Long term measurement of occupational and free time exposure to magnetic fields in Finland

摘要

As the interest regarding the possible health effects of electromagnetic fields has increased, more and more information of specific exposure situations is being gathered. By having more information about the exposure of different groups, a better evaluation of exposure and the possible health effects can be formed. The exposure can also be evaluated by comparing the measurement results to the recommendations in force. The aim of this paper is to present the workers’ occupational and free time exposure to magnetic fields with the ICNIRP occupational and general public exposure recommendations. The reference level for occupational exposure is 500 μT (at 50 Hz) and for general public 100 μT (at 50 Hz). This study includes a total number of 90 long-term magnetic field measurements. The measurements were performed in four different business areas: electric utility, metal industry, paper industry and producer electric industry. The highest measured magnetic field value was over 1000 μT, but it was only momentary. In general, the values ranged between 0 and 1 μT and only few values exceeded 10 μT. These values do not exceed the ICNIRP guidelines for magnetic field exposure.