Occupational exposure to intermediate frequency and extremely low frequency magnetic fields among personnel working near electronic article surveillance systems.
Roivainen P, Eskelinen T, Jokela K, Juutilainen J · 2014
View Original AbstractStore cashiers experience magnetic field spikes 34% above safety limits when walking through security gates, creating an understudied occupational exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers measured electromagnetic field exposure for store cashiers working near security gates that detect unpaid merchandise. While normal workplace exposure stayed within safety limits, magnetic field levels briefly exceeded international guidelines when cashiers walked through the gates themselves, suggesting potential health risks.
Why This Matters
This study reveals an overlooked occupational exposure scenario that affects millions of retail workers worldwide. While the magnetic field levels at cashier workstations remained relatively low (0.2 to 4 µT), the brief spikes to 189 µT when walking through EAS gates exceeded established safety reference levels by 34%. What makes this particularly significant is the chronic nature of this exposure - cashiers may pass through these gates multiple times daily over years of employment. The researchers correctly identify this workforce as an ideal population for epidemiological studies, since they experience consistent, measurable EMF exposure in a controlled environment. The reality is that current safety guidelines don't account for cumulative effects of repeated brief exposures, and this study highlights a gap in our understanding of intermediate frequency field health impacts.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.0002 to 0.004 and 0.00003 to 0.0045 mG
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
Exposure Context
This study used 0.0002 to 0.004 and 0.00003 to 0.0045 mG for magnetic fields:
- 1.5x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 0.3x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
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
Cashiers are potentially exposed to intermediate frequency (IF) magnetic fields at their workplaces because of the electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems used in stores to protect merchandise against theft. This study aimed at investigating occupational exposure of cashiers to IF magnetic fields in Finnish stores.
Exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields was also evaluated because cashiers work n...
The peak magnetic flux density was measured for IF magnetic fields, and was found to vary from 0.2 t...
Show BibTeX
@article{p_2014_occupational_exposure_to_intermediate_1296,
author = {Roivainen P and Eskelinen T and Jokela K and Juutilainen J},
title = {Occupational exposure to intermediate frequency and extremely low frequency magnetic fields among personnel working near electronic article surveillance systems.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24615825/},
}