Electromagnetic exposure analysis of the subway passenger under the civil communication system radiation

PLoS One. 2024 Mar 11;19(3):e0300049. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300049. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

In order to assess the electromagnetic exposure safety of passengers under the civil communication system of the subway, the radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic environment of subway carriage is established by using COMSOL Multiphysics software, it includes a 1-1/4 " leaky coaxial cable (LCX1) and a 1-5/8" leaky coaxial cable (LCX2), which are designed to be the exposure sources, and twelve passengers at different position. The electromagnetic environment model has been verified through field measurement. The exposure dose distribution of twelve passengers is compared and analyzed, when LCX1 and LCX2 works respectively. The simulated results show that, to compare with LCX2, the electromagnetic dose absorbed by the passengers is reduced by 9.19% and 22.50% at 2100 MHz and 2600 MHz respectively. The specific absorption rate (SAR) of passengers obtains the maximum value of 1.91×10-4 W/Kg and the temperature rise to 0.214 K when the LCX1 works at 3400 MHz. By comparing with the public exposure limitation of the International Commission of Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), it demonstrates the electromagnetic exposure safety of the passengers under the civil communication system. More importantly, the proposed LCX1 not only could add the 5G signal cover but also lower the SAR absorbed by the passengers, which indicates that the public electromagnetic exposure dose could be reduced by adjusting the radiation performances of exposure source, which provide a new way for electromagnetic protecting.

MeSH terms

  • Communication
  • Electromagnetic Fields* / adverse effects
  • Radio Waves / adverse effects
  • Railroads*
  • Temperature

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China: [grant number 62161017, 61701208]; The Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province: [grant number: 21JR7RA283]; Tianyou Youth Talent Lift Program of Lanzhou Jiaotong University: [grant number 1520260111].