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Exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields in apartment buildings with indoor transformer stations in Israel

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 21, pages 365–371 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

To advance our understanding of an association between exposure to power frequency magnetic fields (MFs) and the risk of childhood leukemia, we should conduct a study that is convincingly free of selection and response bias, with highly accurate exposure assessment and a large number of highly exposed individuals. Previous measurements revealed that MF in apartments located above internal transformer stations (ITSs) are higher than in other apartments in the same building. An international epidemiologic study of childhood leukemia, TransExpo, was designed to take advantage of this scenario. This article presents the results of an exposure assessment study performed in apartment buildings with ITS in Israel. Measurements were performed in 41 apartments within 10 buildings. Average MF at the height of 0.5 m was 0.40 μT in apartments above the ITS and 0.06–0.12 μT in all other apartments. These results confirm that classification of MF exposure based on apartment location is feasible with remarkable specificity (0.98 and 0.96 for cutoff points of 0.2 and 0.4 μT, respectively) and sensitivity (1.00 for both cutoff points). Because the location of an apartment relative to the ITS can be easily determined, an exposure assessment can reliably be performed without obtaining access to residences.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. R. Ruppin for the enlightening comments and assistance and Dr. Y. Shamai for the useful insights. We also thank the Israeli Electric Company for providing technical information for this study. This study was funded by the Electric Power Research Institute, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radiation Safety Division, Soreq NRC, Yavne, Israel

    Ronen Hareuveny & Nir-Mordechay Yitzhak

  2. School of Public Policy and Government, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Israel

    Shaiela Kandel

  3. Department of Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Leeka Kheifets

  4. Environment Department, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California, USA

    Gabor Mezei

Authors
  1. Ronen Hareuveny
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  2. Shaiela Kandel
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  3. Nir-Mordechay Yitzhak
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  4. Leeka Kheifets
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  5. Gabor Mezei
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Correspondence to Ronen Hareuveny.

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Hareuveny, R., Kandel, S., Yitzhak, NM. et al. Exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields in apartment buildings with indoor transformer stations in Israel. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 21, 365–371 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2010.20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2010.20

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