Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this Opinion is to update the SCENIHR Opinions of 19 January 2009 'Health effects of exposure to EMF' and 6 July 2009 'Research needs and methodology to address the remaining knowledge gaps on the potential health effects of EMF' in the light of newly available information since then, and to give special consideration to areas where important knowledge gaps were identified in the previous Opinion. In addition, biophysical interaction mechanisms and the potential role of co-exposures to environmental stressors are discussed. Exposure Human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) comes from many different sources and occurs in various situations in everyday life. Man-made static fields are mainly found in occupational settings, such as close to MRI scanners, although DC high-voltage overhead transmission lines are being constructed, which are expected to expose larger parts of the population to static electric and magnetic fields. EMF in the extremely low frequency (ELF) range are ubiquitous. The main sources of these fields pertaining to the general public are in-house installations, household appliances and powerlines. In recent years, attention has also been directed towards people living next to electric power transformers installed inside residential buildings. It appears that long-term exposure to ELF magnetic field of these people can extent to several tenths of μT. Today, for power regulation most modern electrical equipment uses electronics instead of transformers. Examples include the switched power supplies to laptops, drilling tools, chargers of mobile phones and similar devices. As a consequence, the frequency content of the daily magnetic field exposure has changed mainly by adding odd harmonics. In particular, the third harmonic (150 Hz) has become another dominating frequency in our environment. In the household, more appliances have appeared in the intermediate frequencies (IF) range. An important source of exposure in this frequency range is induction hobs, which have become popular in recent years. These can expose their users (both members of the general public and professionals) to IF magnetic fields higher than the reference levels of exposure guidelines. In the radio frequency (RF range), by far the most applications which emit EMF are in the frequency range above 100 kHz up to some GHz. Multiple sources exist that contribute to an individual’s exposure. However, transmitters in close vicinity to or on the body have become the main sources of exposure for the general population and professionals. Distance to the source is the main determinant of exposure, together with emitted power and duty factor. In particular for brain tissues, the mobile phone used at the ear remains the main source of exposure. However, since the first generation of mobile telephony, the technology aimed at reducing the emitted power of mobile handsets. Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) phones are another source of everyday exposure. Smart-phones, which operate within networks of different technologies, as well as other portable wireless devices, like tablets and laptop computers, increased the complexity of the user’s exposure and changed the exposed body region. Due to the different sources used next to the body, it is important to take into account multiple exposures for risk assessment, which may also require organ-specific dosimetry. This issue is also important for occupational exposure, since there may be situations, such as working in an MRI suite, where professionals are exposed simultaneously to EMF of multiple frequencies ranges, different temporal variations and field strengths. The environmental exposure from sources is dominated by broadcasting antennas, antennas from private and governmental telecommunication services and mobile communications base stations. Historical data from spot measurement campaigns and Health effects of EMF – 2015 01 20 5 continuous radiation monitoring systems indicate that the introduction of new mobile telecommunication technologies after the deployment of the GSM and UMTS systems did not substantially change the average levels of EMF in the environment. At the same time, other technologies, like digital broadcasting, have in some regions contributed to the reduction of EMF exposure from far field sources. The number of sources has increased indoors. The installation of access points and short range base stations, such as 3G femtocells, WiFi hotspots and DECT devices, has given rise to exposure at very close distances (within 1 m), whereas farther away the emitted EMF does not exceed the common background levels. Consequently, the emitted EMF from these devices, even when combined, still results in a marginal exposure compared to reference levels of European and international guidelines. In general, it appears that, with respect to telecommunication applicat

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

This SCENIHR Opinion updates prior 2009 SCENIHR opinions on health effects of EMF and research needs, considering newly available information and discussing biophysical interaction mechanisms and potential roles of co-exposures to environmental stressors. It describes sources and characteristics of human EMF exposure across static, ELF, intermediate frequency, and RF ranges, including occupational and general-population scenarios, and notes that newer mobile technologies did not substantially change average environmental EMF levels based on monitoring data; indoor short-range sources (e.g., WiFi hotspots, DECT) can create very close-distance exposures but are described as marginal compared with guideline reference levels.

Limitations

• Abstract provided is descriptive and does not report specific health outcome results or quantitative risk estimates.
• No specific study design, population, sample size, or outcome measures are described in the abstract excerpt.

Suggested hubs

• who-icnirp (0.55)
  Discusses exposure guideline reference levels and European/international guidelines in an official health-scientific opinion context.
• occupational-exposure (0.5)
  Mentions occupational settings including MRI suites and simultaneous multi-band exposures for professionals.
• school-wi-fi (0.35)
  Discusses WiFi hotspots/access points as indoor short-range RF sources (not specifically schools, but relevant to WiFi exposure discussions).

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    "main_findings": "This SCENIHR Opinion updates prior 2009 SCENIHR opinions on health effects of EMF and research needs, considering newly available information and discussing biophysical interaction mechanisms and potential roles of co-exposures to environmental stressors. It describes sources and characteristics of human EMF exposure across static, ELF, intermediate frequency, and RF ranges, including occupational and general-population scenarios, and notes that newer mobile technologies did not substantially change average environmental EMF levels based on monitoring data; indoor short-range sources (e.g., WiFi hotspots, DECT) can create very close-distance exposures but are described as marginal compared with guideline reference levels.",
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}

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