Measurement of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) from Mobile Phone Base Stations and Health Effect in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South-Western Nigeria

The general public is concerned about the potentially dangerous health effects of human exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) released by phone base stations. Concerns about the purported detrimental effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation emitted by phone base transceivers prompted protests against the construction of phone base stations (BTS). As a result, measuring levels of EMF exposure in the population and potential hazards is critical. A wide-band TES-90 electrosmog meter was used to measure public exposure to electromagnetic radiation from the BTS at several places in Abeokuta. After surveying using a GPS meter, measurements were taken from 62 base stations in Abeokuta. The greatest power density for the system of mobile telecommunication signals at BTS was 9.02 10^-4 mWcm^-2 at a 2 m radius, while the mean value of power densities collected from all base stations was 3.61 10^-4 mWcm^-2 at a 2 m radius. The maximum and average power density from all of the investigated base station antennas in Abeokuta were significantly lower than the 1 mWcm^-2 limit imposed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation for Public Exposure (ICNIRP). The measurement of power densities at various distances from BTS-49 demonstrates how the power density varies with distance from the base stations. The measurement was within the ICNIRP-recommended limiting standard (1mWcm^-2). The conclusion implies that radiation exposure from the BTS poses no health risk and does not appear to have any known harmful effect on human health. This, however, proposed that the government and industry should stimulate science and study in order to assess the degree of EMF radiation exposure from BTS and its health effects.