Swiss study finds ambient personal radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure remain largely unchanged between 2014 and 2021

Review date

November 2023

Article publication date

August 2023

Summary

This study compares ambient personal radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) measured across 19 Swiss cities in 2014 and 2021. Forty-nine outdoor areas (e.g., urban city centres, suburban and rural areas) were visited for undertaking RF-EMF measurements covering a range of broadcast and mobile telecommunication technologies (frequency range: 50 MHz to 6 GHz).  The RF-EMF mean exposure levels in 2014 and 2021 were estimated and compared. The results of the study show that RF-EMF levels in public places have not significantly changed between 2014 and 2021 despite an 18-fold increase in mobile data transmission during that period.

Link to

Comparison of ambient radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) levels in outdoor areas and public transport in Switzerland in 2014 and 2021

Published in

Environmental Research Volume 237

ARPANSA commentary

This study found that personal RF-EMF exposure levels measured in micro-environments during 2014-2021 remain well below international safety limits (e.g., the ICNIRP limits) and the exposure has not changed significantly over time. The exposure levels are comparable to those measured recently in Australia by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) (Henderson et al 2023). Further, the findings that overall exposure remained unchanged are consistent with those found elsewhere (Ramirez-Vazquez et al., 2023; Markussen et al., 2022; Iakovidis et al., 2022), but contrary to what was found by other studies (Eeftens et al., 2023; Urbinello et al., 2014). 

Within the framework of the Australian Government’s Electromagnetic Energy (EME) program, ARPANSA has been monitoring RF-EMF exposures in communities, including the change in RF-EMF exposure levels over the past few years. The findings (of Henderson et al 2023 and unpublished data) indicate that RF-EMF exposures in Australia remained far below the Australian public safety limits described in the safety standard which align with the ICNIRP limits. Further, overall RF-EMF exposure in Australia remained largely unchanged despite many-fold increase in mobile data traffic data between 2015-2022.