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. 2015 May 22;12(5):5634-56.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph120505634.

Development of an RF-EMF Exposure Surrogate for Epidemiologic Research

Katharina Roser  1   2 , Anna Schoeni  1   2 , Alfred Bürgi  3 , Martin Röösli  1   2
Affiliations

Development of an RF-EMF Exposure Surrogate for Epidemiologic Research

Katharina Roser et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Exposure assessment is a crucial part in studying potential effects of RF-EMF. Using data from the HERMES study on adolescents, we developed an integrative exposure surrogate combining near-field and far-field RF-EMF exposure in a single brain and whole-body exposure measure. Contributions from far-field sources were modelled by propagation modelling and multivariable regression modelling using personal measurements. Contributions from near-field sources were assessed from both, questionnaires and mobile phone operator records. Mean cumulative brain and whole-body doses were 1559.7 mJ/kg and 339.9 mJ/kg per day, respectively. 98.4% of the brain dose originated from near-field sources, mainly from GSM mobile phone calls (93.1%) and from DECT phone calls (4.8%). Main contributors to the whole-body dose were GSM mobile phone calls (69.0%), use of computer, laptop and tablet connected to WLAN (12.2%) and data traffic on the mobile phone via WLAN (6.5%). The exposure from mobile phone base stations contributed 1.8% to the whole-body dose, while uplink exposure from other people's mobile phones contributed 3.6%. In conclusion, the proposed approach is considered useful to combine near-field and far-field exposure to an integrative exposure surrogate for exposure assessment in epidemiologic studies. However, substantial uncertainties remain about exposure contributions from various near-field and far-field sources.

Keywords: RF-EMF; adolescents; dose calculation; exposure assessment; mobile phone.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean daily cumulative brain (left) and whole-body (right) dose for the near-field predictors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mean daily cumulative whole-body dose for the far-field exposure at different locations; The same pattern was found for the brain dose.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Total brain and whole-body dose for the three HERMES study participants (non-user, normal user, heavy-user); Percentages of the far-field dose on the total dose are indicated above the bars.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of predicted dose measures and personal measurements using the three dose categories <50th percentile (low), 50th–90th percentile (medium) and >90th percentile (high); First row: total dose vs. total personal measurements; Second row: far-field dose vs. total personal measurements; Third row: downlink dose vs. downlink personal measurements.
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