Preliminary background indoor EMF measurements in Greece Sofia Kottou a, * , Dimitrios Nikolopoulos b , Panayiotis H. Yannakopoulos b , Efstratios Vogiannis c , Ermioni Petraki b , Dionisios Panagiotaras d , Dionysios Koulougliotis e a Medical School, University of Athens, Mikras Asias 75, GR 11527 Goudi, Athens, Greece b Technological Education Institute (TEI) of Piraeus, Petrou Ralli & Thivon 250, GR 12244 Aigaleo, Athens, Greece c Evangeliki Model School of Smyrna, Lesvou 4, GR 17123 Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece d Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Western Greece, M. Alexandrou 1, GR 26334 Patras, Greece e Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Ionian Islands, Department of Environmental Technology, Neo Ktirio, Panagoula, GR 29100 Zakynthos, Greece article info Article history: Received 30 December 2014 Received in revised form 29 April 2015 Accepted 1 May 2015 Available online 23 May 2015 Keywords: Electromagnetic field (EMF) Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) Extremely low frequency (ELF) Radiofrequency (RF) Electric field Magnetic field Power density abstract The main purpose of this work was to investigate the fluctuation of Greek indoor electromagnetic field (EMF) intensity values and identify peaks that might occur. The scientific interest is mainly focused on the bands of extremely low-frequency (ELF) magnetic fields and radiofrequency (RF) electric fields which have been suggested to be possibly carcinogenic to humans by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) measurements were performed in a variety of indoor dwellings, in Attica and in the islands of Zakynthos and Lesvos. A total number of 4540 measurements were taken in a wide frequency range (50 Hze2100 MHz) of which 3301 in Attica, 963 in Lesvos and 276 in Zakynthos. Statistical analysis of the data revealed specific statistically significant differences between the mean values of the electric (ELF and RF) but not the magnetic (ELF) field strengths measured at different distances from the EMF source, as well as between some of the mean values of the RF electric field at different bands. Some statistically significant differences between mean electric field values at different geographic locations were also identified. As far as the RF electric field is concerned, the maximum values, in most cases, were below 0.5 V/m, however increased values above 1 V/m and up to 5.6 V/m were occasionally observed. The ELF magnetic field values were lower than 1 mT. It may be concluded that overall, the observed indoor EMF intensity values remained well below domestic and European established limits. © 2015 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction A significant proportion of the human exposure to electro- magnetic radiation comes from the environment, such as the sun, space, and even the land itself. Technological advances, however, such as radio, radar, television, computers, mobile phones, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone (DECT) bases, have raised concerns about health problems they can cause, exacerbated by the increased use of these devices [1e9]. The exposure from a source is estimated based on electromagnetic field strength measurements, taking into account the distance from the device and, in the case of directional antennas, the prox- imity of the main beam [10e21]. International recommendations on the limitation of exposure to electromagnetic radiation In 1999, the Council of the European Union published a Recommendation [22] (1999/519/EC) on the limitation of exposure of the general public to electromagnetic frequencies (up to 300 GHz). It contains basic restrictions and reference levels. Restrictions on exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields that are based directly on established health effects are termed “basic restrictions”. Different scientific * Corresponding author. E-mail address: skottou@med.uoa.gr (S. Kottou). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Physica Medica journal homepage: http://www.physicamedica.com http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2015.05.002 1120-1797/© 2015 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Physica Medica 31 (2015) 808e816