Occupational Exposure to Power Frequency Magnetic Fields in Intensive Care Unit Rooms

Current intensive care unit rooms have many medical devices. Typically, this type of equipment produces low frequency magnetic field. As a result, staff and patients are permanently exposed to magnetic fields of different intensities. The effects of magnetic field on human health have not yet been clearly confirmed. In occupational environments, the exposure to magnetic field of industrial frequency is recognized as a hazard factor for a range of disturbances. The objective of this work is to describe exposure to magnetic fields of industrial frequency in intensive care unit rooms at Al- Kadhimiya Hospital in Baghdad, through a series of measurements in the environment where medical personnel perform their daily professional activities and patients must remain for several hours or days. The results indicate the following: The predominant frequency in the intensive care unit rooms was 50 Hz. The exposure levels obtained from the abovementioned monitoring process ranged from 0.33 to 4.44 mG in the intensive care unit rooms. Getting the best information on the level of exposure of a specific person working in a specific environment is done through instantaneous environmental measurements. The magnetic field density in intensive care unit rooms depends on the number and type of monitors and medical equipment which is used in those rooms.