Large-area mobile measurement of outdoor exposure to radio frequencies

2023 · Unclear · Insufficient evidence

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UnclearInsufficient evidencePaper 525

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2023

Study typeexposure_assessment

Reported directionUnclear

Evidence ratingInsufficient

Abstract

Large-area mobile measurement of outdoor exposure to radio frequencies Paniagua-Sánchez JM, García-Cobos FJ, Rufo-Pérez M, Jiménez-Barco A. Large-area mobile measurement of outdoor exposure to radio frequencies. Sci Total Environ. 2023 Mar 15;877:162852. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162852. Highlights • Fast car-mounted RF measurements in large urban outdoor areas. • The car alters personal exposimeter measurements in a quantifiable way. • Exposure quotients for thermal effects calculated in a multi-frequency environment. • Fusion of RF exposure maps with aerial photographs. Abstract A rapid outdoor sampling technique was tested to measure human exposure to radio frequencies in a city of 96,000 inhabitants. The technique consisted of taking measurements with a personal exposure meter inside a moving vehicle. Tests were carried out to quantify the alteration produced by the vehicle's structure and obtain correction factors in order to minimize this alteration. Data were collected at 3065 points where signals in the FM radio and mobile phone wavebands were detected. The coefficients of exposure to sources with multiple frequencies due to thermal effects were calculated from the measured values of the electric field. Kriging was used to generate maps of these coefficients, and these maps were then merged with aerial photographs of the city to readily identify the areas with greater or lesser exposure. The results indicated that the vehicle increased the FM broadcasting radiation readings by a factor of 1.66, but attenuated those of mobile telephony by factors of 0.54–0.66. The mean electric field levels detected throughout the city were 0.231, 0.057, 0.140, 0.124, and 0.110 V/m for the frequency bands FM, LTE 800 (DL), GSM + UMTS 900(DL), GSM 1800(DL), and UMTS 2100(DL), respectively. The mean coefficient of exposure to sources with multiple frequencies was 2.05 × 10−4, and the maximum was 9.81 × 10−3. It can be concluded from the study that it is possible to assess radio frequency exposure using this method, and that the technique is scalable to different sized cities. It also allows measurement at different times so as to analyse the temporal variation of radio frequency levels. Excerpts This study has some drawbacks. Measurements were carried out homogeneously throughout the city, without focusing on any specific microenvironment or comparing exposure levels between different microenvironments, as is done in other studies (Urbinello et al., 2014; Sagar et al., 2018). This does not allow us to accurately assess human exposure to radio-frequencies since people spend most of their time outdoors in a city in specific places, such as parks, school playgrounds, shopping areas or residential yards. Future research might focus on the evaluation of exposure in these places taking the data provided in this study as a starting point. A characteristic of this study and of other similar ones cited in the bibliography is that the measurement instrumentation captures radiation in limited ranges. In the case of PEMs such as ours, the frequency range is 87–5850 MHz, which includes the services addressed in Table 1. Although most of the electromagnetic radiation that affects people lies within this range, radiation from other important radio frequencies such as AM radio is not covered. The exposure coefficients for thermal effects of these radiations can be of the same order of magnitude as those found in the present work, and for electrical effects two orders of magnitude greater (Paniagua et al., 2009; Paniagua et al., 2010; Rufo et al., 2018). Although this type of study does not offer a complete vision of radio frequency exposure, it does allow exploration of a major part of the radio spectrum to which the population is exposed. It also allows one to analyse the temporal evolution of exposure to mobile telephony radiation, which changes more in the short and medium term due to the introduction of new generations, such as 5G, and the opening of new frequency bands. Open access paper: sciencedirect.com

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AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeexposure_assessment

Effect directionunclear

PopulationNot supplied

Sample size3065

ExposureRF

Evidence strengthInsufficientConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

A car-mounted personal exposure meter method was tested for rapid outdoor RF sampling across a city (3065 points). The vehicle increased FM broadcasting readings by a factor of 1.66 and attenuated mobile telephony readings by factors of 0.54–0.66. Mean electric field levels across the city were 0.231 (FM), 0.057 (LTE 800 DL), 0.140 (GSM+UMTS 900 DL), 0.124 (GSM 1800 DL), and 0.110 V/m (UMTS 2100 DL); the mean multi-frequency exposure coefficient for thermal effects was 2.05×10−4 (maximum 9.81×10−3).

Outcomes measured

Outdoor RF electric field levels (V/m) by band (FM, LTE 800 DL, GSM+UMTS 900 DL, GSM 1800 DL, UMTS 2100 DL)
Vehicle-induced measurement alteration factors (correction factors)
Multi-frequency exposure coefficient/quotient for thermal effects
Spatial exposure maps (kriging) merged with aerial photographs

Limitations

Measurements were distributed homogeneously across the city without focusing on or comparing specific microenvironments (e.g., parks, school playgrounds, shopping areas, residential yards), limiting accuracy for assessing typical human exposure patterns.
Personal exposure meter frequency range was limited (87–5850 MHz), not covering some RF sources such as AM radio; therefore the study does not provide a complete view of RF exposure.

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "exposure_assessment",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone, FM radio (broadcast)",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": null,
  "sample_size": 3065,
  "outcomes": [
    "Outdoor RF electric field levels (V/m) by band (FM, LTE 800 DL, GSM+UMTS 900 DL, GSM 1800 DL, UMTS 2100 DL)",
    "Vehicle-induced measurement alteration factors (correction factors)",
    "Multi-frequency exposure coefficient/quotient for thermal effects",
    "Spatial exposure maps (kriging) merged with aerial photographs"
  ],
  "main_findings": "A car-mounted personal exposure meter method was tested for rapid outdoor RF sampling across a city (3065 points). The vehicle increased FM broadcasting readings by a factor of 1.66 and attenuated mobile telephony readings by factors of 0.54–0.66. Mean electric field levels across the city were 0.231 (FM), 0.057 (LTE 800 DL), 0.140 (GSM+UMTS 900 DL), 0.124 (GSM 1800 DL), and 0.110 V/m (UMTS 2100 DL); the mean multi-frequency exposure coefficient for thermal effects was 2.05×10−4 (maximum 9.81×10−3).",
  "effect_direction": "unclear",
  "limitations": [
    "Measurements were distributed homogeneously across the city without focusing on or comparing specific microenvironments (e.g., parks, school playgrounds, shopping areas, residential yards), limiting accuracy for assessing typical human exposure patterns.",
    "Personal exposure meter frequency range was limited (87–5850 MHz), not covering some RF sources such as AM radio; therefore the study does not provide a complete view of RF exposure."
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "insufficient",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "radio frequency",
    "RF exposure",
    "outdoor exposure",
    "mobile measurement",
    "car-mounted measurements",
    "personal exposure meter",
    "electric field",
    "FM radio",
    "LTE 800",
    "GSM",
    "UMTS",
    "2100 MHz",
    "kriging",
    "exposure mapping",
    "thermal effects",
    "multi-frequency exposure coefficient"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "exposure-mapping",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Uses large-area mobile measurements and kriging to generate spatial RF exposure maps."
    },
    {
      "slug": "mobile-networks",
      "weight": 0.6,
      "reason": "Measures downlink bands for LTE/GSM/UMTS in an urban environment."
    }
  ]
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162852
PubMed: Not supplied

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