(339) AN INNOVATIVE PRACTICE IN THE PHYSICS LABORATORY: RADIOFREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS PERSONAL EXPOSURE

摘要

During last decades, personal exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMF) has experimented an important increase due to the development of the information society, and at some point, we have wondered whether these have any negative effects on health, some out of concern and some out of curiosity. At the same time, concerns regarding potential health effects have also increased. In this context, development of portable devices allowed to study personal exposure to RF-EMF in detail (spatial, temporary, number of bands, accuracy, etc.). It has been shown that this knowledge helps the general public to reduce their concerns and fears about improbably health effects of RF-EMF. During university training, involving students in the design and development of the determination of personal exposure to RF-EMF through a laboratory practice, could provide a better approach and understanding of the problem. In this work, we explore the design and development a practice in the Physics laboratory for Computer Science Engineering students where the main objective was to measure the personal exposure to RFEMF from 14 different frequency bands using a personal exposimeter. The practice was developed at the Faculty of Computer Science Engineering at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (Albacete, Spain). Students used a Satimo EME Spy 140 personal exposimeter, and data analysis was performed using EME Spy Analysis Software v3.20 and MS Excel. Students checked that measures were well below healthy limits established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and reference levels allowed by the European, Spanish and Castilla-La Mancha legislation. This practice showed that involvement of students in the development of this type of measures, not only allows a better understanding of propagation and measurement of the RF-EMF but also allows to reduce possible concerns regarding potential effects on Health. This laboratory practice can be easily replicated in other universities.