Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute Campus, Pondicherry 607402, India.
Central Inter-Disciplinary Research Facility, Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute Campus, Pondicherry 607402, India.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Oct 29;19(21):14157. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192114157.
The continuous exposure of electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation from cell phone towers may possibly have an influence on public health. Each cell phone tower is unique in terms of number of antennas and its associated attributes; thus, the radiation exposure varies from one tower to another. Hence, a standardized method for quantifying the exposure is beneficial while studying the effects of radiation on the human population residing around the cell phone towers. A mere collection of data or human samples without understanding the cell phone tower differences may show study results such as an increase or decrease in biological parameters. Those changes may not be due to the effects of EMF radiation from cell phone towers but could be due to any other cause. Therefore, a comparative study was designed with the aim of quantifying and comparing the electric field strength (EF), magnetic field strength (MF) and power density (PD) on four sides of cell phone towers with varying numbers of antennas at 50 m and 100 m. Further, an attempt was made to develop a PD-based classification for facilitating research involving human biological samples. Through convenience sampling, sixteen cell phone towers were selected. With the use of coordinates, the geographic mapping of selected towers was performed to measure the distance between the towers. Based on the number of antennas, the cell phone towers were categorized into four groups which are described as group I with 1-5 antennas, group II comprising of 6-10 antennas, group III consisting of 11-15 antennas and group IV comprised of towers clustered with more than 15 antennas. The study parameters, namely the EF, MF and PD, were recorded on all four sides of the cell phone towers at 50 m and 100 m. One-way ANOVA was performed to compare the study parameters among study groups and different sides using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The mean MF in Group IV was 2221.288 ± 884.885 μA/m and 1616.913 ± 745.039 μA/m at 50 m and 100 m respectively. The mean PD in Group IV at 50 m was 0.129 ± 0.094 μW/cm and 0.072 ± 0.061 μW/cm at 100 m. There was a statistically significant ( < 0.05) increase in the MF and PD at 50 m compared to 100 m among cell phone tower clusters with more than 15 antennas (Group IV). On the other hand, a non-significant increase in EF was observed at 50 m compared to 100 m in Group II and IV. The EF, MF and PD on all four sides around cell phone towers are not consistent with distance at 50 m and 100 m due to variation in the number of antennas. Accordingly, a PD-based classification was developed as low, medium and high for conducting research involving any biological sample based on quantile. The low PD corresponds to 0.001-0.029, medium to 0.03-0.099 and high to 0.1-0.355 (μW/cm). The PD-based classification is a preferred method over the sole criteria of distance for conducting human research as it measures the true effects of EMF radiation from the cell phone towers.
手机基站的电磁场(EMF)辐射的持续暴露可能对公众健康产生影响。每个手机基站在天线数量及其相关属性方面都是独特的;因此,每个基站的辐射暴露情况都有所不同。因此,在研究手机基站周围居住的人群的辐射影响时,采用标准化的方法来量化辐射暴露是有益的。如果只是收集数据或人类样本,而不了解手机基站的差异,可能会显示出生物参数增加或减少等研究结果。这些变化可能不是由于手机基站的 EMF 辐射的影响,而是由于其他任何原因。因此,设计了一项比较研究,旨在量化和比较具有不同天线数量的手机基站在 50 米和 100 米处的电场强度(EF)、磁场强度(MF)和功率密度(PD)。此外,还试图开发一种基于 PD 的分类方法,以方便涉及人类生物样本的研究。通过便利抽样,选择了 16 个手机基站。使用坐标对选定的基站进行地理映射,以测量基站之间的距离。根据天线数量,将手机基站分为四组,分别描述为每组包含 1-5 个天线的第 I 组、每组包含 6-10 个天线的第 II 组、每组包含 11-15 个天线的第 III 组和每组包含超过 15 个天线的第 IV 组。在手机基站的四个侧面记录了研究参数,即 EF、MF 和 PD,分别在 50 米和 100 米处。使用社会科学统计软件包(SPSS)版本 25.0 对研究组和不同侧面之间的研究参数进行单因素方差分析。第 IV 组的 MF 平均值为 2221.288 ± 884.885 μA/m 和 1616.913 ± 745.039 μA/m,分别在 50 米和 100 米处。第 IV 组在 50 米处的 PD 平均值为 0.129 ± 0.094 μW/cm 和 0.072 ± 0.061 μW/cm,分别在 100 米处。在包含超过 15 个天线的手机基站集群中,与 100 米相比,50 米处的 MF 和 PD 显著增加(<0.05)。另一方面,在第 II 组和第 IV 组中,与 100 米相比,50 米处的 EF 仅观察到非显著增加。由于天线数量的变化,手机基站周围四个侧面的 EF、MF 和 PD 与 50 米和 100 米处的距离不一致。因此,根据分位数开发了基于 PD 的分类方法,以低、中、高三种分类进行基于任何生物样本的研究。低 PD 对应于 0.001-0.029,中 PD 对应于 0.03-0.099,高 PD 对应于 0.1-0.355(μW/cm)。与距离的单一标准相比,基于 PD 的分类是进行人类研究的首选方法,因为它测量了来自手机基站的 EMF 辐射的真实影响。
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