Personal exposure from free Wi-Fi hotspots in downtown Mexico City

In 2019, the Government of Mexico City implemented actions that allowed citizens to approach a free Wi-Fi hotspot, where more than 13000 points have been installed throughout the city. In this work, we present the results of the measurements of personal exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields carried out in Plaza de la Constitución, better known as Zócalo located in the center of Mexico City. The measurements were taken by one of the researchers while walking on a weekday morning and afternoon, in different microenvironments (on the street, on public transport: subway, at the Zócalo, and finally, at home). We also carry out spot measurements in the center of the Zócalo. Subsequently, we carried out a comparative analysis of the different microenvironments, through box plot and violin plot, and we elaborate georeferenced and interpolated maps with intensity levels through the Kriging method, using the Geographic Information System. The Kriging interpolation gives us a good visualization of the spatial distribution of RF-EMF exposure in the study area, showing the highest and lowest intensity levels. The mean values recorded at the measured points in the Zócalo were 326 μW/m² in the 2.4- to 2.5-GHz Wi-Fi band and 2370 μW/m² in the 5.15- to 5.85-GHz Wi-Fi band. In the case of the mean values recorded on the street, they were 119 μW/m² in the 2.4- to 2.5-GHz frequency band and 31.8 μW/m² in the 5.15- to 5.85-GHz frequency band, like the values recorded at home, 122 μW/m² and 33.9 μW/m², respectively. All values are well below the reference levels established by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.