28 April 2023
Scientists at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) have published a paper that shows the average exposure to radio waves from wireless technology in Melbourne is more than 700 times below the safety limit.
ARPANSA’s Electromagnetic Radiation Exposure Assistant Director Dr Stuart Henderson led the research.
He says that the reason they undertook the study was to find out what the public’s typical exposure to radio waves was in public places like local parks or residential streets.
‘In March and April 2022, we collected measurements at 50 sites across Melbourne,’ Dr Henderson said.
‘While environmental exposure from wireless technology like Wi-Fi, broadcast media, and mobile phones was different in each location, in every case this exposure was still well below the Australian safety limit.’
Dr Henderson said the last time the agency conducted a large-scale survey like this was in 2013.
‘It’s interesting to see the different radio wave exposures over time. Back in 2013, 4G had only just been introduced and analogue TV had recently been replaced by digital TV transmissions,’ he said.
‘The 2022 measurements were ARPANSA’s first study measuring radio waves used in the 5G network. So, it is interesting to see how that fifth generation of mobile phone technology contributes to environmental exposure.
‘In future studies we would like to assess radio wave exposure at other Australian cities and regional towns.’
The article was published in peer-reviewed journal Radiation Protection Dosimetry in March 2023.
You can read the journal article here: survey of the radiofrequency electromagnetic energy environment in Melbourne, Australia | Radiation Protection Dosimetry | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
There is a summary of the findings on our website.
