Combining near- and far-field exposure for an organ-specific and whole-body RF-EMF proxy for epidemiological research: A reference case.
Lauer O, Frei P, Gosselin MC, Joseph W, Röösli M, Fröhlich J. · 2013
View Original AbstractYour own mobile phone creates far more daily EMF exposure than all environmental sources combined, making personal usage patterns the key factor in RF exposure.
Plain English Summary
Swiss researchers developed a method to measure total daily RF-EMF exposure by combining radiation from mobile phones (near-field) and cell towers (far-field sources). They found that your own mobile phone dominates your daily EMF exposure, contributing far more radiation to your body than environmental sources like cell towers. The study showed that older GSM phones created higher exposure levels than newer UMTS phones due to their higher power output.
Why This Matters
This research addresses a critical gap in EMF exposure assessment that has plagued epidemiological studies for decades. Most studies have focused on either phone use OR environmental exposure, but rarely both together in a realistic way. What this Swiss team demonstrated is that your personal phone use creates the lion's share of your daily RF exposure - not the cell towers that often dominate public concern. This finding has profound implications for how we approach EMF risk assessment. The reality is that the device pressed against your head for hours each day matters far more than the distant tower you can see from your window. The study also revealed that technology matters: newer UMTS phones produced lower exposures than older GSM models, showing how phone design directly impacts the radiation dose your body absorbs. This underscores why understanding your specific exposure sources is essential for making informed decisions about EMF risk reduction.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: GSM 900 or GSM 1800 Duration: 24 hours
Study Details
A framework for the combination of near-field (NF) and far-field (FF) radio frequency electromagnetic exposure sources to the average organ and whole-body specific absorption rates (SARs) is presented.
values based on numerically derived SARs for whole-body and individual organs and tissues are combin...
The results show that a 24-h whole-body averaged exposure of a typical mobile phone user is dominate...
Data presented clearly indicate the necessity of collecting band-selective exposure data in epidemiological studies related to electromagnetic fields.
Show BibTeX
@article{o_2013_combining_near_and_farfield_2340,
author = {Lauer O and Frei P and Gosselin MC and Joseph W and Röösli M and Fröhlich J.},
title = {Combining near- and far-field exposure for an organ-specific and whole-body RF-EMF proxy for epidemiological research: A reference case.},
year = {2013},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23417714/},
}