# WHO ELF evidence framework

> The World Health Organization's assessment of the extremely-low-frequency evidence base, which sets no exposure limit but records the daily-average magnetic field level above which epidemiology reports an association with childhood leukaemia.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/standards/who-elf-evidence-framework
- Collection: Standards & frameworks
- Record id: `standards:who-elf-evidence`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/standards/who-elf-evidence-framework
- Also known as: WHO EHC 238, WHO ELF assessment

## Key values

- **Organization:** World Health Organization
- **Edition:** 2007 assessment, factsheet current
- **Jurisdiction:** international
- **Frequency range:** DC – 300 Hz
- **Status of values:** Recommended by a scientific or standards body, enforceable only where adopted into law

## Scope

Reviews the ELF evidence base and endorses ICNIRP reference levels for acute effects. It defines no limit of its own: the 0.3–0.4 µT figure it records is an epidemiological association, not a threshold of harm and not enforceable anywhere.

## Sources

- `who-elf` World Health Organization (2007). *Electromagnetic fields and public health: exposure to extremely low frequency fields*. https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/radiation-and-health/non-ionizing/exposure — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `who-ehc-238` World Health Organization (2007). *Extremely Low Frequency Fields — Environmental Health Criteria Monograph No. 238*. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241572385 — peer-reviewed, link checked 2026-08-12
- `iarc-monograph-80` International Agency for Research on Cancer (2002). *IARC Monographs Volume 80: Non-Ionizing Radiation, Part 1: Static and Extremely Low-Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields*. https://publications.iarc.who.int/98 — peer-reviewed, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.