequences of extreme events and the adaptation of vigilance and alert systems. Action 4, Measure 4.2 aimed to strengthen the management of occupational risks posed by climate change. In this context, ANSES was asked to undertake a scientific expert appraisal to: - compile, through a review of the literature, the potential qualitative effects of climate change on general health; - identify the exceptional or lasting climate hazards most likely to increase in frequency and/or intensity, to study their effects as a priority, in particular considering the numerous potential effects and the uncertainties related to the likelihood of them occurring; - based on a more specific overview for the health and safety of workers, identify the sectors and/or occupations exposed to the effects in question; - assess and classify the risks and estimate the potential impacts in exposed workers; - issue recommendations for eliminating, reducing or preventing the identified risks; - and, where relevant, issue research recommendations. The first two points are being or have been addressed via work undertaken by other organisations more directly involved in these issues than ANSES. The Agency therefore reported and summarised these organisations' conclusions in the expert appraisal report associated with this Opinion, in order to establish the scientific context of climate change in which its work was undertaken. The initial aims of the expert appraisal work were therefore, before any risk assessment, to identify and prioritise the occupational activities likely to be impacted by climate change. However, in light of the extremely wide variety of occupations and the various exposure conditions that can be associated with the same occupational activity, the objectives of the expert appraisal were redirected, in consultation with the requesters, towards identifying occupational risks likely to be impacted by climate change.

[en] Following a request by the Ministries of Health, Ecology and Consumer Affairs, ANSES conducted an expert assessment on the specific impact of radiofrequency waves on children. The conclusions of this assessment were published in July 2016. In its conclusions, the Agency emphasises that children can be more exposed than adults because of their morphological and anatomical features, in particular their small size, as well as the characteristics of some of their tissues. It is issuing a series of recommendations aimed at adapting the regulatory limit values in order to reduce the exposure of children to electromagnetic fields, which starts from a very early age due to the expansion of the use of new technologies. In this context, ANSES recommends moderate and supervised use of wireless communication technologies by children. Specifically concerning mobile telephones, ANSES reiterates the recommendation it had already formulated, calling for a reduction in exposure of children, by advocating moderate use and favouring the use of hands-free kits. Lastly, the expert appraisal identified several studies highlighting an association between intensive and inadequate use of mobile telephones by young people and mental health problems (risk behaviour, depression, suicidal thoughts, etc.). However, it was not possible to use these studies to explore the causality of the observed associations. ANSES recommends that additional studies assess the health and psychosocial impact (school learning, social and family relationships, etc.) in children associated with the use of mobile communication technologies, especially because of addictive phenomena, circadian rhythm disorders, etc. Pending these results, the Agency recommends that parents encourage their children to adopt reasonable use of mobile telephones, avoiding night-time communications and limiting the frequency and duration of calls

[en] This report aims at proposing a synthesis of works of international expertise on the health effect of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields, at performing a methodological analysis of the 'Expers' study (a study on the exposure of individuals), at performing a methodological analysis of a study performed by the Criirem in the western part of France, at assessing the contribution of different equipment and situations to the exposure of population to extremely-low-frequency electromagnetic fields, at making recommendations and proposals for a better assessment of the exposure level, and at proposing topics of investigation and research to improve knowledge on these issues. The report recalls the context, scope and modalities of the study, gives an overview of generalities on electromagnetic fields (nature, physical values, electromagnetic spectrum, artificial and natural electromagnetic field sources, exposure threshold values and regulatory context), addresses the assessment of exposure (notion of exposure, exposure assessment methods, analysis of available data, analysis of recent or current studies), gives an overview of biological and health effects of these electromagnetic fields (methodological aspects, interaction between fields and biological tissues, synthesis of the international expertise on health impacts). Recommendations are formulated