Integrating Dosimetric Modeling and Epidemiological Analysis to Quantify the Health Risk of Radiofrequency Exposure from Mobile Base Stations: A Population-Based Cohort Study
Keywords:
Cohort study, Dosimetric modeling, Mobile phone base stations, Nonspecific symptoms, Radiofrequency electromagnetic fieldsAbstract
The proliferation of mobile phone base stations has raised public health concerns regarding potential adverse effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure. However, previous epidemiological studies have been limited by crude exposure assessment methods that rely on distance-based surrogates rather than individual-level dosimetric estimates. The objective of the study is to develop and validate a dosimetric model for estimating individual RF-EMF exposure from mobile base stations and to quantify associations with health outcomes in a population-based cohort. This population-based prospective cohort study included 11,529 participants from the Dutch AMIGO cohort. The study estimated RF-EMF exposure using the NISMap three-dimensional geospatial propagation model and validated it against personal dosimeter measurements in a subsample of 47 participants. Health outcomes included cancer incidence (registry-linked), nonspecific symptoms, and reproductive outcomes. The study examined associations using generalized linear models, Cox proportional hazards models, and restricted cubic splines for dose-response analysis. The dosimetric model demonstrated moderate validity (Spearman's ρ = 0.49–0.53; weighted Cohen's κ = 0.52). Nonspecific symptom scores were positively associated with modeled RF-EMF exposure (adjusted β = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.21–0.75, p = 0.001), with a nonlinear dose-response relationship (p for nonlinearity = 0.04). No significant associations with cancer incidence (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.84–1.39) or reproductive outcomes (OR = 1.18, 95% CI: 0.83–1.68) were observed. The integrated dosimetric-epidemiological framework provides a refined approach to RF-EMF exposure assessment. Although no associations were found with cancer or reproductive outcomes, a modest, nonlinear association with nonspecific symptoms was observed, suggesting the need to continue investigating non-thermal effects and symptom perception mechanisms.
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