Industrial assessment of radiofrequency and microwave radiations: case study at electronic manufacturing industries in Penang

In electronic manufacturing industry, the applications of an equipment emitting radiofrequency radiation (RFR) are numerous and Increasing. It is known that exposure to RFR at sufficiently high intensity and duration can produce a variety of adverse health effects. This paper presents some results from an extensive studies in the RFR field measurements at frequency range from 100 MHz to 1 GHz. All measurements were performed inside factories located at the Penang Free Trade Zone. In this case, the factories chosen are those that manufacture the electronic components whereby the applications of RFR equipment are likely to be intensive compared to other type of industries. The measurement system used in this study are the portable spectrum-analyzer, the passive log-periodic antenna and a desktop computer for data analysis. Results from this study have indicated that the RFR exposure levels in most factories are in the range of 7.7 x 10 sup -4 - 4.31 x 10 sup -3 Wm sup -2 and 0.01 - 0. 741 Vm sup -1 for power density and electric strength measurement respectively. These ranges are at least 100 times lower compared to the RFR protection guidelines proposed by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI). However, the exposure levels inside the factory are consistently 10 sup -3 - 10 sup -4 higher than the levels caused by natural sources and is about 10 sup 2 - 10 sup 6 higher than the levels measured at a distance of 30 m from a low-power output mobile phone transmitter. In the case of the health effect assessment, no sufficient evidence has been found to indicate the potential consequences resulting from excessive RFR exposure. Nonetheless, many factories surveyed are unaware of the existence of the international guidelines and codes on the safe use of radiofrequency energy even though, some measures are being taken to protect their employees against RFR