Characterisation of exposure to non-ionising electromagnetic fields in primary schools belonging to the study area of INMA-Gipuzkoa birth cohort

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Accurate exposure assessment of non-ionising electromagnetic fields (EMF-NIR) is crucial in order to evaluate whether there are any health effects associated. Besides home, school is the setting where children spend the majority of their time. This study assesses the exposure to EMF-NIR in 26 primary schools of the INMA-Gipuzkoa study area by direct (spot and long-term measurements) methods. METHODS For long-term measurements (24 hours) of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) a broadband probe was used. Spot measurements of Radiofrequency (RF) were done with a narrowband device. Measurements were done in the center and four corners of two classrooms and the center of the principal playground of each school during school-hours according to the methodology described by Gallastegi et al., (2016) [1]. Data on presence and use of EMF-NIR sources inside rooms and on localization of outdoor environmental sources (power lines, transformers, mobile phone base stations and radio-television transmitters) was gathered. RESULTS Median/IQR of ELF-MF inside and outside schools were 0.012/0.010-0.0168 µT and 0.011/0.009-0.012 µT, respectively. Median/IQR of the electric field strength of the RF were 0.14/0.07-0.27 V/m inside and 0.27/0.18-0.34 V/m outside. Outside values were statistically lower for ELF (p=0.026) and higher for RF (p< 0.001) when compared with those obtained inside schools. Average values obtained are not statistically different in schools with environmental EMF-NIR sources in the vicinity comparing to those without. CONCLUSION Overall, exposure values were low. For ELF-MF, inside exposure levels are higher than outside while the opposite occurs for RF-EMF. To our knowledge this is the first study that analyzes the whole EMF-NIR range in schools in Spain. REFERENCES 1. Gallastegi M, et al.: Characterisation of exposure to non-ionising electromagnetic fields in the Spanish INMA birth cohort: study protocol. BMC Public Health 2016, 16:167.