This thesis is concerned with the exposure of electromagnetic fields to school children from Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). The research provides insights into how wireless networks are implemented in schools, sets out to develop a systematic methodology to quantify field levels close to WLAN devices and then investigates the extent of exposure thereby assisting the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in providing advice. School children in the UK are being exposed to electromagnetic fields due to the increasing use of Wi-Fi technologies in schools. Many local government authorities and schools are facing difficulties in understanding the health issues associated with the use of WLAN networks and there is increasing pressure from parents to provide reassurance. There is lack of quantitative scientific data, and current methodologies do not provide a realistic measure of the extent of exposure. The results from the exploratory studies and the contribution from existing literature have then been synthesised to develop new methodologies. A set of measurements were made to come to an assessment of the level of radiofrequency fields adjacent to commonly used WLAN equipment. Finally, the way in which children interact with WLAN devices as part of their normal lessons was examined in determine the time averaged exposure. The outcome of this research is a robust measurement methodology and examination of extent of RF exposure to children which represents a significant contribution to the scientific knowledge. The measurement methodology has been demonstrated to be practicable and can be used with a range of wireless devices using pulsed signals and thus is capable of providing valuable information for future studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:625687 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Khalid, M. |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1334466/ |
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