Belgium questions Apple's iPhone 12 after France suspends sales over radiation

Belgium's junior minister for the digital economy said he would ask the telecoms regulator to analyse potential health risks linked to Apple's iPhone 12 after France ordered a halt to sales citing breaches of radiation exposure limits.

"It is my duty to make sure all citizens... are safe", Mathieu Michel, state secretary for digitalisation, said in a statement emailed to Reuters on Thursday.

Apple on Wednesday said the iPhone 12, launched in 2020, was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global radiation standards, that it had provided several Apple and third-party lab results proving the phone's compliance to the French agency, and that it was contesting its findings.

But France's move to halt iPhone 12 sales until Apple fixes the radiation issues it detected in two tests this week raised the prospect of further bans in Europe.

Germany's network regulator BNetzA said it might launch similar proceedings and was in close contact with French authorities. The Dutch digital watchdog also said it was looking into the matter and will ask the US firm for an explanation.

"I have rapidly reached out to the IBPT-BIPT (regulator) to ask for an analysis about the potential danger of the product", Michel said, adding that he had also asked the regulator to review all Apple smartphones, as well as devices made by other producers, at a later stage.

Researchers have conducted a vast number of studies over the last two decades to assess health risks resulting from mobile phones. According to the World Health Organization, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use.