Workpackage 6

Led by Roel Vermeulen (UU)
Collaborating institutions: ISGlobal (former CREAL), iMinds, AU, FIOH, UEF, ARECEA, FT, LMU, Gertner, CNR, UNITO, INIS, IT’IS, Swiss TPH, HPA

Background
Exposures to EMF across the frequency spectrum are widespread, owing to a wide variety of sources in all environments. Accurately determining exposures of humans to EMF is essential in understanding potential associations with human health effects.

Objectives
WP6 has three main objectives. Firstly, it will identify near- and far-field sources of RF and IF, and estimate levels of exposure in the general population. Secondly, it will use dosimetric modelling to derive novel organ specific metrics for use in epidemiological studies, for near- and far-field sources in occupational and non-occupational settings. Thirdly, it will integrate exposure across frequencies, sources, and types resulting in cumulative exposure metrics.

Proposed work
This WP will identify sources and estimate levels of RF and IF exposure in the general population, and develop exposure metrics for use in epidemiological studies. Models of exposure to RF and IF from near- and far-field sources will be characterised in terms of induced fields and/or SAR distributions. Finally, this WP will derive and validate combined or integrative exposures for use in health impact assessment. The WP consists out of 6 main research areas: (1) the collection of data on mobile phone use and RF exposure using a specialised App distributed to the general population; (2) quantification of occupational exposures to RF and IF fields and development of source-exposure matrices (SEM) for RF and IF; (3) estimation of environmental (far-field) exposures of the general population to RF using a 3D propagation model (NISMAP); (4) RF and IF exposure survey of children and adults nested within existing birth and childhood/adolescent cohorts and for a group of volunteers in Slovenia to collect data on general population exposures in a different European setting; (5) integrative and cumulative exposure assessment integrating whole-body, peak-localized, and organ-specific induced exposures from multiple near- and far-field sources; (6) development of RF and IF exposure proxies in epidemiological investigations.