Between‐country comparison of whole‐body SAR from personal exposure data in Urban areas

Abstract

In five countries (Belgium, Switzerland, Slovenia, Hungary, and the Netherlands), personal radio frequency electromagnetic field measurements were performed in different microenvironments such as homes, public transports, or outdoors using the same exposure meters. From the mean personal field exposure levels (excluding mobile phone exposure), whole-body absorption values in a 1-year-old child and adult male model were calculated using a statistical multipath exposure method and compared for the five countries. All mean absorptions (maximal total absorption of 3.4 µW/kg for the child and 1.8 µW/kg for the adult) were well below the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) basic restriction of 0.08 W/kg for the general public. Generally, incident field exposure levels were well correlated with whole-body absorptions (SAR(wb) ), although the type of microenvironment, frequency of the signals, and dimensions of the considered phantom modify the relationship between these exposure measures. Exposure to the television and Digital Audio Broadcasting band caused relatively higher SAR(wb) values (up to 65%) for the 1-year-old child than signals at higher frequencies due to the body size-dependent absorption rates. Frequency Modulation (FM) caused relatively higher absorptions (up to 80%) in the adult male.

Exposure assessment of mobile phone base station radiation in an outdoor environment using sequential surrogate modeling

“…Finally, we performed measurements of the average electric field strength in order to provide field exposure maps, not the specific absorption rate. However, actual absorption can be determined from field exposure using the data from Neubauer et al [2010] and Joseph et al [2010b, 2012b]. This will also be part of future research.…”

Searching for the Perfect Wave: The Effect of Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields on Cells

“…Scientists are trying to answer all calls for specific categories’ interaction with environmental or professional RF exposure. Geographical location [90,94,95], occupational groups [96,97], sections of the population [98] such as children and youngsters [99,100] or pregnant women [101] are only several elements that have been investigated in a cohort of voluntary subjects participating in research or clinical studies, or considered in informative epidemiologic meta-analysis [102] surveys. Moreover, the impacts of diagnostic devices such as magnetic resonance scanners that emit RF were analyzed [103].…”

Prediction and comparison of downlink electric-field and uplink localised SAR values for realistic indoor wireless planning

“…Downlink exposure will be expressed as a function of the electric-field strength generated by the incident waves from the base station (macrocell, femtocell, or AP). Most measurement campaigns verify compliance with ICNIRP electricfield reference levels, e.g., [3][4][5][6][7][8]. Also, national and international authorities (e.g., Belgium, Switzerland,...) base their regulations on electric-field levels.…”

“…Also on a national level, authorities have implemented laws and norms to limit the exposure to electromagnetic fields. A lot of research has been done on the characterization of RF exposure (e.g., [3][4][5][6][7]), and measurements have indicated that exposure in indoor environments cannot be neglected [8]. Most exposure studies merely focus on fields generated due to traffic from base station to user device (downlink), but in reality also the localized Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) due to the electromagnetic waves induced (e.g., in the user's head) by the user device should be considered (uplink).…”