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What input data are needed to accurately model electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations?

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 25, pages 53–57 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The increase in mobile communication technology has led to concern about potential health effects of radio frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) from mobile phone base stations. Different RF-EMF prediction models have been applied to assess population exposure to RF-EMF. Our study examines what input data are needed to accurately model RF-EMF, as detailed data are not always available for epidemiological studies. We used NISMap, a 3D radio wave propagation model, to test models with various levels of detail in building and antenna input data. The model outcomes were compared with outdoor measurements taken in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Results showed good agreement between modelled and measured RF-EMF when 3D building data and basic antenna information (location, height, frequency and direction) were used: Spearman correlations were >0.6. Model performance was not sensitive to changes in building damping parameters. Antenna-specific information about down-tilt, type and output power did not significantly improve model performance compared with using average down-tilt and power values, or assuming one standard antenna type. We conclude that 3D radio wave propagation modelling is a feasible approach to predict outdoor RF-EMF levels for ranking exposure levels in epidemiological studies, when 3D building data and information on the antenna height, frequency, location and direction are available.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Netherlands Organization for Health Research (ZonMW) within the program Electromagnetic Fields and Health Research under grant numbers 85800001, 85500008, 85500011 and 85500017. We thank the Dutch network operators for providing us with detailed data about all mobile phone base station antennas in Amsterdam, and Jürg Fröhlich, Oliver Lauer and Marco Zahner from ETH Zürich for the accuracy tests of the EME-SPY 140 measurement devices, and Aidan Noorman for performing the measurements.

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  1. Anke Huss and Roel Vermeulen: These authors are co-senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Johan Beekhuizen, Hans Kromhout, Anke Huss & Roel Vermeulen

  2. ARIAS umwelt.forschung.beratung, Bern, Switzerland

    Alfred Bürgi

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  1. Johan Beekhuizen
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Correspondence to Roel Vermeulen.

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Beekhuizen, J., Kromhout, H., Bürgi, A. et al. What input data are needed to accurately model electromagnetic fields from mobile phone base stations?. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 25, 53–57 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2014.1

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