Policy Development, Monitoring and Subject Reintroduction of Nonionising Radiation in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

Abstract

The effect of non-ionising radiation to human health has been a great concern. In the case of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, this apprehension is especially significant, since it concerns students and university staff who study, work and live in the university compound. This worry is further justified with the existence of several Mobile Telephone Base Stations (MTBS), television and radio broadcast towers, high-voltage electric cables and electrical substations which are known to be sources of electromagnetic fields ranging from the Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) to the Radiofrequency (RF) range. This creates a serious quandary, since there are no safety guidelines focusing on limiting the non-ionizing radiation exposure dose to students and staff members. The objectives of this study are two-fold: 1) to monitor the non-ionising radiation level at various locations within the university compound to provide current data compared with exposure limits suggested by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and International Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee (INIRC) of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA)and 2) to develop a non-ionising radiation policy for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) from both the administrative and technical aspects. Six locations were chosen for monitoring based on the presence of radiation sources and/or student/staff occupancy, determined with the assistance of the Office of Occupational Safety and Health, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Three of these locations contain sources which emit radiation in the ELF range, while the remaining three emit RF radiation. Results showed that the ratio percentage between the RF and ELF exposures at these locations, in comparison to the MCMC and IRPA/INIRC exposure limits,were 0.2% and 2.8%, respectively. These results showed that for the time being, the exposures at all identified non-ionising radiation hotspots does not exceed the exposure limit suggested by both MCMC (which adopts the recommendation of ICNIRP, 1998) and IRPA/INIRC. However, a non-ionising radiation policy for UKM is still imperative, to serve as a reference and guideline for future activities that may contribute to the non-ionising radiation capacity. Subsequently, concerns were raised during the monitoring activities, especially amongst students who highlighted the necessity of a subject that introduces non-ionising radiation and its possible biological risk, as was offered by the Nuclear Science Department, before the restructuring of the Faculty of Physics and Applied Science in 2001.