Radiofrequency radiation at Stockholm Central Railway Station in Sweden and some medical aspects on public exposure to RF fields

Hardell,Lennart; Koppel,Tarmo; Carlberg,Michael; Ahonen,Mikko; Hedendahl,Lena

doi:10.3892/ijo.2016.3657

Radiofrequency radiation at Stockholm Central Railway Station in Sweden and some medical aspects on public exposure to RF fields

Authors:
- Lennart Hardell
- Tarmo Koppel
- Michael Carlberg
- Mikko Ahonen
- Lena Hedendahl
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Affiliations: Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, SE-701 82 Örebro, Sweden, Department of Labour Environment and Safety Tallinn University of Technology, SCO351 Ehitajate tee 5, 19086 Tallinn, Estonia, Institute of Environmental Health and Safety, 11615 Tallinn, Estonia, Independent Environment and Health Research Luleå, SE-972 53 Luleå, Sweden
Published online on: August 12, 2016 https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2016.3657
Pages: 1315-1324
Copyright: © Hardell et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

The Stockholm Central Railway Station in Sweden was investigated for public radiofrequency (RF) radiation exposure. The exposimeter EME Spy 200 was used to collect the RF exposure data across the railway station. The exposimeter covers 20 different radiofrequency bands from 88 to 5,850 MHz. In total 1,669 data points were recorded. The median value for total exposure was 921 µW/m2 (or 0.092 µW/cm2; 1 µW/m2=0.0001 µW/cm2) with some outliers over 95,544 µW/m2 (6 V/m, upper detection limit). The mean total RF radiation level varied between 2,817 to 4,891 µW/m2 for each walking round. High mean measurements were obtained for GSM + UMTS 900 downlink varying between 1,165 and 2,075 µW/m2. High levels were also obtained for UMTS 2100 downlink; 442 to 1,632 µW/m2. Also LTE 800 downlink, GSM 1800 downlink, and LTE 2600 downlink were in the higher range of measurements. Hot spots were identified, for example close to a wall mounted base station yielding over 95,544 µW/m2 and thus exceeding the exposimeter's detection limit. Almost all of the total measured levels were above the precautionary target level of 3-6 µW/m2 as proposed by the BioInitiative Working Group in 2012. That target level was one-tenth of the scientific benchmark providing a safety margin either for children, or chronic exposure conditions. We compare the levels of RF radiation exposures identified in the present study to published scientific results reporting adverse biological effects and health harm at levels equivalent to, or below those measured in this Stockholm Central Railway Station project. It should be noted that these RF radiation levels give transient exposure, since people are generally passing through the areas tested, except for subsets of people who are there for hours each day of work.

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