Personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields among palestinian adults

Abstract

This work deals with the assessment of personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and the study of temporal and spatial daily variations in a group of 24 adults from the West Bank, Palestine. Exposure was measured using a personal exposure meter EME SPY 140. Mean values of exposure levels from different radiofrequency sources were calculated using both naive and robust regression on order statistics approaches. The total daily exposure from all radiofrequency electromagnetic field sources varied widelyamong participants depending on their location, the mobile network they use, their activities, and their mode of transportation, ranging from about 0.2 V m−1 to 0.9 V m−1. The average total daily exposure of all participants was about 0.48 V m−1. The main contribution to the mean exposure was from WiFi 2G (45%), GSM900 uplink (19%), GSM900 downlink, and FM radiobroadcasting (each by 11%). Other sources including GSM1800, UMTS2100, WiFi 5G, DECT, TETRA, WiMAX, and TV bands all together contributed 14%. During different activities, participants were exposed to the highest exposure level while traveling and to the lowest exposure while they were sleeping. During the day, participants received the highest exposure during the time period from 1600 to 2400 h. Based on thermal effect of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, all evaluated personal exposures comply with guidelines recommended for the general public by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. Health Phys. 117(4):396–402; 2019