RF-EMF Exposure Assessment: Comparison of Measurements in Airports and Flights with and Without Wi-Fi Service

This paper presents the results of personal exposure measurements to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields from 2.4 GHz and 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi frequency bands. Measurements were taken in several specific scenarios: within international airports terminals, during takeoff, inside airplanes while flying with and without onboard Wi-Fi service (including while actively using a Wi-Fi connection), and during landing. Data were recorded onboard four international flights (two-round trip flights), from Spain to Mexico, and from Spain to Belgium. Two personal exposimeters, EME SPY 140 and EME Spy Evolution, were used to collect intensity level measurements in each scenario. During the outbound, the mean exposure value inside the airplane flight was 93.9 µW/m² in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi frequency band and 46.4 µW/m² in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band (Spain to Mexico), and 7.29 µW/m² in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band and 2.40 µW/m² in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band (Spain to Belgium). For the return flight, the average value was 26.7 µW/m² in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band and an average of 9.87 µW/m² in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band (Mexico to Spain), and 3.24 µW/m² in the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band and 1.23 µW/m² in the 5.85 GHz Wi-Fi band (Belgium to Spain). Personal exposure levels to RF-EMFs from the Wi-Fi frequency band inside an airplane, even at the airport, are very low and well below the reference levels established by the international guidelines (10 W/m²).