Brain EM Exposure for Voice Calls of Mobile Phones in Wireless Communication Environment of Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the measurement results of the transmitted (Tx) power levels of mobile phones in currently operating wireless communication networks in Seoul in 2015 and 2017 and the calculation results of the specific absorption rate (SAR) in the brain for voice calls while holding a mobile phone against the user's ear when operating at the measured mean power level. The Tx power levels of mobile phones using Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000, Wide CDMA (WCDMA), and Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks were compared for the three main mobile network operators in South Korea. The actual mean Tx power level was less than 0.5% of the maximum power for the CDMA2000 and WCDMA networks. In the LTE networks, however, an extremely wide gap in Tx power was observed between the operators; two of the operators showed a mean power of less than 0.1% of the maximum, whereas the other showed mean powers of the three bands within the range of 0.8%20% of the maximum power. The measurement results suggest that the SAR in the user's brain is strongly dependent on the year the phone was used, the user-subscribed mobile operator, and the proportion of time connected to the network/technology. The maximum 1-g peak spatial-average SAR (psSAR) level at the mean Tx power in an LTE network was 4.8 mW/kg (for a child head model). A maximum gap of 25 dB in the psSAR was observed between all networks considered.

EMF Levels in 5G New Radio Environment in Seoul, Korea

“…Table 2 shows the 10 th , 50 th , and 90 th percentiles and the mean values of the SSB beam power in 5G NR networks in Seoul. The two types of mean power were calculated as described in [7]; one is obtained by averaging the power samples in decibel milliwatts, and then converting the power into milliwatts, and the other is obtained by converting each power sample in decibel milliwatts into the corresponding sample in milliwatts, and then calculating the arithmetic mean. Hereafter, the former and latter averages are referred to as mean (log) and mean (linear), respectively.…”

“…An OPTis-M(II) system (Innowireless Co., Ltd.) consisting of a device and control software was used to collect data provided by the chipset of user equipment (UE). The measurement method when using this equipment is similar with that described in [7]. Voice calls are not yet supported on a 5G NR network.…”

Review of Existing Research on the Effects of Human Exposure to RF EMF

“…이전에 성인의 휴 대전화 사용량에 대해서도 분석이 있었으며, 덴마크, 노 르웨이, 스웨덴 및 스위스가 참여한 7～19세 어린이 및 청소년의 뇌종양과 휴대전화 사용 간의 관련성 환자-대 조군 연구인 CEFALO에서 설문으로 응답한(자기보고, self-reported) 휴대전화 사용량과 망 사업자가 제공한 데 이터와의 비교를 통해 분석한 결과, 통화 시간은 환자군 과 대조군에 대해 각각 52 %와 163 %, 통화 횟수는 각각 9 %와 34 % 과대평가하였다 [21] . 따라서 2015년 및 2017년에는 CDMA, WCDMA, LTE 망에서 8 대의 휴대전화를 장비에 연결하여 노트북에 설치된 소프 트웨어로 제어하였다 [27] . 2019년 말～2020년 초 측정에는 5G NR 망의 데이터 수집을 포함하기 위해 더 많은 휴대 전화의 데이터를 수집하였다 [28] .…”

“…또한 모델링 입력 데이터를 주기적으로 갱신함으로써 장기간 동안 변화하는 노출 수 준을 추정할 수도 있다. 또, 다른 방법은 휴대전화의 사용 중 출력 측정과 유사 하게 차량을 이용하여 해당 지역의 데이터를 수집하는 것이다 [25]～ [27] . ETRI에서는 UL 전력 데이터 수집 시 추가 장비를 활용하여 동일한 시공간에서 휴대전화 출력뿐만 아니라, 각 망의 채널 전력을 수집하였었다 [28] .…”

Artificial Neural Network-Based Uplink Power Prediction From Multi-Floor Indoor Measurement Campaigns in 4G Networks

“…While drive test solutions are very expensive and not accessible for the public to perform daily personal measurements, android-based applications (e.g., XMobiSense) allow measuring several parameters but not the TX power nor throughput. Nonetheless, a specific equipment (i.e., OPTis-P8E, Innowireless Co., Ltd.) with a control software is also used for the recording of both DL and UL EMF exposure, even in fifth generation (5G) new radio environment ( 17 , 18 ).…”