Comparison of electric and magnetic fields from electric power systems with exposure recommendations of the European Union

The Council of the European Union has presented recommendations for exposure to electric and magnetic fields. The ICNIRP guidelines (International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection) have been adopted. The given recommendations for 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields are 5 kV/m and 100 μT, respectively. The aim of this paper is to compare the given guidelines to measurement results from previous studies at Tampere University of Technology (TUT). The recommended value for electric field was exceeded in some cases, the highest measured value being 9.3 kV/m. The highest measured magnetic field, 18.6 μT, was well below the recommended 100 μT. However, the general public does not sojourn for significant periods of time at places where the highest fields were measured