The microwave syndrome – further aspects of a spanish study

A health survey was carried out in La Ñora, Murcia, Spain, in the vicinity of two GSM 900/1800 MHz cellular phone base stations. The E-field (~ 400 MHz – 3 GHz) measured in the bedroom was divided in tertiles (0.02 – 0.04 / 0.05 – 0.22 / 0.25 – 1.29 V/m). Spectrum analysis revealed the main contribution and variation for the Efield from the GSM base station. The adjusted (sex, age, distance) logistic regression model showed statistically significant positive exposure-response associations between the E-field and the following variables: fatigue, irritability, headaches, nausea, loss of appetite, sleeping disorder, depressive tendency, feeling of discomfort, difficulty in concentration, loss of memory, visual disorder, dizziness and cardiovascular problems. The inclusion of the distance, which might be a proxy for the sometimes raised “concerns explanation”, did not alter the model substantially. These results support the first statistical analysis based on two groups (arithmetic mean 0,65 V/m versus 0,2 V/m) as well as the correlation coefficients between the E-field and the symptoms (Navarro et al, “The Microwave Syndrome: A preliminary Study in Spain”, Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, Volume 22, Issue 2, (2003): 161 – 169). Based on the data of this study the advice would be to strive for levels not higher than 0.02 V/m for the sum total, which is equal to a power density of 0.0001 μW/cm2 or 1 μW/m2, which is the indoor exposure value for GSM base stations proposed on empirical evidence by the Public Health Office of the Government of Salzburg in 2002.