Determination of the Annual Change in Electromagnetic Field Levels in Unye, Ordu/Turkey

Abstract: Substantial growth in the use of wireless communication services over the last few years has led to an increase in the number of base stations. Consequently, exposed Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) levels has risen. Therefore, monitoring of exposed EMR levels emitted by base stations have become more crucial than before for human health. For this reason, in this study EMR measurements were conducted in the years of 2015, 2016 and 2017 in Unye which is one of the most populated districts of Ordu/Turkey. The total electric field strength (E) in the band between 100 kHz � 3 GHz was measured using PMM-8053 EMR meter, and the maximum E (Emax) and the average E (Eavg) were recorded at 47 different locations. According the total 141 measurement results, the maximum Emax is 6.05 V/m, while the maximum Eavg is 2.40 V/m that both recorded in 2017. Furthermore, only 2% of all measurement results are above 2 V/m of each years� measurement. Based on the measurement results annual percentage change in Eavg levels are 15.2% and 21.5% from 2015 to 2016, and from 2016 to 2017 respectively. Since E levels in the environment have continuous tendency to increase, accurate monitoring and evaluation of E levels is very crucial to keep exposed EMR levels below the limits.

Keywords: Electromagnetic radiation, Electric field strength (E), Base station, ICNIRP, PMM-8053.