Public Exposure from Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Smog in the West Bank – Palestine
Date
2020-06-14
Authors
Mahmoud N. AlKhatib
محمود الخطيب
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
Since the increase of sources and technologies that usingRadiofrequency (RF) Electromagnetic radiation worldwide and locally, and increase in public fear about the adverse health effect of RF, especially after it has been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a part of World Health Organization (WHO), this study was performed to show the RF levels in the West Bank, and compare them with the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP).
Experimental measurements conducted in 149 locations over the area of the West Bank, using exposure meter EME Spy 140, measured the Electric field strength (Vm-1). These measurement results show that the highest exposure level at any point was 7.428 Vm-1, at Ramallah city center which is a highly-populated area. The main contributor was the FM frequency with 50% of total exposure, the next main contributors were the mobile phone base stations downlinks with 34%. The exposure in dense urban areas was significantly the highest compared to other types of areas. The total exposure quotient (TEQ) is calculated for each location, the maximum TEQ was 0.13. All of these results ensure that the level of RF in the West Bank is below the ICNIRP level.