2012-12-27 13:23:36
“Radio Frequency Identification” technologies – RFID, “Radio Frequency IDentification” – make it possible to identify, remotely and using radio waves, any object equipped with an “RFID tag”. This tag can be decrypted using an external “reader” which collects and transmits the information contained in the tag.
This identification method, which does not require contact between the labels and the reader, can meet many needs. RFID technologies are therefore booming today, with applications already widespread. The latter thus cover areas ranging from remote sensing to everyday transactions (public transport tickets, electronic toll collection, labels affixed to packaging, etc.) and contribute to improving the traceability of products and goods.
In November 2005, the France Nature Environnement (FNE) association contacted the Agency to assess the possible impacts of RFID technologies on the environment and human health, particularly with regard to the electromagnetic fields emitted by these systems. .
The Agency was therefore asked to carry out:
- an assessment of the national and international regulatory status of RFID technologies;
- a scientific review of studies on the possible health risks linked to their use;
- an assessment of the overall health risk, with respect to the general population.
The aspects of the question asked by the FNE association relating to respect for private life do not fall within the competence of the Agency, and were therefore not dealt with in the expert report. A paragraph in the report nevertheless presents the position of the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties) on this subject, at the date of writing of the report.
The work of the Agency
The collective expertise carried out by the Agency focused on:
- the evaluation of the levels of electromagnetic fields generated by common RFID systems (collection of technical information, measurement campaigns);
- the search for data on the assessment of environmental impacts;
- assessment of exposure of people (general and professional population);
- referencing possible biological effects identified in the literature;
- the assessment of health impacts.
The risks for the general population as well as for people exposed in the context of their professional activities were examined.
To carry out its expertise, the Agency relied on a review of the international literature but also on hearing from experts and industrialists working in the field of RFID: inventory of the characteristics and uses of RFID , dedicated regulations and standards, technologies used. The expertise also required the implementation of measurement campaigns aimed at assessing the exposure of the general and professional population to RFID systems.
The results of the expertise did not establish the existence of a health risk linked to exposure to electromagnetic fields emitted by RFID systems. However, it should be noted that occupational exposure may be greater than that of the general population.
Agency Recommendations
On this basis, in January 2009 the Agency issued a collective expert report and an opinion recommending in particular:
- “it is necessary to continue scientific monitoring on research into the biological effects of radiation at specific RFID frequencies, including the physical and technical particularities of these signals;
- current and future regulations require manufacturers, integrators and companies using RFID systems to guarantee the safety and health of people (general population as well as professionals), including regarding exposure to electromagnetic fields. It is therefore important to meet these requirements through various controls and measures, and to anticipate future provisions so that compliance with regulatory limit values is achieved a priori, from the design of the devices;
- Methods for measuring electromagnetic fields emitted by RFID devices mainly refer to whole-body exposures. RFID systems, particularly at low frequencies, generally induce very localized exposures. It would be appropriate to enhance the standardization of simpler measurement procedures in order to take this particular situation into account, and to make it possible to assess exposure by certification laboratories;
- the working group’s report highlights the very significant growth in the RFID technology sector. RFID tags, which today can take multiple forms, on a very large number of media, all contain a metal antenna. Even if the sizes of these labels are sometimes extremely small, the question of sustainable development and therefore the recycling of these labels, which are often doomed to be destroyed at the same time as their support, arises. We must encourage the marketing of the least polluting labels. »
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