High radiofrequency radiation at Stockholm Old Town: An exposimeter study including the Royal Castle, Supreme Court, three major squares and the Swedish Parliament

Abstract

Exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation was classified as a possible human carcinogen, Group 2B, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer at WHO in 2011. The exposure pattern is changing due to the rapid development of technology. Outdoor RF radiation level was measured during five tours in Stockholm Old Town in April, 2016 using the EME Spy 200 exposimeter with 20 predefined frequencies. The results were based on 10,437 samples in total. The mean level of the total RF radiation was 4,293 µW/m2 (0.4293 µW/cm2). The highest mean levels were obtained for global system for mobile communications (GSM) + universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) 900 downlink and long-term evolution (LTE) 2600 downlink (1,558 and 1,265 µW/m2, respectively). The town squares displayed highest total mean levels, with the example of Järntorget square with 24,277 µW/m2 (min 257, max 173,302 µW/m2). These results were in large contrast to areas with lowest total exposure, such as the Supreme Court, with a mean level of 404 µW/m2 (min 20.4, max 4,088 µW/m2). In addition, measurements in the streets surrounding the Royal Castle were lower than the total for the Old Town, with a mean of 756 µW/m2 (min 0.3, max 50,967 µW/m2). The BioInitiative 2012 Report defined the scientific benchmark for possible health risks as 30–60 µW/m2. Our results of outdoor RF radiation exposure at Stockholm Old Town are significantly above that level. The mean exposure level at Järntorget square was 405-fold higher than 60 µW/m2. Our results were below the reference level on 10,000,000 µW/m2 established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), which, however, are less credible, as they do not take non-thermal effects into consideration and are not based on sound scientific evaluation. Our highest measured mean level at Järntorget was 0.24% of the ICNIRP level. A number of studies have found adverse, non-thermal (no measurable temperature increase) health effects far below the ICNIRP guidelines.

Georeferencing of Personal Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields from Wi-Fi in a University Area

“…If we compare our results obtained in the Wi-Fi band with the results of the studies reviewed by Jalilian [57] and some other studies that considered measurements from Wi-Fi frequency band (Table 6), we can observe that our results are higher, except the result for Belgium which was 38.33 µW/m 2 [43]. [58] Switzerland (all environments) 1.19 Valic et al, 2015), 2015 [59] Slovenia (all environments) 4.77 Röösli et al, 2010 [6] France (all environments) 1.92 Massardier-Pilonchery et al, 2019 [60] France (all environments) 0.15 Hardell et al, 2017 [61] Sweden (School) 3.32 Roser et al, 2017 [58] Switzerland (school) 1.19 Hedendahl et al, 2017 [62] Swedish (outdoor, old town) 0.13 Gonzalez-Rubio et al, 2016 [24] Spain (outdoor) 0.53 Aminzadeh et al, 2016 [43] Belgium (office indoor, urban) 38.33 Our measurements Jordan (university area) 28.82 Furthermore, if we compare these results with those presented by Ramirez-Vazquez [20] from measurements in a Spanish town (Albacete), where the minimum value from Wi-Fi was 22.8 µW/m 2 and maximum value was 86.9 µW/m 2 , in this case, the results of our study are similar with minimum value. However, if we make a comparison with the results published by Khalid [31], who reported a maximum time-averaged intensity from a laptop of 220 µW/m 2 at a distance of 0.5 m in a laboratory in Oxfordshire, we can observe that the values of our work are smaller.…”

Measurements of Radiofrequency Radiation with a Body-Borne Exposimeter in Swedish Schools with Wi-Fi

“…Areas with high exposure to RF radiation were measured with an EME-Spy 200 exposimeter in Stockholm Central Railway Station where the mean total RF radiation level varied between 2,817 and 4,891 µW/m 2 (min 5.8, max 155,263.4 µW/m 2 ) for each walking round ( 73 ). In the Old Town in Stockholm, the total RF radiation varied between a mean of 404 µW/m 2 (min 20.4, max 4,088 µW/m 2 ) on the streets around the Supreme Court, 756 µW/m 2 (min 0.3, max 50,967 µW/m 2 ) around the Royal Castle, and 24,277 µW/m 2 (min 257, max 173,302 µW/m 2 ) at Järntorget, a popular square with shops and outdoor restaurants ( 74 ).…”

Environmental radiofrequency radiation at the Järntorget Square in Stockholm Old Town, Sweden in May, 2018 compared with results on brain and heart tumour risks in rats exposed to 1.8 GHz base station environmental emissions

“…That place was selected since in our previous study with measurements from 2016, the Järntorget square had the highest RF radiation levels in the Old Town (see Table VI and Fig. 11 in that publication) (9).…”

“…Previously, we reported RF radiation levels in different places in Stockholm in Sweden, such as at the Central Railway station (8), the Old Town (9), in an apartment close to base stations (10) and in the City (11).…”