Improving the efficiency of measurement procedures for assessing human exposure in the vicinity of mobile phone (GSM/DCS/UMTS) base stations

Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2012 Apr;149(3):238-44. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncr248. Epub 2011 Jul 20.

Abstract

Standards stipulate 6-min time interval of averaging for measurements of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to assess human exposure to non-ionising radiation. Having in mind the base stations of public land mobile systems, the time interval defined in such a way noticeably limits the number of measuring points in practical applications. In this paper, based on the results of measurements in the vicinity of a multisystem base station (Global System for Mobile Communications [GSM], Digital Communication System [DCS] and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System [UMTS]), it was shown that the measurement process can be significantly accelerated by using shorter time intervals of averaging--15 s, 30 s and 1 min. It was found that measurement results differed from the 6-min root-mean-square mean by 10.5 %, 15.9 and 19 %, respectively, while the uncertainty of the measurements was increased by 3.0 %, 3.8 and 4.4 %, respectively. Shorter time-averaging intervals would reduce the total duration of the exposure assessment survey, while not compromising too much on measurement quality.

MeSH terms

  • Cell Phone*
  • Electromagnetic Fields
  • Environmental Exposure / analysis*
  • Humans
  • Public Health
  • Radiation Dosage
  • Radiation Injuries / prevention & control
  • Radiation Monitoring / methods*
  • Radiation Protection / methods*
  • Radiation Tolerance / physiology*
  • Radio Waves
  • Telecommunications
  • Telephone
  • Time Factors