ANFR, the French regulator for radio frequencies, said on Tuesday, September 12, that it “has ordered Apple to remove the iPhone 12 from the French market from September 12 due to the model exceeding the limit.”

In addition to blocking the sale of iPhone 12s, Apple must use corrective measures to bring the handsets into compliance, or recall them.

In an interview with Le Parisien, France’s junior minister for the digital economy Jean-Noel Barrot, said that a software update would be able to fix the radiation issues linked to the phone which the 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.”

ANFR said that technical labs it works with had recorded 5.74 watts per kilogram of electromagnetic energy emitted during tests simulating holding the handset in the hand or in a pocket. The European standard is 4.0 watts.

Apple denied the validity of the tests.

Such is the universality of mobile phone ownership and usage that no less a body than the World Health Organisation states that “no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.”

However, studies in the US by reputable bodies such as Berkeley’s Center for Family and Community Health and the National Library of Medicine warn of the radiation dangers posed by mobile phones. The latter warns: “Children have the potential to be at greater risk than adults for developing brain cancer from cell phones. Their nervous systems are still developing and therefore more vulnerable to factors that may cause cancer.”

The jury may still be out, but there is a growing mountain of evidence pointing in one direction – mobile phones need to be used with special care.

FILE PHOTO: Making waves: Apples iPhone 15 was released this week