ELF-MF Exposure, Actual and Perceived, and Associated Health Symptoms: A Case Study of an Office Building in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Open access paper, published 05/09/2022

Conclusions The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows:

• The analysis revealed no significant association between instrumentally measured and perceived ELF-MF exposure, which implies that individuals cannot detect actual ELF-MF exposure accurately;
• The analysis revealed that feelings of weakness, headache, frustration and worries were associated with both measured and perceived ELF-MF exposure, while perceived ELF-MF exposure was also found to be associated with eye pain and irritation, sleepiness, as well as dizziness and ear pain.
• As we conclude, working near a high voltage power line appears to produce not only psychological but also physiological effects, and should thus become a public health concern.

As several reported symptoms (including headache, frustration/worry, and exhaustion/weakness) were found to be significantly related to measured exposure, not just perceived exposure, the results should lead to revisiting ELF-MF exposure standards. Moreover, follow-up studies should attempt to estimate other effects of ELF-MF exposure, such as its effects on employee productivity, the number of visits to physicians, absenteeism, and medication intake.   https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/11065

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