RF-EMF brain dose from mobile phones and the role of reception quality - a simulation study using the ETAIN 5G...

Telecommunication technology continues to evolve, with recent transition from 4G to 5G networks. This can change radio-frequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure from mobile devices. To accurately assess personal exposure, mobile device use in various environments with different network qualities should be considered when investigating exposure levels. Using the "ETAIN 5G-Scientist" app, we collected the signal strength quality indicators for both, 4G-LTE and 5G-NR: Reference Signal Received Power and Synchronization Signal Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP and ss-RSRP), for the main providers in the Netherlands (2024-2025). We used calibration functions to estimate far-field exposure from collected RSRP and ss-RSRP. We calculated the corresponding brain dose, based on previously developed specific absorption rate and simulated RF-EMF brain dose for a range of typical activities with mobile phones. We observed signal strength indicators ranging from -140 to -56 dBm RSRP (4G-LTE, N=150789) and -125 to -61 dBm ss-RSRP (5G-NR, N=2192). For the same type of mobile phone use, this, resulted in different estimated daily brain dose (mJ kg^-1 day^-1) levels. During the suboptimal network quality (RSRP: -120 dBm) the daily brain dose was higher (5 min call, 150 mJ kg^-1 day^-1; 5 min watching video, 26 mJ kg^-1 day^-1) compared to optimal network quality (RSRP: -60 dBm)(5 minute call, 4 mJ kg^-1 day^-1; 5 min watching video, 5 mJ kg^-1 day^-1). Our model based estimate show that even a few minutes of calling under suboptimal signal quality conditions resulted in higher brain dose than 24h environmental exposures. Personal RF-EMF exposure from mobile phones is strongly determined by the technology and the associated signal quality, this should be factored in when doing exposure studies or epidemiological research.