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

Liran Shmuel Raz-Steinkrycer, Jonathan Dubnov, Stelian Gelberg, Peng Jia and Boris A. Portnov ()
Additional contact information
Liran Shmuel Raz-Steinkrycer: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, The Herta & Paul Amir Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Jonathan Dubnov: School of Public Health, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
Stelian Gelberg: Noise & Radiation Abatement Department, Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection, 24 Kanfei Nesharim St., Jerusalem 95464, Israel
Peng Jia: School of Resource and Environmental Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China
Boris A. Portnov: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, The Herta & Paul Amir Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-19

Abstract: Empirical studies link exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) to several health symptoms. However, it is unclear whether these symptoms are associated with actual or perceived exposure. In this study we attempted to answer this question by studying the health complaints of employees working in a multi-story office building located near a major high-voltage power line. ELF-MF measurements were conducted in the building using a triaxial sensor coil device on all 15 floors. In parallel, questionnaires were administered to evaluate the prevalence of various health symptoms among the employees. Multivariate logistic regressions were used next to quantify the associations between actual and perceived ELF-MF exposure and the employees’ health complaints. The analysis revealed that feelings of weakness, headache, frustration, and worry were associated with both measured and perceived ELF-MF exposure ( p < 0.01), while perceived ELF-MF exposure was also found to be associated with eye pain and irritation (OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.2–1.6), sleepiness (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.1–1.5), dizziness and ear pain (OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.0–1.4). We conclude that high-voltage power lines produce both physiological and psychological effects in nearby workers, and, hence, proximity to such power lines should become a public health issue.

Keywords: work exposure; extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF); health complains (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/11065/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/11065/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:17:p:11065-:d:906998

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().