Ken Karipidis
Deputy Director, Health Impact Assessment, Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.
Many of the internationally recognised safety limits, including Australia and France’s, are set at conservative levels, well below where harm is expected to occur. Australia and France impose the same safety limits on the energy that is absorbed by the body from a mobile phone.
While it’s not ideal, and we do not condone safety breaches, there should be no immediate danger from exposure slightly above the limit. Health effects may occur from exposure to radio waves, namely body tissue heating. But this would occur at levels much higher than the safety limit.
In Australia, the Australian Communications and Media Authority regulates the exposure from mobile phones and is responsible for any matters of compliance.