RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries

Introduction: Several devices have been developed to assess exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF). Since the existing solutions to measure the personal exposure induced by emerging 5G New Radio (NR) are expensive, complex, and bulky, a new cost efficient and low-complexity sensor...

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Authors: Van Bladel, Han, Stroobandt, Bram, Fernandes Veludo, Adriana, Deprez, Kenneth, Röösli, Martin, Tognola, Gabriella, Parazzini, Marta, Thuróczy, György, Polańska, Kinga, Politanski, Piotr, Wiart, Joe, Guxens Junyent, Mònica, Joseph, Wout
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2025
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Repository:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/70359
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70359
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109368
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:5G
Mobile telecommunications
Non-ionizing radiation
Personal exposure measurements
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
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spelling RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countriesVan Bladel, HanStroobandt, BramFernandes Veludo, AdrianaDeprez, KennethRöösli, MartinTognola, GabriellaParazzini, MartaThuróczy, GyörgyPolańska, KingaPolitanski, PiotrWiart, JoeGuxens Junyent, MònicaJoseph, Wout5GMobile telecommunicationsNon-ionizing radiationPersonal exposure measurementsRadiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)Introduction: Several devices have been developed to assess exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF). Since the existing solutions to measure the personal exposure induced by emerging 5G New Radio (NR) are expensive, complex, and bulky, a new cost efficient and low-complexity sensor is developed, that aims to measure RF-EMF exposure in different scenarios of data transmission within different areas. Methods: With this novel sensor, activity-based microenvironmental surveys were conducted across seven European countries: Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The device is attached to a smartphone to quantify the auto-induced uplink (a-UL) transmission component of the total exposure for a broadband frequency range from 100 MHz to 6000 MHz and is thus denoted as add-on sensor. In-situ measurements were performed for three usage scenarios, namely non-user (i.e., environmental exposure), maximum downlink (max DL), and maximum uplink (max UL) scenarios, in a large city, a secondary city, and three rural villages a priori selected within each country. Results: Power levels were lowest in non-user scenarios (median: -2.64 dBm or 0.54mW), increasing by a factor of 5.00 dB in maximum downlink scenarios and by a factor of 14.15 dB in maximum uplink scenarios. In the maximum uplink scenarios, the highest median a-UL power of 18.68dBm (= 73.79 mW) was recorded in The Netherlands, while the lowest median a-UL power of 4.77dBm (= 3 mW) was observed in the UK. The analysis of the measured data showed a prominent trend of a 2.72 dB lower power in the cities compared to the villages. Further comparisons were made based on microenvironment groups, where the lowest a-UL power levels (median: 12.35dBm) were measured in outdoor areas, with an increase of 1.78 dB and 1.91 dB in power was measured compared to public transport and public places, respectively. Conclusion: This study compares RF-EMF power levels between different countries, urbanization settings, and usage scenarios, which is important for future epidemiological studies.Elsevier202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/70359http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109368reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPFinstname:Universitat Pompeu FabraInglésEnviron Int. 2025 Mar;197:109368info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101057262© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.upf.edu:10230/703592026-06-12T07:21:37Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
title RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
spellingShingle RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
Van Bladel, Han
5G
Mobile telecommunications
Non-ionizing radiation
Personal exposure measurements
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
title_short RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
title_full RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
title_fullStr RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
title_full_unstemmed RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
title_sort RF-EMF exposure assessment with add-on uplink exposure sensor in different microenvironments in seven European countries
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Van Bladel, Han
Stroobandt, Bram
Fernandes Veludo, Adriana
Deprez, Kenneth
Röösli, Martin
Tognola, Gabriella
Parazzini, Marta
Thuróczy, György
Polańska, Kinga
Politanski, Piotr
Wiart, Joe
Guxens Junyent, Mònica
Joseph, Wout
author Van Bladel, Han
author_facet Van Bladel, Han
Stroobandt, Bram
Fernandes Veludo, Adriana
Deprez, Kenneth
Röösli, Martin
Tognola, Gabriella
Parazzini, Marta
Thuróczy, György
Polańska, Kinga
Politanski, Piotr
Wiart, Joe
Guxens Junyent, Mònica
Joseph, Wout
author_role author
author2 Stroobandt, Bram
Fernandes Veludo, Adriana
Deprez, Kenneth
Röösli, Martin
Tognola, Gabriella
Parazzini, Marta
Thuróczy, György
Polańska, Kinga
Politanski, Piotr
Wiart, Joe
Guxens Junyent, Mònica
Joseph, Wout
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 5G
Mobile telecommunications
Non-ionizing radiation
Personal exposure measurements
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
topic 5G
Mobile telecommunications
Non-ionizing radiation
Personal exposure measurements
Radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
description Introduction: Several devices have been developed to assess exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF). Since the existing solutions to measure the personal exposure induced by emerging 5G New Radio (NR) are expensive, complex, and bulky, a new cost efficient and low-complexity sensor is developed, that aims to measure RF-EMF exposure in different scenarios of data transmission within different areas. Methods: With this novel sensor, activity-based microenvironmental surveys were conducted across seven European countries: Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The device is attached to a smartphone to quantify the auto-induced uplink (a-UL) transmission component of the total exposure for a broadband frequency range from 100 MHz to 6000 MHz and is thus denoted as add-on sensor. In-situ measurements were performed for three usage scenarios, namely non-user (i.e., environmental exposure), maximum downlink (max DL), and maximum uplink (max UL) scenarios, in a large city, a secondary city, and three rural villages a priori selected within each country. Results: Power levels were lowest in non-user scenarios (median: -2.64 dBm or 0.54mW), increasing by a factor of 5.00 dB in maximum downlink scenarios and by a factor of 14.15 dB in maximum uplink scenarios. In the maximum uplink scenarios, the highest median a-UL power of 18.68dBm (= 73.79 mW) was recorded in The Netherlands, while the lowest median a-UL power of 4.77dBm (= 3 mW) was observed in the UK. The analysis of the measured data showed a prominent trend of a 2.72 dB lower power in the cities compared to the villages. Further comparisons were made based on microenvironment groups, where the lowest a-UL power levels (median: 12.35dBm) were measured in outdoor areas, with an increase of 1.78 dB and 1.91 dB in power was measured compared to public transport and public places, respectively. Conclusion: This study compares RF-EMF power levels between different countries, urbanization settings, and usage scenarios, which is important for future epidemiological studies.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70359
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109368
url http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70359
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109368
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Environ Int. 2025 Mar;197:109368
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/HE/101057262
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Repositorio Digital de la UPF
instname:Universitat Pompeu Fabra
instname_str Universitat Pompeu Fabra
reponame_str Repositorio Digital de la UPF
collection Repositorio Digital de la UPF
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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