Gabriele Bellabarba, Maria Logorelli
For each autonomous region/province, the number of exceedances of the regulatory reference values is considered, distinguished by radio and television systems (RTV) and base transceiver stations (BTS), and the number of remediations, being verified by ARPA/APPA, in progress (for administrative actions), concluded for ARPA/APPA verification and concluded for administrative actions. Exceedance concerns situations in which levels above the exposure limit or the warning value or both are measured. From the data provided for the period 1999 - September 2025 it appears that the cases of exceeding the legal limits regarding RTV systems (605) are 4.4 times higher than those relating to BTS systems (138). The renovations completed for the RTV and BTS plants are equal to 76.5% and 74.7% of the total, respectively. For the regions whose data is updated for both types of systems and comparable, it can be noted that, in the two reference time periods 1999-September 2024 and 1999-September 2025, the cases of exceeding the legal limits for RTVs and BTSs increased slightly, respectively, by 0.3% (going from 603 to 605) and by 0.7% (going from 137 y 138).
For each autonomous region/province, the number of exceedances of the regulatory reference values are reported, broken down by radio and television systems (RTV) and base transceiver stations (BTS), and the number of cases of exceedance for which the remediations required by law are scheduled, under verification by ARPA/APPA, in progress (due to administrative actions), concluded due to ARPA/APPA verification and concluded due to administrative actions. Exceeding concerns situations in which levels higher than the exposure limit or the warning value or both are measured, reporting the cumulative value over the reference time frame.
Quantify the non-compliance situations detected by the control activity, carried out by the ARPA/APPA, on the radio frequency (RF) sources present in the territory (radio television systems (RTV) and base transceiver stations (BTS)) and the status of the remediation.
Ministerial Decree 381/1998 sets exposure limits, to be respected in any situation, and precautionary values, to be respected in places where a stay of more than 4 hours is expected. These limit values confirmed by the Prime Ministerial Decree 08/07/03 and subsequent amendments also introduce a further threshold of attention defined as "quality objective", in implementation of Law 36/2001. These regulatory provisions provide that, where exceedances occur, remediation actions must be implemented at the expense of the owners of the plants.
ISPRA - Environmental data yearbook, various years
ISPRA/MASE/SNPA, Thematic reports
The information processed is affected by some problems such as lack of consolidated data collection tools at a local level, lack of human and financial resources dedicated to this data collection activity, no obligation on the part of the competent authority (Municipality or Province) to inform ARPA/APPA of the state of the art of the remediation action from the latter request following the situation of non-compliance of a given plant. It should be highlighted that the information regarding the status of the recovery actions corresponds to the current state of knowledge of the ARPA/APPA agency system.
Synergistic actions by the subjects involved in trying to support the flow of information with suitable regulatory tools and with activities aimed at analyzing the critical issues mentioned above in order to shed light on the problems and propose solutions to give greater uniformity and completeness to the data at a national level.
Electromagnetic Fields Observatory
17/20
1999-September 2025
Calculation of the number of exceedances of the regulatory reference values and the number of cases of exceedance for which there are planned remediation actions, being verified by ARPA/APPA, in progress (for administrative actions), concluded due to ARPA/APPA verification, concluded due to administrative actions, no action taken. Exceedance concerns situations in which levels above the exposure limit or the warning value or both are measured. In the calculation, the regions that provided updated and complete data are considered.
According to what is reported in Tables 1 and 2 relating to the regions for which the data was updated in September 2025 for both types of source (Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria) it is noted that the cases of exceeding the legal limits regarding RTV systems (605) are 4.4 times higher than those relating to BTS systems (138). The renovations completed for the RTV and BTS plants are equal to 76.5% and 74.7% of the total respectively (Figure 1).
For the autonomous regions/provinces (Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardy, Autonomous Province of Trento, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata and Calabria) whose data is updated for both types of system and comparable for the period in question, the cases of exceeding the legal limits for RTVs and BTSs have increased slightly in the two reference periods, 1999-September 2024 and 1999-September 2025, respectively, by 0.3% (going from 603 to 605) and 0.7% (going from 137 to 138) (Table 3 and 4).
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Table 1: Number of exceedances detected and remediation status for radiotelevision (RTV) installations (1999–September 2025). Data source
ISPRA processing based on ARPA/APPA data (EMF Observatory). Data legend
a Data not updated; |
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Table 2: Number of exceedances detected and remediation status for base transceiver stations (BTS) (1999–September 2025). Data source
ISPRA processing based on ARPA/APPA data (EMF Observatory). Data legend
a Data not updated; |
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Table 3: Number of exceedances detected and remediation status for radiotelevision (RTV) installations in the two time periods 1999–September 2025 and 1999–September 2024. Data source
ISPRA processing based on ARPA/APPA data (EMF Observatory). Data legend
a Data not updated; |
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Table 4: Number of exceedances detected and remediation status for base transceiver stations (BTS) in the two time periods 1999–September 2025 and 1999–September 2024. Data source
ISPRA processing based on ARPA/APPA data (EMF Observatory). Data legend
a Data not updated; |
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Figure 1: Status of remediation actions at sites where at least one exceedance due to RTV and BTS installations was detected (1999–September 2025). Data source
ISPRA processing based on ARPA/APPA data (EMF Observatory). Note
Only the regions for which updated and complete data are available for the 1999–September 2025 time period were considered. |
The available data highlights that although there are many environmental critical issues linked to the presence of these electromagnetic sources in the urban area, the situations of non-compliance which indicate that the limits imposed by current legislation have been exceeded in the face of intense control activity by the territorially competent bodies do not undergo significant increases. This indicates a situation of substantial balance between the need for technological development on the part of the managers of these plants and the protection of the environment and the population, which are guaranteed through valid regulatory, information and technological tools.