Determination of the general public exposure around GSM and UMTS base stations

• Published in: Radiation protection dosimetry Vol. 124; no. 1; pp. 40 - 47
• Main Authors: Bornkessel, Christian, Schubert, Markus, Wuschek, Matthias, Schmidt, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01-03-2007
• Subjects: Cell Phone; Electromagnetic Fields; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Humans; Occupational Exposure; Public Health; Radiation Monitoring; Radio Waves; Radiometry - methods
• ISSN: 0144-8420; 1742-3406
• DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncm373

This paper summarises two studies, in which measurement and calculation methods to determine the exposure of the general public around GSM and UMTS base stations have been developed and applied to different scenarios. The electromagnetic field variations around the stations in space and time are accounted for by appropriate maximisation techniques. Measurements show a bandwidth of exposures from 0.01% to more than 10% of field strength exposure limits. The distance to the station is not a main influencing factor, whereas the orientation to the main lobe and the sight conditions greatly influence exposure. Several commercially available numerical simulation tools were tested for their applicability on exposure forecast. In line‐of‐sight scenarios, all programs are able to predict the exposure accurately, whereas in non-line‐of‐sight situations, free space models overestimate the real exposure by some orders of magnitude.