French regulators say iPhone 12 does not meet European Union standards

Sept. 13 (UPI) -- French regulators say the iPhone 12 does not meet European Union radiation standards, meaning the Apple product could face a recall or ban on further sales.

The French National Frequency Agency says the specific absorption rate of the iPhone 12 is too high, leading to concerns that radiation could penetrate into skin and through clothes.

"As market surveillance authority for radio equipment and responsible for controlling public exposure to electromagnetic fields, the ANFR runs inspections on mobile phones placed on the French market. 141 mobile phones, including Apple's iPhone 12, have recently been tested to check compliance with limit SAR values. SAR is a measure of the rate of radiofrequency energy absorbed by the body from the equipment being measured," the ANFR said in a press release Tuesday.

The ANFR says iPhone 12 models were tested for the SAR values and found that they had an SAR value of 5.74 watts per kilogram, which surpasses the 4.0 watts per kilogram allowed by E.U. regulations.

"Apple must immediately adopt all necessary measures to prevent the iPhone 12 in supply chain from being made available on the market," the ANFR said.

The agency said Apple must implement corrective measures to keep their products in circulation.

"As for those telephones that are already in use, Apple must adopt all necessary corrective measures to bring the telephones into conformity as soon as possible, otherwise, apple will have to recall the equipment," the ANFR said.