Abstract

Effects of electromagnetic field exposure due to Wi-Fi frequency were presented. A total of 72 unrestrained Swiss albino mice were used as surrogate and were divided into two groups of sham exposed and 2.46 GHz exposure group. The exposure duration was for 7 h/day, 7days/week for 4 consecutive weeks. Thermographic pictures of both groups were taken to obtain the body temperature of the mice before and after the exposure. A Signal generator was connected to an omnidirectional antenna to generate average field strength of 1.1 × 10^-3 mW/cm² and specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1.82 × 10^-4 for the exposure purpose. A statistical analysis performed shows a significant difference at α = 0.05 for the temperatures before and after exposure. The mice body mass was found to decrease with prolonged exposure in the 2.46 GHz exposure group. This however, is contrary for mice in sham exposed group. The death rate for exposure group was found to be 28% as compared to 6% of the sham exposed group.

Key words: Electromagnetic exposure, radio frequency-electromagnetic field (RF-EMF), thermography, far field, radiation.