Abstract

Overview

This study examines the longitudinal trends of micro-environmental personal radio-frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposures in Melbourne, Australia, noting changes over time in relation to evolving telecommunication technologies.

Background

There's a significant knowledge gap in understanding how advancements in telecommunication technology influence RF-EMF exposures on a personal level globally. This research aims to fill this gap by evaluating the changes over several years.

Methods

• Employed data from two time points: baseline (2015-16) and follow-up (2022).
• Exposure measurements encompassed a frequency range from 88 MHz to 6 GHz across 18 micro-environments.
• Utilized quantile regression analysis to evaluate the distribution of exposure levels, focusing on median (P50), upper extreme value (P99), and overall trend assessments.
• Analyzed exposures from various sources: mobile downlink, mobile uplink, broadcast, 5G-New Radio, and Others.

Findings

• Overall, median and P99 exposure levels showed no significant change at follow-up, despite an increase in the total exposure trend.
• Mobile downlink was the largest contributor to exposure, with both median and overall exposure levels increasing over time.
• Among the seven types of micro-environments studied, five showed increases in both median and upper extreme exposure levels as well as in overall trends at follow-up.

Conclusion

The study reveals that while median exposure levels have remained stable, total exposure trends have increased, indicating nuanced changes in RF-EMF exposure in Melbourne over the given time frame.