Review of Studies Concerning Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Exposure Assessment in Europe: Low Frequency Fields (50 Hz-100 kHz).
We aimed to review the findings of exposure assessment studies done in European countries on the exposure of the general public to low frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) of various frequencies. The study shows that outdoor average extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) in public areas in urban environments range between 0.05 and 0.2 µT in terms of flux densities, but stronger values (of the order of a few µT) may occur directly beneath high-voltage power lines, at the walls of transformer buildings, and at the boundary fences of substations. In the indoor environment, high values have been measured close to several domestic appliances (up to the mT range), some of which are held close to the body, e.g., hair dryers, electric shavers. Common sources of exposure to intermediate frequencies (IF) include induction cookers, compact fluorescent lamps, inductive charging systems for electric cars and security or anti-theft devices. No systematic measurement surveys or personal exposimetry data for the IF range have been carried out and only a few reports on measurements of EMFs around such devices are mentioned. According to the available European exposure assessment studies, three population exposure categories were classified by the authors regarding the possible future risk analysis. This classification should be considered a crucial advancement for exposure assessment, which is a mandatory step in any future health risk assessment of EMFs exposure.
Institute of Non-Ionizing Radiation (INIS), Pohorskega Bataljona 215, Ljubljana 1000, Slovenia. peter.gajsek@inis.si.
Peter
P
Gajšek
Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell'Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni IEIIT, CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy. paolo.ravazzani@ieiit.cnr.it.
Paolo
P
Ravazzani
European Centre for Environment and Human Health (ECEHH), University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3HD, UK. J.Grellier@exeter.ac.uk.|Formerly Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Parc de Recerca Biomèdica de Barcelona, Doctor Aiguader, 88, Barcelona 08003, Spain. J.Grellier@exeter.ac.uk.
James
J
Grellier
Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki GR-54124, Greece.
Theodoros
T
Samaras
National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Anna u.5., Budapest 1221, Hungary. theosama@auth.gr.
József
J
Bakos
National Research Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Anna u.5., Budapest 1221, Hungary.
György
G
Thuróczy
D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006794:Household Articles; D006801:Humans; D011210:Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011874:Radiometry; D018570:Risk Assessment
ELF magnetic fields; electromagnetic fields; exposimetry; exposure assessment; intermediate frequencies (IF)