Magnetic field exposure assessment for adult residents of Maine who live near and far away from overhead transmission lines.

Sixty-Hz magnetic field exposures were measured for 45 adult residents of Maine. Thirty of the subjects resided near rights-of-way (ROWs) with either 345- and 115-kV transmission lines, or ROWs with only 115-kV transmission lines; fifteen resided far from any transmission lines. Personal exposure data for a single 24-hour period was acquired with the EMDEX. The EMDEX's event-marker button was used to partition exposures into Home and Away components. Also, three area measurements were taken for each subject during the personal exposure measurement period: 1) 24-hr fixed-site bedroom measurement with a second EMDEX; 2) Spot measurements in at least three rooms of every residence; and 3) Spot measurements outside each residence. Residence near transmission lines highly loaded during the measurement period was associated with increased Home and Total exposure relative to a far-away population. Average exposure level while away from home was uniform (at about 2 mG) throughout the study population. On a quantitative level, Home exposure was correlated equivalently with Spot-In (r = .70) and the 24-hr fixed site measurement (r = .68). Correlations of area measurements with Total exposure were weaker because of the dilution effect of Away exposure (r = .64 for Spot-In; r = .61 for 24-h Bedroom). Away and Home exposures were not correlated (r = .14), which reinforced our confidence that the participants used the EMDEX correctly. The data suggest the need for caution before inferences are drawn about total personal exposure from area measurements. The study demonstrates the feasibility of obtaining valid measures of magnetic-field exposure with the personal exposure monitors that have been developed.