Exposure of Workers to Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields and Electric Appliances

Exposure of Workers to Extremely Low Frequency Magnet ic F ie lds and Electr ic Appliances: Yoon Shin KIM, et al. Institute of Environmental and Industrial Medicine, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Korea—The purpose of this study was to investigate personal exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields. Subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. Thirty-seven subjects in occupational and 65 subjects in nonoccupational groups were measured for personal 24 h continual exposure, using EMDEX II (for 40–800 Hz, Enertech Consultant, Inc.), from March 1996 through December 1999. The mean personal exposure levels of the occupational group was 0.46 μT, whereas the value for the non-occupational group was 0.08 μT. Occupational groups were exposed more intensely while at work. Among the electric appliances examined, a massage unit showed the highest mean value of 247.07 μT, followed by an electric blanket with 5.24 μT. Finally, this study was expected to provide significant data for future study of exposure assessment of magnetic fields. A large scale study concerning more detailed exposure assessment should provide important information on health risk assessment of MFs. (J Occup Health 2001; 43: 141–149)