Journal Abbreviation : ‘J. Odor Indoor Environ.’ Frequency : Quarterly Doi Prefix : 10.15250/joie. ISSN : 2288-9167 (Print) / 2288-923X (Online) Year of Launching : 2014 Publisher : Korean Society of Odor Research and Engineering & Korean Society for Indoor Environment Indexed/Tracked/Covered By :
1Department of Computer and Communication Engineering, Chungbuk National University 2Department of Public Health, Hanyang University 3Indoor air and noise Research division, National Institute of Environmental Research 4Korea Environment Institute 5Department of Occupational Health & Safety Engineering, Inje University
The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) exposure on the healthof elementary school students. A total of 103 students 12~13 years old were chosen for the study. The experimentalgroup consisted of 56 students who went to school near an overhead powerline. The ELF exposure andenvironmental hazard factors were evaluated during a 24-hour exposure period. The body and dwellingcharacteristics of the students as well as disease occurrence related to the respiratory system and allergies wereinvestigated through a questionnaire. The brain wave and electrocardiogram were also inspected. The exposureof the group exposed while at a school located near a powerline was 6.8mG (p<0.01). Based on the questionnaireresults, neither the body or dwelling characteristics of the two groups were affected by the ELF emitted frompowerline. There was no significant difference between the two groups in relation to the rate of occurrence ofrespiratory diseases such as wheezing, asthma and bronchitis. Although brain waves of the group exposed to ELFwere lower than that of the group not exposed to it in terms of absolute power of gamma and beta, there is nosignificant difference between the health status of the two groups. According to our study, school students wholived near a power line were exposed to higher ELF levels than those away from a power line. The two groupshave significant differences inBrain wave and ECG, but this change doesn't mean there is a difference in healthstatus. Finally, our study has a limitation in terms of the number of study subjects and the restricted area examined.