Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields of Mobile Phone Stations and Symptoms in Individuals with Electromagnetic HypersensitivityAbstract Number:1845 Po-Chang Huang*, Jui-chin Chiang, Ya-Yun Cheng, Tain-Junn Cheng, Chien-Yuan Huang, Ya-Ting Chuang, and How-Ran Guo Po-Chang Huang* Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Jui-chin Chiang Department of Family Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taiwan Search for more papers by this author , Ya-Yun Cheng Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Tain-Junn Cheng Department of Occupational Health Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Taiwan Search for more papers by this author , Chien-Yuan Huang Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park Clinic, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Taiwan Search for more papers by this author , Ya-Ting Chuang Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Taiwan Search for more papers by this author , and How-Ran Guo Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author AbstractBACKGROUND: Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are ubiquitous in the environment. Some individuals may develop various symptoms after exposure to EMFs, and this condition has been named as ‘electromagnetic hypersensitivity’ (EHS). These symptoms are generally subjective, and studies on their association with exposure to EMF yielded inconsistent results. In order to minimize the effects of personal perception, we conducted a double-blind under the provocation study in a controlled environment.METHODS: We recruited individuals with self-reported EHS and controls between 20 and 69 years old from the general population in Taiwan. They were placed in a laboratory which can block EMFs from the outside and received two sessions of test, one with EMF signals mimicking those from mobile phone stations (power density = 0.1mW/cm2; the provocation session), and the other without the provocation (the sham session). The sequence of the two sessions was randomly assigned, and participants were asked to report the perception of EMF exposure and symptoms using questionnaires. The Mcnemar’s test was applied to evaluate the differences in the two groups.RESULTS: A total of 48 individuals with EHS and 92 controls completed the study. There were more women in the EHS group (60.4% vs. 29.3%, p < 0.001), and the EHS group were younger. In both groups, the proportion of participants giving correct answers to the provocation status was very low, with a kappa statistics of 0.056 in the EHS group and 0.027 in the controls. None of the differences in the symptoms reported between the two sessions reached statistical significance in either group.CONCLUSIONS: Most individuals with EHS could not detect WCDMA signals at the level of 0.1mW/cm2, and the occurrence symptoms they reported did not correlate with the EMF exposure.