Very high radiofrequency radiation at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, Sweden from mobile phone base station antennas positioned close to pedestrians’ heads

2022 · Unclear · Insufficient evidence

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UnclearInsufficient evidencePaper 950

Detailed spatial measurements at Skeppsbron street showed a greatly uneven RF field distribution with hotspots. The highest spatial average across quadrat cells was 12.1 V/m (388 mW/m^2) and the maximum recorded reading was 31.6 V/m (2648 mW/m^2). Exposimeter…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2022

Study typeexposure_assessment

Reported directionUnclear

Evidence ratingInsufficient

Abstract

Very high radiofrequency radiation at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, Sweden from mobile phone base station antennas positioned close to pedestrians’ heads Tarmo Koppel, Mikko Ahonen, Michael Carlberg, Lennart Hardell. Very high radiofrequency radiation at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, Sweden from mobile phone base station antennas positioned close to pedestrians’ heads. Environmental Research. Available online 4 January 2022, 112627 doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112627. Highlights • Ambient radiofrequency radiation at Skeppsbron street, Stockholm, Sweden was measured. • The area with highest average radiation was 12.1 V/m with maximum reading 31.6 V/m. • Placement of mobile phone base stations at Skeppsbron represents poor radiofrequency infrastructure design yielding high exposure levels to the general public. Abstract In urban environment there is a constant increase of public exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations. With the placement of mobile phone base station antennas radiofrequency hotspots emerge. This study investigates an area at Skeppsbron street in Stockholm, Sweden with an aggregation of base station antennas placed at low level close to pedestrians' heads. Detailed spatial distribution measurements were performed with 1) a radiofrequency broadband analyzer and 2) a portable exposimeter. The results display a greatly uneven distribution of the radiofrequency field with hotspots. The highest spatial average across all quadrat cells was 12.1 V m⁻1 (388 mW m⁻2), whereas the maximum recorded reading from the entire area was 31.6 V m⁻1 (2648 mW m⁻2). Exposimeter measurements show that the majority of exposure is due to mobile phone downlink bands. Most dominant are 2600 and 2100 MHz bands used by 4G and 3G mobile phone services, respectively. The average radiofrequency radiation values from the earlier studies show that the level of ambient RF radiation exposure in Stockholm is increasing. This study concluded that mobile phone base station antennas at Skeppsbron, Stockholm are examples of poor radiofrequency infrastructure design which brings upon highly elevated exposure levels to popular seaside promenade and a busy traffic street. sciencedirect.com

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 typeexposure_assessment

Effect directionunclear

PopulationGeneral public/pedestrians at Skeppsbron street, Stockholm, Sweden

Sample sizeNot supplied

ExposureRF

Evidence strengthInsufficientConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Ambient radiofrequency field strength (V/m)
Power density (mW/m^2)
Spatial distribution/hotspots
Contribution by downlink frequency bands (exposimeter)

Limitations

No health outcomes assessed (exposure measurements only)
Sample size and measurement duration not reported in abstract
Specific instrument models, calibration, and measurement protocol details not provided in abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "exposure_assessment",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "base station",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "General public/pedestrians at Skeppsbron street, Stockholm, Sweden",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "Ambient radiofrequency field strength (V/m)",
    "Power density (mW/m^2)",
    "Spatial distribution/hotspots",
    "Contribution by downlink frequency bands (exposimeter)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Detailed spatial measurements at Skeppsbron street showed a greatly uneven RF field distribution with hotspots. The highest spatial average across quadrat cells was 12.1 V/m (388 mW/m^2) and the maximum recorded reading was 31.6 V/m (2648 mW/m^2). Exposimeter data indicated most exposure was from mobile phone downlink bands, dominated by 2600 MHz (4G) and 2100 MHz (3G).",
  "effect_direction": "unclear",
  "limitations": [
    "No health outcomes assessed (exposure measurements only)",
    "Sample size and measurement duration not reported in abstract",
    "Specific instrument models, calibration, and measurement protocol details not provided in abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "insufficient",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "radiofrequency",
    "RF-EMF",
    "base station",
    "downlink",
    "exposimeter",
    "broadband analyzer",
    "hotspots",
    "urban exposure",
    "Stockholm",
    "Skeppsbron",
    "2600 MHz",
    "2100 MHz",
    "4G",
    "3G"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.1,
      "reason": "Study concerns public/pedestrian exposure rather than occupational; only weak relevance."
    }
  ]
}

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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.envres.2021.112627
PubMed: Not supplied

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