Comparison of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Waves in Different Parts of Residential Houses in Yazd City

Negar Zare  Banadkooki; Rohollah Fallah  Madvari; Sara  Jambarsang; Fahimeh  Teimouri; Javad Rabi  Haghighi

doi:10.18502/jehsd.v9i4.17391

Negar Zare Banadkooki Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Rohollah Fallah Madvari Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Sara Jambarsang Center for Healthcare Data Modeling, Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Fahimeh Teimouri Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Javad Rabi Haghighi Environmental Sciences and Technology Research Center, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/jehsd.v9i4.17391

Keywords: Health, Electronics, Nonionizing Radiations, Home Environment, Electromagnetic Waves.

Abstract

Introduction: Extremely low frequency (ELF) waves are less than 300 Hz. Electrical devices with city electricity are one of the most important sources of generating ELF waves. The main objective of this research was to investigate and compare the magnetic fields produced by ELF electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) waves in different parts of residential houses in Yazd city.

Material and Methods: Thirty-three houses were selected, and an EMF-828 was used (made in Taiwan) for ELF-EMF intensity measurement in three parts of the kitchen, living room, and bedroom and three modes of Normal, OFF, and ON electrical instruments.

Results: Two-way ANOVA was used to compare two-by-two ELF waves in three modes: OFF, Normal, and ON. A significant value was obtained (p-value=0.036) in OFF and ON modes in the living room. Similar results were for kitchen (p-value=0.014) in two modes of ON and OFF. However, there was not a significant relationship (p>0.05) between the mean intensity of ELF-EMF waves and the studied building parameters.

Conclusion: The mean intensity of the ELF waves in different modes was not the same in kitchen and was in the order of ON> Normal> OFF that could be related to high-wave generation equipment. The comparison of mean intensity of ELF-EMF waves in different locations of the investigated houses was much lower than the standard level set by ICNIRP. Preventing the simultaneous use of high-power electrical instruments led to both save consumption and reduce EMF-ELF waves exposure risk.