THE AGE-DEPENDENCE OF PERSONAL EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS IN INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

Abstract

The ever-growing usage of new information and communication technology devices by different age groups is followed with public concerns of exposure induced biological effects. The aim of this paper is to assess and compare personal exposure levels to electromagnetic fields of wireless communications for different age groups, including children, under the same exposure conditions. Assessment of personal exposure of the following age groups: 08-15, 16-20, 21-35 and 36-60 years old is conducted with sophisticated tri-axial E-field frequency selective personal exposure meters, enabling measurements of electric field strength in 14 pre-defined frequency bands in the range of 80 MHz-6 GHz. Participants are selected to be with similar social conditions and occupation, including children, students and administrative employees. The measurements were conducted in typical residential environments collecting 161 280 measurement samples. The mean value of power density of different wireless technologies is presented for each age-group, including the contribute of specific wireless technology to the total personal exposure. The highest personal exposure values per frequency band for all age groups are in GSM and Wi-Fi 2G. The results show a difference in mean power density levels between different age groups for the same exposure environment. Ultimately, all measured values were far below international safety guidelines and exposure limits.