Measurement studies of personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: A systematic review

Abstract

The last 25 years have seen an increase in the number of radiofrequency sources with the global adoption of smartphones as primary connectivity devices. The objective of this work was to review and evaluate the measured studies of personal exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-RMF) and meet the basic quality criteria eligible for inclusion in this Review, according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, following the eligibility criteria of the PECO (Population, Exposure, Comparator, and Outcome) methodology, and the instrument for critical reading Critical Appraisal Skills Programme Español (CASPe). We systematically reviewed the works published between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2021, yielding 56 publications. Of the different types of studies in which personal exposure to RF-EMF has been measured with two measurement methodologies can be highlighted: Personal measurements with volunteers and Personal measurements with a trained researcher (touring a specific area, one or several microenvironments, an entire city, walking or in some means of transport). Personal exposimeters were used in 83% of the studies. The lowest mean was measured in Egypt with a value of 0.00100 μW/m² (1.00 nW/m²) in 2007 and the highest mean was measured in Belgium with a value of 285000 μW/m² (0.285 W/m²) in 2019. The results of our study confirm that RF-EMF exposure levels are well below the maximum levels established by the ICNIRP guidelines.

Keywords: Exposimeters or PEMs; Measurements of personal exposure; Microenvironments; Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields; Systematic review.