Summary of the situation report bulletin (1/2017) published online

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The summer is full of different congresses. One of those already held, on 5–9 June in Hangzhou, China, was the annual BioEM conference (BioEM2017) on electromagnetic fields. This year, the event features included different workshops on topical issues. Short abstracts for the presentations held at the conference are available online.

The Finnish radiation legislation in currently being revised. The new radiation act has been circulated for comments but will not, as far as I know, come into force until 1 January 2018. Also, work has progressed on the preparation of other regulations. The decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on restricting public exposure to non-ionizing radiation is currently being circulated for comments until 14 August. This will be followed up in the next bulletins.

I have found some interesting scientific publications for this bulletin. The first paper discusses the association between childhood leukemia and environmental exposure, including but not limited to electromagnetic fields. It was interesting to find that research has been carried out in respect of other environmental factors as well.

The next paper focuses not only on extremely low-frequency but also on intermediate-frequency electromagnetic fields. A few years ago, the issue was raised at different conferences that no research had been conducted on intermediate-frequency fields so far. That situation seems to have changed now.

As many times before, the bulletin concludes with papers on occupational exposure. This time there are two of them, dealing with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and central nervous system disease.

Hope you enjoy reading this summary in English!

Five new articles published

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The first article, Peak exposures to main components of ash and gaseous diesel exhausts in closed and open ash loading stations at biomass-fuelled power plants by Laitinen J, Koponen H, Sippula O, Korpijärvi K, Jumpponen M, Laitinen S, Aatamila M, Tissari J, Karhunen T, Ojanen K, Jokiniemi J and Korpinen L is published in Chemosphere. 2017 Jul 4;185:183-191. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.07.012.

The second article, Preliminary results of measuring occupational exposure to static magnetic fields at HVDC cables in Finland by Tonteri J, Heiskanen T, Elovaara J, Penttilä M and Korpinen L is published in Radioprotection 2017, 52(2), 119–123, DOI

The third article, Measuring Occupational Exposure to Extremely Low-Frequency Electric Fields at 220 kV Substations by Pirkkalainen H, Heiskanen T, Tonteri J, Elovaara J, Penttila M and Korpinen L is published in Radiation Protection Dosimetry. 2017 Mar 3:1-4. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncx023.

The fourth article, Self-reported wrist and finger symptoms associated with other physical/mental symptoms and use of computers/mobile phones by Korpinen L, Pääkkönen R and Gobba F is published in International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics 2017 Mar 1:1-9. doi: 10.1080/10803548.2017.1282030.

The fifth article, The biomechanical overload of the upper limb: a neglected occupational hazard in animal facility operators by Occhionero V, Ghersi R, Prandini L, Korpinen L and Gobba F, is published in Ergonomics, 2017; 60(3):366-374 (ISSN: 1366-5847)

Nine new conference publications published

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1) Possibilities to decrease the extremely low-frequency electric field exposure with a Faraday cage under a 400 kV power line

Rauno Pääkkönen; Lourdes Farrugia; Hiroo Tarao; Fabriziomaria Gobba; Leena Korpinen
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 2109 – 2112, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7734884
IEEE Conference Publications

2) Measurements of leakage magnetic fields from induction heating range using different sized pans

Hiroo Tarao; Noriyuki Hayashi; Leena Korpinen; Katsuo Isaka
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 2937 – 2939, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7735160
IEEE Conference Publications

3) The Electric field exposure of the work tasks from a ladder at 400 kV substations in Finland

Herkko Pirkkalainen; Leena Korpinen; Timo Heiskanen; Mika Penttilä; Jarmo Elovaara
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 1419 – 1421, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7734667
IEEE Conference Publications

4) Directive 2013/35/EU for electromagnetic fields of workers’ exposure and working from the ladder near a 400 kV power line

Leena Korpinen; Rauno Pääkkönen; Lourdes Farrugia; Hiroo Tarao; Fabriziomaria Gobba
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 2106 – 2108, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7734883
IEEE Conference Publications

5) Possibilities to decrease the electric field exposure with a shield over worker under the 400 kV power lines

Rauno Pääkkönen; Leena Korpinen; Hiroo Tarao; Fabriziomaria Gobba
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 2934 – 2936, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7735159
IEEE Conference Publications

6) Examples of extremely low-frequency magnetic field measurements at treatment facilities of a university hospital

Jussi Sankari; Tapio Vahekoski; Timo Seppälä; Leena Korpinen
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 1416 – 1418, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7734666
IEEE Conference Publications

7) Extremely low frequency magnetic fields in the work environment

Lourdes Farrugia; Charles V. Sammut; Giuseppe Gauci; Leena Korpinen
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 3666 – 3669, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7735398
IEEE Conference Publications

8) Extremely low frequency magnetic fields at electric facilities of a hospital

Tapio Vahekoski; Jussi Sankari; Timo Seppälä; Leena Korpinen
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 1413 – 1415, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7734665
IEEE Conference Publications

9) Comparison of the extremely low-frequency electric field meters at 400 kV and 220 kV substations

Herkko Pirkkalainen; Leena Korpinen; Hiroo Tarao; Timo Heiskanen; Mika Penttilä; Jarmo Elovaara
2016 Progress in Electromagnetic Research Symposium (PIERS)
Year: 2016
Pages: 2931 – 2933, DOI: 10.1109/PIERS.2016.7735158
IEEE Conference Publications

Summary of the situation report bulletin (2/2016) published online

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In December, an “International Workshop on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection” (2016 NICT/ICNIRP WS) was organized by ICNIRP in Tokyo, Japan. The main focus of this event was on radio-frequency electromagnetic fields. As regards extremely low-frequency fields, I am not aware of any international events of particular interest having taken place in the fall.

As to my knowledge, guidelines and standards are being produced, both nationally and internationally, in relation to the Directive 2013/35/EU on the “minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields)”, and the same applies to the Finnish Government Decree on the protection of workers from risks related to electromagnetic fields.

I have once again found some interesting publications for this bulletin. The first papers discuss the exposure of children to magnetic fields, with results, for example, from France and Italy.

In Germany, an interesting approach was adopted to investigate how far a high-voltage power line should be located for it to be accepted and considered safe. The paper suggests that the way information is provided has an impact.

Towards the end of the bulletin, there is a paper on a topic that reaches beyond what we usually discuss here. It deals with the safety and interaction of patients with implantable cardiac defibrillators driving a hybrid vehicle.

Hope you enjoy reading this summary in English!

Nine new articles published

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The first article, Self-Reported Ache, Pain, or Numbness in Feet and Use of Computers amongst Working-Age Finns by Leena Korpinen, Rauno Pääkkönen and Fabriziomaria Gobba, is published in Healthcare 2016, 4(4), 82; doi:10.3390/healthcare4040082, (The Special Issue Occupational Health Issues in the New Millennium)

The second article, The Possibility of Decreasing 50-Hz Electric Field Exposure near 400-kV Power Lines with Arc Flash Personal Protective Equipment by Leena Korpinen, Timo Heiskanen, Herkko Pirkkalainen, Rauno Pääkkönen is published in International journal of environmental research and public health 13(10), October 2016 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph13100942

The third article, Simple estimation of induced electric fields in nervous system tissues for human exposure to non-uniform electric fields at power frequency, by Hiroo Tarao, Hironobu Miyamoto, Leena Korpinen, Noriyuki Hayashi, Katsuo Isaka is published in Physics in Medicine and Biology (Special Issue), Jun 2016

The fourth article, Current densities and total contact currents during forest clearing tasks under 400 kV power lines: Current Densities During Forest Clearing Tasks by Leena Korpinen, Harri Kuisti, Jarmo Elovaara, is published in Bioelectromagnetics, May 2016

The fifth article, Influence of environmental conditions on EMF levels in a span of overhead transmission lines, by Oleksandr Okun, Yurii Kravchenko and Leena Korpinen is published in Progress In Electromagnetics Research C, vol 63, 163-171, 2016

The sixth article: The biomechanical overload of the upper limb: a neglected occupational hazard in animal facility operators by Vincenzo Occhionero Vincenzo Occhionero Rinaldo Ghersi Rinaldo Ghersi , Leena Korpinen, Fabriziomaria Gobba, is published in Ergonomics, Apr 2016

The seventh article, Occupational exposure to electric and magnetic fields during tasks at ground or floor level at 110 kV substations in Finland by Leena Korpinen and Rauno Pääkkönen is published in International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics, Apr 2016

The eighth article, Decreasing the extremely low-frequency electric field exposure with a Faraday cage during work tasks from a man hoist at a 400 kV substation By Herkko Pirkkalainen, Jarmo Elovaara and Leena Korpinen, is published in Progress In Electromagnetics Research M, vol 48, 55-66.

The ninth article, Exposure to biological and chemical agents at biomass power plants by Sirpa Laitinen, Juha Laitinen, Leena Fagernäs, Kirsi Korpijärvi, Leena Korpinen, Kari Ojanen, Marjaleena Aatamila, Mika Jumpponen, Hanna Koponen, Jorma Jokiniemi is published in Biomass and Bioenergy October 2016, vol 93, 78-86, DOI: 10.1016/j.biombioe.2016.06.025