Map of the electromagnetic radiation levels permitted by the legislation of different countries

There are no unified international criteria regarding high-frequency electromagnetic radiation pollution, and very few countries respect the maximum levels recommended by the 1998 Salzburg Convention (1,000 µW/m2). These levels were agreed based on a thorough scientific study that demonstrated the link between radiation levels and biological effects that are critical for health.

Nor is there a unified criterion in relation to the radiation produced by low-frequency electromagnetic fields. Most countries have adopted values much higher than those indicated by the SBM-2008 standard of the Institut für Baubiologie und Oekologie, the German body that is leading research into the relationship between pollution from physical, chemical and biological factors on the one hand and chronic and degenerative diseases and so-called ‘rare diseases’, which affect between 5% and 7% of the population, on the other.

The Spanish state allows high-frequency electromagnetic pollution 4,000 times higher than the levels recommended by the Salzburg Convention.

Location of mobile telephone antennas in Spain, with their respective emission levels (source: Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology).