A cross-sectional study was conducted in Germany to investigate the possible association of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and acute symptoms in children and adolescents.
Acute symptoms were assessed twice during the 24-hour measurement using a symptom diary. The behavioural problems of the same study population are analyzed in Thomas et al (2010) and chronic symptoms in Heinrich et al (2011).
| Group | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference group 1 | quartile 1 for children: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 2 | quartile 2 for children: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 3 | quartile 3 for children: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 4 | quartile 4 for children: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Reference group 5 | children with ≤ 5 minutes mobile phone use during morning hours |
| Group 6 | children with > 5 minutes mobile phone use during morning hours |
| Reference group 7 | quartile 1 for children: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 8 | quartile 2 for children: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 9 | quartile 3 for children: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 10 | quartile 4 for children: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Reference group 11 | children with ≤ 5 minutes mobile phone use during afternoon hours |
| Group 12 | children with > 5 minutes mobile phone use during afternoon hours |
| Reference group 13 | quartile 1 for adolescents: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 14 | quartile 2 for adolescents: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 15 | quartile 3 for adolescents: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Group 16 | quartile 4 for adolescents: exposure measured during morning hours |
| Reference group 17 | adolescents with ≤ 5 minutes mobile phone use during morning hours |
| Group 18 | adolescents with > 5 minutes mobile phone use during morning hours |
| Reference group 19 | quartile 1 for adolescents: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 20 | quartile 2 for adolescents: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 21 | quartile 3 for adolescents: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Group 22 | quartile 4 for adolescents: exposure measured during afternoon hours |
| Reference group 23 | adolescents with ≤ 5 minutes mobile phone use during afternoon hours |
| Group 24 | adolescents with > 5 minutes mobile phone use during afternoon hours |
| Type | Value |
|---|---|
| Eligible | 5,870 |
| Participants | 3,022 |
| Participation rate | 52 % |
1498 children and 1508 adolescents participated in interview and exposure measurement
The overall measured exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields was very low and ranged from a mean of 0.13 % to a mean of 0.92 % of the ICNIRP reference level during waking hours. 2 % of the children and 14 % of the adolescents used their mobile phones more than 5 minutes in the afternoon.
Only few of the large number of investigated associations were found to be statistically significant, however not consistent over the two time points. At noon, adolescents with a measured exposure in the highest quartile during morning hours reported a statistically significant higher intensity of headache (OR 1.50, CI 1.03-2.19). At bedtime, adolescents with a measured exposure in the highest quartile during afternoon hours reported a statistically significant higher intensity of irritation in the evening (OR 1.79, CI 1.23-2.61), while children reported a statistically significant higher intensity of concentration problems (OR 1.55, CI 1.02- 2.33). In the subgroup analysis of 10 % of the participants with the highest exposure, the significant results of the main analysis could not be confirmed.
The authors assume that the few observed significant association are not causal but rather occurred by chance.
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