ArticleEnvironmental health : a global access science source2016
Symptoms in Swiss adolescents in relation to exposure from fixed site transmitters: a prospective cohort study.
Article in Environmental health : a global access science source, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- A review of potential health risks of radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure from mobile phones and base stations in children and pregnant women.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Prospective cohort study on non-specific symptoms, cognitive, behavioral, sleep and mental health in relation to electronic media use and transportation noise among adolescents (HERMES): study protocol.Open research Europe · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is public concern regarding potential health effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted by fixed site transmitters. We therefore investigated whether self-reported general well-being in adolescents is affected by RF-EMF exposure from mobile phone base stations (downlink) and broadcast transmitters (TV and radio).
methodsIn a prospective cohort study, 439 study participants aged 12-17 years, completed questionnaires about their self-reported well-being and possible confounding factors at baseline and one year later. Exposure from fixed site transmitters at home and school was calculated by using a geospatial propagation model. Data were analysed using a mixed-logistic cross-sectional model of a combined dataset consisting of baseline and follow-up data and a longitudinal approach where we investigated whether exposure at baseline (cohort analysis) or changes in exposure between baseline and follow-up (change analysis) were related to a new onset of a symptom between baseline and follow-up. All analyses were adjusted for relevant confounders.
resultsMean exposure (median; 75(th)) for broadcast transmitters, downlink and total exposure at baseline were 1.9 μW/m(2) (1.0 μW/m(2); 2.8 μW/m(2)), 14.4 μW/m(2) (3.8 μW/m(2); 11.0 μW/m(2)) and 16.3 μW/m(2) (5.8 μW/m(2); 13.4 μW/m(2)), respectively. In cross-sectional analyses no associations were observed between any symptom and RF-EMF exposure from fixed site transmitters. In the cohort and change analyses only a few significant associations were observed including an increased OR for tiredness (2.94, 95%CI: 1.43 to 6.05) for participants in the top 25(th) percentile of total RF-EMF exposure from fixed site transmitters at baseline, in comparison to participants exposed below the median and a decreased OR for exhaustibility (0.50, 95%CI: 0.27 to 0.93) for participants with an exposure increase between baseline and follow-up.
conclusionsIn this cohort study, using a geospatial propagation model, RF-EMF exposure from fixed site transmitters was not consistently associated with self-reported symptoms in Swiss adolescents. The few observed associations have to be interpreted with caution and might represent chance findings.
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