Objectives: The aim of our study was to assess the health conditions and subjective symptoms of the inhabitants living in the base stations vicinity and to analyse the relationship between the complaints and level of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). Materials and Methods: Our study was performed in housing estates located in five regions of Łódź. The electric field measurements were performed in the buildings located closest to the azimuth of the antennas. Respondents were selected by trained interviewers using an uniform procedure. The number of the households to be examined was set at a minimum of 420. The questionnaire contained: demographic data, occupational and environmental exposure to EMF, health condition, subjective complaints. Results were adjusted for confounders (age, gender, EMF at the workplace and EMF emitted by household equipment) using multiple regression model. Results: 181 men and 319 women from 500 households were examined. Electric field above 0.8 V/m was recorded in 12% of flats. There was no significant correlation between electric field strength and the distance of examined flats from the base stations. To make possible comparison with relevant literature, we analysed also the frequency of the reported symptoms vs. the distance. Headache was declared by 57% people, most frequently (36.4%) living 100-150 m away from the base station compared to people living at longer distances (p = 0.013). 24.4% subjects, mostly living at a distance above 150 m, declared impaired memory. Difference was statistically significant in comparison with people living at other distances (p = 0.004). Conclusions: The explanation why we did not find any correlation between the electric field strength and frequency of subjective symptoms but found a correlation between subjective symptoms and distance from base station needs further studies. Maybe new metrics of exposure assessment should be adopted for this purpose.

The aim of the work was verification of the hypothesis that weak power frequency (50 Hz) magnetic fields (MF) affected the number of free oxygen radicals in living biological cells and that these changes could be qualitatively explained by the radical pair mechanism. The experiments were performed on rat lymphocytes. One-hour exposure to 50 Hz MF at 20, 40, or 200 microT flux densities was performed inside a pair of Helmholtz coils with axis along or crosswise to the Earth's static MF. Iron ions (FeCl2) were used as a stimulator of the oxidation processes. Oxygen radicals were measured by fluorimetry using a DCF-DA fluorescent probe. Only in the lymphocytes exposed at 40 microT MF directed along the Earth's static MF there was a decrease of fluorescence in relation to non-exposed samples. Our observation seems to confirm the hypothesis that low level power frequency MF affects oxidative processes which occur in living biological cells and that this effect can be explained by the radical pair mechanism.

StreszczenieWstęp: Dyrektywa 2013/35/UE nałożyła obowiązek implementacji przepisów UE do prawa krajowego. Celem pracy jest ocena aktualnego stanu zagrożeń wynikających ze stosowania urządzeń wytwarzających PEM RF w zakresie od 100 kHz do 300 GHz oraz wskazanie urządzeń i miejsc pracy o najwyższym ryzyku narażenia zdrowia pracowników. Materiał i metody: Materiał stanowiły dane pochodzące z badań i pomiarów PEM RF realizowanych w Pracowni Zagrożeń Elektromagnetycznych Instytutu Medycyny Pracy im. prof. J. Nofera w Łodzi. Szczegółowej analizie poddano wyniki pomiarów natężenia pola elektrycznego (E) dla ponad 450 wybranych urządzeń, reprezentatywnych dla działów gospodarki, w których najczęściej są stosowane. Analizowano również zasięg występowania stref ochronnych i krotność przekroczenia najwyższego dopuszczalnego natężenia (NDN). Pomiary i badania PEM w środowisku pracy były zgodne z Polską Normą, a kryterium oceny ekspozycji stanowiły polskie przepisy o NDN. Wyniki: Najwyższe zmierzone wartości natężenia pola (E) na stanowiskach pracownika stwierdzono dla aparatów elektrochirurgicznych do 400 V/m, diatermii krótkofalowych (KF) do 220 V/m, zgrzewarek dielektrycznych do 240 V/m i wnętrza radiowych systemów antenowych UKF do 180 V/m. Największy zasięg stref ochronnych stwierdzono dla prototypowych urządzeń stosowanych w nauce, diatermii KF i zgrzewarek dielektrycznych. Najwyższą krotność przekroczenia NDN stwierdzono przy: zgrzewarkach dielektrycznych do 12, diatermiach KF do 11, diatermiach MF do 8. Wnioski: Potwierdzono wysokie wartości natężenia PEM RF w środowisku pracy dla takich grup zawodowych jak fizjoterapeuci, operatorzy zgrzewarek dielektrycznych i pracownicy technicznych grup masztowych w obiektach radiokomunikacji (w tym stacji radiowych i telewizyjnych). Med. Pr. 2015;66(2):199-212 Słowa kluczowe: ekspozycja zawodowa, natężenie pola elektrycznego, źródła pól elektromagnetycznych, strefy ochronne, najwyższe dopuszczalne natężenie, pola elektromagnetyczne częstotliwości radiowych Abstract Background: European Union Directive 2013/35/UE provides for the implementation of EU regulations into national legislation. Our aim is to assess actual health hazards from radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF EMF) (range: 100 kHz -300 GHz) and indicate workplaces with the highest risk to employee health. Material and Methods: Data from measurements of RF EMF performed by the Laboratory of Electromagnetic Hazards in Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine (Łódź, Poland) were analyzed. The analysis covered the results of electric field intensity (E) for over 450 selected items. The ranges of protection zones and the extent to which maximum admissible intensity (MAI) values were also analyzed. The determinations and measurements of EMF in the work environment met the requirements of Polish Standard, while Polish regulations on the MAI values were used as the criterion for the assessment of the exposure. Results: The highest values of E field intensity at workplaces were measured for: electrosurgery, to 400 V/m, and...

The mechanisms of biological effects of 50/60 Hz (power frequency) magnetic fields (MF) are still poorly understood. There are a number of studies indicating that MF affect biochemical processes in which free radicals are involved, such as the biological objects' response to ultraviolet radiation (UVA). Therefore, the present study was aimed to assess the effect of 50 Hz MFs on the oxidative deterioration of DNA in rat lymphocytes irradiated in vitro by UVA. UVA radiation (150 J/m2) was applied for 5 min for all groups and 50 Hz MF (40 microT rms) exposure was applied for some of the groups for 5 or 60 min. The level of DNA damage was assessed using the alkaline comet assay, the fluorescence microscope, and image analysis. It has been found that the 1 h exposure to MF caused an evident increase in all parameters consistent with damaged DNA. This suggest that MF affects the radical pairs generated during the oxidative or enzymatic processes of DNA repair.

The mean values of the electric field strength for each group of devices, mobile phones and DECT wireless phones sets do not exceed the reference value of 7 V/m, adopted as the limit for general public exposure.