The prevalence of symptoms attributed to electromagnetic field exposure:: a cross-sectional representative survey in Switzerland

Objectives: To investigate health risk perception as well as to assess the prevalence of self-reported symptoms attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and other environmental exposures in the general population of Switzerland. Methods: Between May and June 2004, telephone interviews of a representative sample of the Swiss population (n = 2048, > 14 years old) about: 1) health symptoms attributed to five environmental factors (one of which was EMF), 2) health risk perception related to 12 environmental risk factors (five of which were different EMF sources). Results: We found a prevalence of 5% (95% Cl 4-6%) for electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in our study sample. The most common health complaints among EHS individuals were sleep disorders (43 %) and headaches (34 %), which were mostly attributed to power lines and mobile phone handsets. In addition, 53 percent (95 % Cl 51-55 %) were worried about adverse health effects from EMF, without attributing their own health symptoms to them. Conclusions: The large proportion of the population who is concerned or attributes own symptoms to EMF may cause societal conflicts given the ubiquity of EMF in our everyday life.