Base transceiver station antenna exposure and workers’ health

2022 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 721

In GHQ results, only the anxiety and insomnia subscales differed significantly between case and control groups. White blood cell and red blood cell counts also differed significantly between groups, and the authors report more changes in blood parameters amon…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2022

Study typecase_control

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Base transceiver station antenna exposure and workers’ health Hosseinali Rangkooy, Afshin Rahmati, Behzad Fouladi Dehaghi. Base transceiver station antenna exposure and workers’ health. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. 04 Aug 2022. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2022.2085892. Abstract Objectives. With the rapid development of technologies related to the communications industry, human exposure to electromagnetic fields has increased during recent decades. The study aimed at investigating the effect of exposure to waves emitted from the base transceiver stations (BTS) on workers' health. Methods. 240 workers participated in the study. In order to determine the general health conditions in two groups, along with electromagnetic waves exposure measurement, the general health questionnaire (GHQ) was completed and the data on blood parameters were assessed. Results. The mean age and job experience in the case and control groups were 34.1 ± 4.8 and 10.1 ± 6 years and 31.6 ± 5.5 and 8.8 ± 7 years, respectively. According to the GHQ results, only anxiety and insomnia subscales showed a significant difference between the two groups. The white blood cell and red blood cell counts in the case and control groups were 6715.6 ± 1591 and 7594 ± 2416, 5.3 × 106 ± 4.6 × 105 and 5.05 × 106 ± 5.39 × 105 per ml, respectively. Analysis of the results showed that the difference between the two groups was significant. Conclusion. The results revealed that blood parameters in the BTS operators showed more changes. Thus, it can be concluded that these health impacts result from occupational exposure to BTS waves. doi.org

Machine Enhanced Logic

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 typecase_control

Effect directionharm

PopulationWorkers (BTS operators vs control group)

Sample size240

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

General health (GHQ) including anxiety and insomnia subscales
Blood parameters (white blood cell count, red blood cell count)

Limitations

Exposure characteristics (e.g., frequency, intensity, duration) not reported in abstract
Specific study design details (e.g., matching, selection criteria, confounder control) not described in abstract
Only certain GHQ subscales showed significant differences

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "case_control",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "base transceiver station (BTS) antenna",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Workers (BTS operators vs control group)",
  "sample_size": 240,
  "outcomes": [
    "General health (GHQ) including anxiety and insomnia subscales",
    "Blood parameters (white blood cell count, red blood cell count)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In GHQ results, only the anxiety and insomnia subscales differed significantly between case and control groups. White blood cell and red blood cell counts also differed significantly between groups, and the authors report more changes in blood parameters among BTS operators.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure characteristics (e.g., frequency, intensity, duration) not reported in abstract",
    "Specific study design details (e.g., matching, selection criteria, confounder control) not described in abstract",
    "Only certain GHQ subscales showed significant differences"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "base transceiver station",
    "BTS",
    "occupational exposure",
    "electromagnetic waves",
    "workers",
    "general health questionnaire",
    "anxiety",
    "insomnia",
    "white blood cell",
    "red blood cell"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.95,
      "reason": "Study evaluates workers’ health impacts from occupational exposure to BTS antenna emissions."
    }
  ]
}

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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: 10.1080/10803548.2022.2085892
PubMed: Not supplied

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