Personal radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure of adolescents in the Greater London area in the SCAMP cohort and the association with restrictions on permitted use of mobile communication technologies at school and at home

Evaluating radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure in confined spaces: a systematic review of recent studies and future directions

This study reviews recent research on Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) exposure in confined environments, focusing on methodologies and parameters. Studies typically evaluate RF-EMF exposure using an electric field and specific absorption rate but fail to consider temperature rise in the tissues in confined environments. The study highlights the investigation of RF-EMF exposure in subterranean environments such as subways, tunnels and mines. Future research should evaluate the exposure of communication devices in such environments, considering the surrounding environment. Such studies will aid in understanding the risks and developing effective mitigation strategies to protect workers and the general public.

The effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields exposure on tinnitus, migraine and non-specific symptoms in the general and working population: A systematic review and meta-analysis on human observational studies

BACKGROUND

Applications emitting radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF; 100 kHz to 300 GHz) are widely used for communication (e.g. mobile phones), in medicine (diathermy) and in industry (RF heaters).

OBJECTIVES

The objective is to systematically review the effects of longer-term or repeated local and whole human body radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure on the occurrence of symptoms. Primary hypotheses were tinnitus, migraine and headaches in relation to RF-EMF exposure of the brain, sleep disturbances and composite symptom scores in relation to whole-body RF-EMF exposure.

METHODS

Eligibility criteria: We included case-control and prospective cohort studies in the general population or workers estimating local or whole-body RF-EMF exposure for at least one week.

INFORMATION SOURCES

We conducted a systematic literature search in various databases including Web of Science and Medline. Risk of bias: We used the Risk of Bias (RoB) tool developed by OHAT adapted to the topic of this review.

SYNTHESIS OF RESULTS

We synthesized studies using random effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Included studies: We included 13 papers from eight distinct cohort and one case-control studies with a total of 486,558 participants conducted exclusively in Europe. Tinnitus is addressed in three papers, migraine in one, headaches in six, sleep disturbances in five, and composite symptom scores in five papers. Only one study addressed occupational exposure.

SYNTHESIS OF RESULTS

For all five priority hypotheses, available research suggests that RF-EMF exposure below guideline values does not cause symptoms, but the evidence is very uncertain. The very low certainty evidence is due the low number of studies, possible risk of bias in some studies, inconsistencies, indirectness, and imprecision. In terms of non-priority hypotheses numerous exposure-outcome combinations were addressed in the 13 eligible papers without indication for an association related to a specific symptom or exposure source.

DISCUSSION

Limitations of evidence: This review topic includes various challenges related to confounding control and exposure assessment. Many of these aspects are inherently present and not easy to be solved in future research. Since near-field exposure from wireless communication devices is related to lifestyle, a particular challenge is to differentiate between potential biophysical effects and other potential effects from extensive use of wireless communication devices that may compete with healthy behaviour such as sleeping or physical activity. Future research needs novel and innovative methods to differentiate between these two hypothetical mechanisms.

INTERPRETATION

This is currently the best available evidence to underpin safety of RF-EMF. There is no indication that RF-EMF below guideline values causes symptoms. However, inherent limitations of the research results in substantial uncertainty.

OTHER

Funding: This review was partially funded by the WHO radioprotection programme.

REGISTRATION

The protocol for this review has been registered in Prospero (reg no CRD42021239432) and published in Environment International (Röösli et al., 2021).

Assessment of the electromagnetic field exposure due to wireless communication technologies in two university campuses of medellin, Colombia

Exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) is considered an area of significant importance in the medical and scientific community. However, the availability of exposure data for indoor and outdoor locations in universities is limited and currently inconsiderate in Latin America. The aim of this work was to evaluate the electric field levels due to mobile telecommunication technologies and Wi-Fi to which students and faculty staff from two campuses of a higher education institution are exposed. Using a portable spectrum analyzer, we carried out 516 short-term measurements in the 800-3000 MHz frequency range at both indoor and outdoor locations. These locations were chosen to cover all areas of the assessed buildings. The electric field differences between floors and buildings are discussed. Finally, we compared the electric field levels with exposure limits. The highest electric field level measured was 13.97 V/m at the 850 MHz band. However, the average electric field values were below 2 V/m. The greatest contribution to the total electric field was due to sources using the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz bands (98%), while the contribution of the Wi-Fi network was low (1.0%). The results show that all the electric field levels measured were lower than the ICNIRP reference levels for radio-frequency exposure.

Modelling of daily radiofrequency electromagnetic field dose for a prospective adolescent cohort

INTRODUCTION

Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields originate from a variety of wireless communication sources operating near and far from the body, making it challenging to quantify daily absorbed dose. In the framework of the prospective cohort SCAMP (Study of Cognition, Adolescents and Mobile Phones), we aimed to characterize RF-EMF dose over a 2-year period.

METHODS

The SCAMP cohort included 6605 children from greater London, UK at baseline (age 12.1 years; 2014-2016) and 5194 at follow-up (age 14.2; 2016-2018). We estimated the daily dose of RF-EMF to eight tissues including the whole body and whole brain, using dosimetric algorithms for the specific absorption rate transfer into the body. We considered RF-EMF dose from 12 common usage scenarios such as mobile phone calls or data transmission. We evaluated the association between sociodemographic factors (gender, ethnicity, phone ownership and socio-economic status), and the dose change between baseline and follow-up.

RESULTS

Whole body dose was estimated at an average of 170 mJ/kg/day at baseline and 178 mJ/kg/day at follow-up. Among the eight tissues considered, the right temporal lobe received the highest daily dose (baseline 1150 mJ/kg/day, follow-up 1520 mJ/kg/day). Estimated daily dose [mJ/kg/day] increased between baseline and follow-up for head and brain related tissues, but remained stable for the whole body and heart. Doses estimated at baseline and follow-up showed low correlation among the 3384 children who completed both assessments. Asian ethnicity (compared to white) and owning a bar phone or no phone (as opposed to a smartphone) were associated with lower estimated whole-body and whole-brain RF-EMF dose, while black ethnicity, a moderate/low socio-economic status (compared to high), and increasing age (at baseline) were associated with higher estimated RF-EMF dose.

CONCLUSION

This study describes the first longitudinal exposure assessment for children in a critical period of development. Dose estimations will be used in further epidemiological analyses for the SCAMP study.