Micro-environmental personal radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposures in Melbourne: A longitudinal trend analysis

Chhavi Raj Bhatt; Stuart Henderson; Masoumeh Sanagou; Chris Brzozek; Arno Thielens; Geza Benke; Sarah Loughran

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118629

Micro-environmental personal radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposures in Melbourne: A longitudinal trend analysis

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 13;251(Pt 2):118629. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118629. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chhavi Raj Bhatt¹, Stuart Henderson², Masoumeh Sanagou³, Chris Brzozek⁴, Arno Thielens⁵, Geza Benke⁶, Sarah Loughran⁷

Affiliations

¹ Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085, Australia; Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia. Electronic address: chhavi.bhatt@arpansa.gov.au.
² Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085, Australia. Electronic address: Stuart.Henderson@arpansa.gov.au.
³ Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085, Australia. Electronic address: masoumeh.sanagou@arpansa.gov.au.
⁴ Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085, Australia. Electronic address: Chris.Brzozek@arpansa.gov.au.
⁵ Photonics Initiative, Advanced Science and Research Center, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA. Electronic address: athielens@gc.cuny.edu.
⁶ Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia. Electronic address: geza.benke@monash.edu.
⁷ Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, 619 Lower Plenty Road, Yallambie VIC 3085, Australia. Electronic address: Sarah.Loughran@arpansa.gov.au.

PMID: 38490626
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118629

Abstract

Background: A knowledge gap exists regarding longitudinal assessment of personal radio-frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposures globally. It is unclear how the change in telecommunication technology over the years translates to change in RF-EMF exposure. This study aims to evaluate longitudinal trends of micro-environmental personal RF-EMF exposures in Australia.

Methods: The study utilised baseline (2015-16) and follow-up (2022) data on personal RF-EMF exposure (88 MHz-6 GHz) measured across 18 micro-environments in Melbourne. Simultaneous quantile regression analysis was conducted to compare exposure data distribution percentiles, particularly median (P₅₀), upper extreme value (P₉₉) and overall exposure trends. RF-EMF exposures were compared across six exposure source types: mobile downlink, mobile uplink, broadcast, 5G-New Radio, Others and Total (of the aforementioned sources). Frequency-specific exposures measured at baseline and follow-up were compared. Total exposure across different groups of micro-environment types were also compared.

Results: For all micro-environmental data, total (median and P₉₉) exposure levels did not significantly change at follow-up. Overall exposure trend of total exposure increased at follow-up. Mobile downlink contributed the highest exposure among all sources showing an increase in median exposure and overall exposure trend. Of seven micro-environment types, five of them showed total exposure levels (median and P₉₉) and overall exposure trend increased at follow-up.

Keywords: Longitudinal RF-EMF exposure; Micro-environmental personal RF-EMF exposure; Quantile regression models; RF-EMF exposure; Radio-frequency electromagnetic field exposure.