Joseph W, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Verloock L, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers assessed electromagnetic field exposure of workers and the general public from non-directional beacons used for air traffic control. The maximum electric fields exceeded ICNIRP reference levels at all seven sites, and magnetic fields exceeded those levels at two of the seven sites for occupational exposure. The highest measured occupational electric field value was 881.6 V/m and the highest magnetic field value was 9.1 A/m.
Joseph W, Verloock L, Goeminne F, Vermeeren G, Martens L. · 2012
Researchers measured radiofrequency exposure from various sources in Reading, United Kingdom, and developed a method to estimate worst-case LTE exposure. All measured electric field levels satisfied ICNIRP reference levels, with a maximum total electric field value of 4.5 V/m. LTE exposure averaged 0.2 V/m and reached a maximum of 0.5 V/m, contributing on average only 0.4% of total exposure. The worst-case extrapolated LTE field value was 1.9 V/m, which is 32 times below the ICNIRP reference levels.
Joseph W et al. · 2012
Researchers measured personal radio frequency electromagnetic field exposure in Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Netherlands across microenvironments such as homes, public transport, and outdoors. From those field measurements, whole-body absorption values were calculated for a 1-year-old child model and an adult male model and compared for the five countries. The maximum mean whole-body absorption was 3.4 µW/kg for the child and 1.8 µW/kg for the adult, both well below the ICNIRP basic restriction of 0.08 W/kg for the general public.
Dhami AK. · 2012
Researchers measured microwave and RF radiation power densities near schools and hospitals in Chandigarh city in India. The highest measured power density was 11.48 mW/m(2) which is 1,148% of the biological limit. The measured values were compared with international exposure limits set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Breckenkamp J et al. · 2012
Researchers measured RF-EMF exposure in the bedrooms of 1,348 households in Germany using Antennessa(®) EME Spy 120 dosimeters, with 280 measures available for each frequency band per household. Exposure levels were very low and far below the ICNIRP's exposure reference levels. Cordless phones (DECT standard) and wireless LAN/Bluetooth were the major sources, contributing about 82% of total exposure.
Bortkiewicz A, Gadzicka E, Szymczak W, Zmyślony M. · 2012
Researchers studied whether exposure to EMF from a mobile phone influenced tympanic temperature in ten healthy young men, aged 22.1±4.7 years. Each participant was examined three times: on a sham day with 2×60 minutes of no exposure, on a day with continuous 60-minute exposure followed by 60 minutes of no exposure, and on a day with intermittent exposure alternating 15-minute on and off periods. During continuous exposure, mean tympanic temperature was significantly higher than during sham exposure (p = 0.0001), while during intermittent exposure temperature was lower than on the sham day. The trends in tympanic temperature during the experiment differed significantly in relation to exposure conditions (p < 0.05).
Bolte JF, Eikelboom T. · 2012
Bellieni CV et al. · 2012
Researchers measured electromagnetic fields from five laptop computers of different brands and used computerized models to estimate induced currents in adult users and fetuses. The measured EMF values ranged from 1.8 to 6 μT, which fell within ICNIRP guidelines but were considerably higher than levels recommended by MPR II and TCO guidelines and those considered risky for tumor development. The power supply induced electric current densities in the fetus and adult that were respectively 182–263% and 71–483% higher than ICNIRP 98 basic restrictions.
Sokolovic D et al. · 2012
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to microwave radiation for 4 hours per day and tested whether melatonin could counter any resulting changes in body mass or behaviour. A significant body mass reduction was noted in animals exposed to MW radiation when compared to controls after 20, 40 and 60 days (p<0.001). Exposed animals showed anxiety-related behaviour described as agitation and irritability after 10 days of exposure, and these changes became less noticeable after the radiation source was removed. Melatonin pretreatment significantly increased body weight in irradiated rats compared to irradiated rats without melatonin after 20 days (p<0.05), and melatonin administration caused a decrease in stress-induced behaviour.
Unknown authors · 2011
The authors examined whether biological experiments should use real mobile phone emissions instead of simulated ones. Real mobile phone emissions are constantly and unpredictably varying, making them more bioactive than simulated emissions with fixed parameters. Studies using simulated emissions report effects in less than 50% of cases, while studies using real mobile phone exposures show almost 100% consistency in adverse effects. The authors conclude that using commercially available handsets is crucial for experimental findings to reflect reality.
Unknown authors · 2011
Researchers exposed rats to ELF-MF at 60 Hz and 0.1 mT for durations of 24 hours and 1 or 2 weeks. Exposure altered the distribution and occurrence of gastrin, ghrelin, and somatostatin-positive endocrine cells in the stomach. Hormone secretion into blood did not change significantly with ELF-MF exposure. ELF-MF exposure for 1 and 2 weeks increased the BaSO4 suspension propelling ratio, indicating effects on gastrointestinal motility.
Unknown authors · 2011
The authors review cellular and molecular mechanisms of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields in tissue repair with focus on chronic wounds. The data analysis supports three main effects: anti-inflammatory via cytokine modulation, neo-angiogenic via endothelial cell proliferation and FGF-2 production, and reepithelialization via collagen formation stimulation.
Unknown authors · 2011
Health professionals face patients reporting symptoms they connect to electromagnetic radiation exposure as wireless telecommunication expands. Scientists disagree whether electromagnetic hypersensitivity is a real phenomenon from common exposures or is psychosomatic. The World Health Organization and some nations are exploring this condition linked to non-specific, multi-system, often debilitating symptoms. Patients with EHS report physiological complaints plus social and personal challenges that impair normal functioning. The review provides recommendations for health professionals caring for individuals complaining of EHS.
Unknown authors · 2011
Researchers monitored ELF-MF exposure in 543 workers for 2 days using personal meters and calculated time-weighted average levels at work, at home and outside the home. Median exposure at work, at home and outside the home were 0.14, 0.03 and 0.05 μT, respectively. Occupational exposure accounted for about 60% of 24-h exposure. A job-exposure matrix based on the 1988 International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 88) was created and showed that about 50% of the classified occupations included significantly different individual TWAs. The frequent occurrence of workers with different TWA included under the same job title highlights the risk of misclassification in epidemiological studies on ELF-MF effects based on JEM.
Unknown authors · 2011
Average environmental exposure was higher in clinic offices (0.55 µT) than in hospital departments (0.15 µT). Clinic dentists spent more time above 0.3 and 0.4 µT than hospital dentists.
Unknown authors · 2011
Researchers measured extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) in 39 apartments across 18 Swiss buildings that contained transformer stations. Apartments fully adjacent to a transformer room had an arithmetic mean ELF-MF of 0.59 μT, while those only partly touching the transformer room averaged 0.14 μT, and the remaining apartments averaged 0.10 μT. The researchers concluded that apartment location relative to the transformer room could reduce the effort of exposure assessment and may help eliminate selection bias in future epidemiologic studies.
Unknown authors · 2011
Over eight years, the VINČA Institute performed spot broadband measurements of ELF and RF fields in over 35 Serbian municipalities. The study was motivated by public requests for information about exposure levels in living spaces. Measured values in households under overhead power lines were far below the recommended safe levels.
Unknown authors · 2011
The Health Council of the Netherlands examined whether exposure limits should shift from specific absorption rate to a maximum allowable temperature increase. The council evaluated this change across six criteria including consistency, applicability, and causality. The council concluded that changing the dosimetric quantity would not advance the debate on non-thermal effects from long-duration, low-intensity exposure. The council recommended keeping the current system of basic restrictions and reference levels expressed as SAR and in V/m or µT.
Unknown authors · 2011
The random sample consisted of 34 people who were supplied with a personal exposure meter for seven consecutive days and kept a time-location-activity diary. A total of 225,414 electric field strength measurements were recorded in 12 different RF bands. Summary statistics were calculated with the robust regression on order statistics method. The study found evidence for statistically significant variability of individual RF exposure across days of the week, though the relative magnitude of the differences observed was small. Larger studies are needed to validate these results and determine whether day of the week is an important determinant for inclusion in individual RF exposure prediction models.
Unknown authors · 2011
This review updated a previous systematic review on the association between radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure and health-related quality of life that included studies published before August 2007. Nine randomized trials addressed short-term close-to-body RF-EMF exposures such as mobile phones, and six randomized trials addressed short-term far-field exposure from base stations, while eight studies evaluated environmental far-field RF-EMF exposure. In most of the randomized trials, no exposure-response association was observed. Similarly, most of the recent observational studies did not show associations between RF-EMF exposure and non-specific symptoms.
Unknown authors · 2011
Typical general public exposures around mobile radio service base stations consume only tiny fractions of exposure levels. Mobile phones cause higher exposures to the user than base stations. Both base stations and mobile phones apply power control mechanisms that can significantly reduce transmit power and exposure.
Unknown authors · 2011
The document lists high priority and other research needs for health effects research. The research needs are subdivided into epidemiology, human studies, animal studies, cellular studies and mechanisms, and social science research.
Unknown authors · 2011
Standards stipulate a 6-min averaging interval for radiofrequency electromagnetic field measurements to assess human exposure. That interval noticeably limits the number of measuring points in practical base station surveys. Measurements near a multisystem GSM, DCS, and UMTS base station showed that shorter averaging intervals of 15 s, 30 s, and 1 min significantly accelerated the measurement process. Results from the shorter intervals differed from the 6-min root-mean-square mean by 10.5%, 15.9%, and 19%, while measurement uncertainty increased by 3.0%, 3.8%, and 4.4% respectively. The authors concluded that shorter intervals would reduce total survey duration without compromising measurement quality too much.
Unknown authors · 2011
Researchers performed power level measurements of transmitted and received signals using a mobile handset in home and office environments. They also measured radiofrequency electric field strength and frequency selective measurements near the femtocell access point with a radiation meter. The cumulative distribution functions showed that in 90% of measurement points the mobile phone transmit power was at least 7 dB lower during femtocell operation. At about 1 meter from the femtocell in its main beam, power flux density measurements showed very little difference between femtocell on and off.
Unknown authors · 2011
The existing certification process uses a plastic head model called SAM that represents the top 10% of U.S. military recruits from 1989 and greatly underestimates SAR for typical users, especially children. A superior computer simulation certification process has been approved by the FCC but is not used to certify phones. When electrical properties are considered, a child's head absorption can be over two times greater and skull bone marrow absorption ten times greater than adults. The authors recommend a new certification process incorporating different modes of use, head sizes, and tissue properties using anatomically based models.
