Comparison of personal exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields from Wi-Fi in a Spanish university over three years.

Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 0330500 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1879-1026 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00489697 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Total Environ Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Amsterdam, Elsevier.

Universities*; Humans ; Spain

In this work we present the personal exposure levels to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMF) from Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) 2.4 GHz and 5.85 GHz bands in a Spanish university, specifically, at the Faculty of Computer Science Engineering at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Albacete, Spain). We present results from three years, 2017, 2018 and 2019 in the same study place and points; and measurements carried out in 2022 inside a classroom and inside a professor's office, with the aim to compare the measurements and verify compliance with reference levels established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The minimum average was 0.0900 μW/m ² in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, in 2019, and the maximum average was 211 μW/m ² in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi in 2017, around the building. Comparing the measurements carried out inside the classroom with students and without students, we identified that the maximum value was 278 μW/m ² (classroom with students, in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band) and the minimum value was 37.9 μW/m ² (classroom without students, in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band). Finally, comparing the results of all the measurements (average values) inside the classroom and inside a professor's office, the maximum value was 205 μW/m ² (in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band) inside the classroom with students, and the minimum value was 0.217 μW/m ² inside a professor's office (in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band). These values in no case exceed the limits established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, 10 W/m ² for general public exposure.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article.
(Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Keywords: Inside a classroom; Inside a professor's office; Personal exposure to RF-EMF; University area; Wi-Fi band

Date Created: 20221111 Date Completed: 20221215 Latest Revision: 20221215

20221215

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160008

36368387