RF-EMF Standards in Malaysia

1. MCMC regulation on the RF EMF emissions from mobile phone base stations and other communications installations is determined in the  mandatory standard titled “Commission Determination on the Mandatory Standard for Electromagnetic Field Emission from Radio-communications Infrastructure” (MS for EMF).
    
2. The EMF exposure limits in the MS for EMF are based on guidelines set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). Among the recommended limits are 4.5 W/m at 900MHz frequency, 9W/m at 1800MHz frequency and 10W/m at 2000MHz frequency and above.
    
3. The MS for EMF applies to Network Facility Providers (NFP) and Network Service Providers (NSP) owning and operating the
   radiocommunications infrastructures such as the base station transmitters.

4. MCMC also published the Guideline on the Mandatory Standard for Electromagnetic Field Emission from Radiocommunications Infrastructure (Compliance Towards Determination No. 1 Of 2010) to facilitate the NFP’s and NSP’s compliance towards the MS for EMF.
    
5. Based on various long term measurement result, the overall EMF emission within public area surrounding the radiocommunications infrastructure (RCI) are very low. The maximum averaged reading measured was only 10% of the exposure limit for general public at 41 V/m and in compliance with the MS for EMF.

6. ICNIRP is a non-governmental organization formally recognised by World Health Organization (WHO).
    
7. The exposure limits for EMF fields published by ICNIRP were developed following reviews of all the peer-reviewed scientific literature, including thermal and non-thermal effects.
    
8. The main conclusion from the WHO reviews is that EMF exposures below the limits recommended in the ICNIRP international guidelines do not appear to have any known consequence on health.

9. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and International Electrotechnical (IEC) also produced their own recommendations on RF-EMF emissions:

  a. ITU-T K.52 (01/2018) - Guidance for assessment, evaluation and monitoring of human exposure to radio
    frequency electromagnetic fields.
  b. IEEE C95.1-2019 - Standard for Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency
    Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz.
  c. IEC 62209-2:2010+AMD1:2019 - Human exposure to radio frequency fields from hand-held and body-mounted
    wireless communication devices.