DAILY MAIL
iPhone 12 radiation fears: FDA is ‘reviewing’ Apple handsets after reports they are radioactive – as France halts sales
- Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it was reviewing the phone today
- Device is currently banned for sale in France over radiation concerns
- READ MORE: Now Germany and Belgium look to ban Apple’s iPhone 12
US health officials are looking into reports that the iPhone 12 emits harmful levels of radiation — after sales were temporarily halted in Europe due to safety fears.
A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — which is partly responsible for making sure cellphones are safe — told DailyMail.com the agency was ‘reviewing the available information’.
It comes after a regulator in France this week asked Apple to stop selling the 2020 iPhone 12, claiming tests found the handset emits radiation levels that exceed EU restrictions.
Germany, Belgium and Spain have all signaled they could follow suit. Apple has disputed the findings, but the news has reignited deep-rooted fears about health and cellphone usage.
More than 81million iPhones were sold in the United States in 2021, the year after the model’s release. It is unclear how many Americans still own a device that is now three years old.
The agency is responsible for regulating the safety of phones along with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The FCC declined to comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.
The Agence Nationale des Fréquences (ANFR) initially raised the alarm on Tuesday, claiming that the iPhone 12 had failed its latest round of routine testing – with radiation levels 40 percent above what the regulator says is acceptable.
But most experts say even if the higher radiation levels are true, they are ‘not sufficient’ enough to harm people.
There are old fears about the effects of phones on health, having previously been linked to brain cancer and fertility issues, but these have never been proven conclusively.
Dr Devra Davis, an epidemiologist who has been studying the dangers of radiofrequency released from phones since the early 2000s, told DailyMail.com the FDA should ‘absolutely’ investigate the iPhone 12.
‘Why should French people be more protected than Americans?,’ she added.
Dr Joel Moskowitz, who researches the adverse effects of cellphone radiation at the University of California, Berkeley, said he hoped the reports from France prompted an investigation.
