Monitoring of RF/Microwave field strength at schools in a pilot district in Samsun/Turkey

As a result of the growing usage of wireless devices and a large number of WLANs installations at schools; determining the exposure levels to students and staff from these systems has become more crucial than before. Since microwave radio links are used to provide connection between wireless devices, proper assessment of exposure to microwave emissions must be carried out. For this reason, in this study electromagnetic radiation (EMR) measurements were conducted at 92 different schools in Ilkadim district twice in 2016 using PMM 8053 EMR meter. The changes in and statistical properties of electric field strengths (E) are determined on the basis of these measurements. The maximum Es (E
_max
) are 5.39 V/m and 3.04 V/m for each measurement while the maximum average Es (E
_avg
) are 2.22 and 2.25 V/m. Even though the measured E levels are below the limits that are determined by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP); for providing a wide margin of protection and evaluating the health risks they may cause, regular control/measurement of exposed EMR levels is recommended.