Temporal and spatial variability of personal exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields
Frei P, Mohler E, Neubauer G, Theis G, Bürgi A, Fröhlich J, Braun-Fahrländer C, Bolte J, Egger M, Röösli M. · 2009
View Original AbstractMean weekly personal exposure to all RF-EMF sources was 0.13 mW/m2, with mobile phone base stations, handsets, and DECT phones as the main contributors.
Plain English Summary
Researchers measured RF-EMF exposure of 166 volunteers from Basel, Switzerland, using personal exposure meters carried for one week. Mean weekly exposure across all RF-EMF sources was 0.13 mW/m2, ranging across individuals from 0.014 to 0.881 mW/m2. Exposure varied considerably between persons and locations but was fairly consistent within persons.
Why This Matters
The study aimed to examine levels of exposure and the importance of different RF-EMF sources and settings in a sample of volunteers living in a Swiss city. Participants carried an exposimeter for one week and completed an activity diary; mean values were calculated using the robust regression on order statistics method. Mean values were highest in trains, airports, and tramways or buses, and higher during daytime than nighttime. Persons owning a DECT phone had a total mean exposure of 0.15 mW/m2, and those owning a mobile phone had 0.14 mW/m2, compared with 0.10 mW/m2 for those not owning a DECT or mobile phone. The Spearman correlation coefficient between mean exposure in the first and second week was 0.61, and exposure was described as fairly consistent within persons.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 0.0000014, 0.000008, 0.0000881, 0.000013, 0.000015, 0.000016, 0.000014, 0.00001,0.000036, 0.000074, 0.000116 mW/cm²
- Electric Field
- 0.22 V/m
- Exposure Duration
- 1 week (two separate weeks in 32 participants)
Exposure Context
This study used 0.0000014, 0.000008, 0.0000881, 0.000013, 0.000015, 0.000016, 0.000014, 0.00001,0.000036, 0.000074, 0.000116 mW/cm² for radio frequency:
- 140x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 2.3x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
To examine levels of exposure and the importance of different RF-EMF sources and settings in a sample of volunteers living in a Swiss city.
RF-EMF exposure of 166 volunteers from Basel, Switzerland, was measured with personal exposure meter...
Mean weekly exposure to all RF-EMF sources was 0.13 mW/m2 (0.22 V/m) (range of individual means 0.01...
Exposure to RF-EMF varied considerably between persons and locations but was fairly consistent within persons. Mobile phone handsets, mobile phone base stations and cordless phones were important sources of exposure in urban Switzerland.
Show BibTeX
@article{p_2009_temporal_and_spatial_variability_980,
author = {Frei P and Mohler E and Neubauer G and Theis G and Bürgi A and Fröhlich J and Braun-Fahrländer C and Bolte J and Egger M and Röösli M.},
title = {Temporal and spatial variability of personal exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields},
year = {2009},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935109000838},
}