SEAWIND · Sound Exposure and Risk Assessment of Wireless Network Devices

Public exposure to electromagnetic fields in the radio frequency spectrum has increased dramatically in the last two decades. Although research has mainly focused on the exposure and health risk evaluations of cellular networks and mobile phones in recent years, studies on the effects of the pervasive and prolonged EMF exposure on human health due to the exponential growth of wireless network device usage in homes, offices and schools are lacking. The proposed project SEAWIND aims (1) to provide a comprehensive assessment of the incident field exposure in typical living scenarios such as in homes, offices and classrooms by installed wireless local area networks (WLAN or WiFi) or wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN or WiMAX), body-mounted and body-worn wireless personal area networks (WPAN) and WLAN devices, and specific wireless applications in industry, e.g., novel RFID logistic applications; (2) to numerically determine the induced fields in the human body using a set of models representing the human population; and (3) to screen potential biological sensitivities at the molecular, developmental and functional levels in cells. The necessary technology will also be developed to accurately assess the exposures for device compliance testing and to accurately assess in situ exposures. The comprehensive risk assessment will be based on the findings of this project, addressing the specificity of the exposure of wireless networks combined with the current body of literature on biological interactions of EMF covering the entire radio-frequency spectrum. A comparison to other exposures such as cellular mobile devices, base stations, TV, Radio, etc will also be included.