TY - JOUR
T1 - Personal exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in various occupations in Spain and France
AU - Turuban, Maxime
AU - Kromhout, Hans
AU - Vila, Javier
AU - Vallbona-Vistós, Miquel
AU - Baldi, Isabelle
AU - Turner, Michelle C
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding for the OccRF Health Study is provided by ANSES No. EST-2018 RF-35 . MCT is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship ( RYC-2017-01892 ) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and co-funded by the European Social Fund . ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program ( CEX2018-000806-S ), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - BACKGROUND: A preliminary job-exposure matrix (JEM) for radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) was created based on self-reported occupational information from a multi-country population-based study of approximately 10,000 participants combined with available measurement data compiled in a source-exposure matrix (spot measurements). In order to address the limited personal occupational RF-EMF measurement data available in the literature, we performed a measurement campaign among workers in various occupations in Spain and France.METHODS: Personal full-shift measurements were conducted using RadMan 2XT™ (Narda) devices. A worker diary was used to capture information on occupational and background sources of RF exposure during the shift. Inclusion of occupations to be measured was initially based on exposure prevalence and level information in the preliminary JEM and expert judgment.RESULTS: Personal full-shift measurements were conducted among 333 workers representing 46 ISCO88 occupations. Exposure to electric (E) and magnetic (H) fields was infrequent with >99% of measurements below the detection limit of the device (≥1% of the 1998 ICNIRP standards). A total of 50.2% and 77.2% of workers were ever exposed to E and H fields respectively (having at least one recorded 1-second measurement above the detection limit). Workers in elementary occupations, technicians and associate professionals, plant and machine operators and assemblers had somewhat greater numbers of measurements above the detection limit, higher maximum values and longer exposure durations. A small proportion of measurements were ≥100% of the standards, though these exceedances were brief (generally a few seconds in duration). Female workers and workers reporting use of any RF-EMF emitting source were more likely to have a measured exposure to E and H fields.CONCLUSION: We conducted personal RF-EMF measurements among workers in various occupations in Spain and France. Overall, RF-EMF exposure ≥1 % ICNIRP was infrequent, despite some intermittent exposures ≥100% observed among workers in some occupations.
AB - BACKGROUND: A preliminary job-exposure matrix (JEM) for radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) was created based on self-reported occupational information from a multi-country population-based study of approximately 10,000 participants combined with available measurement data compiled in a source-exposure matrix (spot measurements). In order to address the limited personal occupational RF-EMF measurement data available in the literature, we performed a measurement campaign among workers in various occupations in Spain and France.METHODS: Personal full-shift measurements were conducted using RadMan 2XT™ (Narda) devices. A worker diary was used to capture information on occupational and background sources of RF exposure during the shift. Inclusion of occupations to be measured was initially based on exposure prevalence and level information in the preliminary JEM and expert judgment.RESULTS: Personal full-shift measurements were conducted among 333 workers representing 46 ISCO88 occupations. Exposure to electric (E) and magnetic (H) fields was infrequent with >99% of measurements below the detection limit of the device (≥1% of the 1998 ICNIRP standards). A total of 50.2% and 77.2% of workers were ever exposed to E and H fields respectively (having at least one recorded 1-second measurement above the detection limit). Workers in elementary occupations, technicians and associate professionals, plant and machine operators and assemblers had somewhat greater numbers of measurements above the detection limit, higher maximum values and longer exposure durations. A small proportion of measurements were ≥100% of the standards, though these exceedances were brief (generally a few seconds in duration). Female workers and workers reporting use of any RF-EMF emitting source were more likely to have a measured exposure to E and H fields.CONCLUSION: We conducted personal RF-EMF measurements among workers in various occupations in Spain and France. Overall, RF-EMF exposure ≥1 % ICNIRP was infrequent, despite some intermittent exposures ≥100% observed among workers in some occupations.
KW - RF-EMF
KW - Occupational exposure
KW - Personal measurements
KW - Job-exposure matrix
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85171421127&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108156
DO - 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108156
M3 - Article
C2 - 37722304
SN - 0160-4120
VL - 180
JO - Environment International
JF - Environment International
M1 - 108156
ER -