Subjective pollution due to mobile phone antennas and power lines
Some people may feel affected by the electromagnetic fields created by mobile phone antennas or power lines. These people may experience sleep disturbances, headaches or cardiovascular symptoms. However, it has not been proven that electromagnetic fields are the cause.
Some people are troubled merely by the presence of mobile phone antennas or power lines in the vicinity of their home, even though they do not feel any negative effects on their health, and this, too, may be perceived as a form of disturbance.
impossible to evaluate
impossible to evaluate
In 2023, nearly 25% of the population felt "somewhat disturbed" or "very disturbed" by the pollution induced by mobile phone antennas or power lines at home. In 2015, the figure was only 10%, i.e. the subjective exposure has increased significantly over the last years.
Given that this is a self-reported disturbing effect and the actual impact of the radiation as found in the environment is unknown, it is not possible to evaluate either the state or development of this indicator.
The data are based on the dataset Perception of environmental conditions at home dataset carried out by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) (only available in German and French). It encompassed a broad variety of aspects of environmental pollution, awareness of the environment, ecologically-relevant behaviour and lifestyle. The random sample (2023: N=3028) complies with the principle of representativeness.
This indicator includes all those surveyed who felt rather disturbed or greatly disturbed by mobile phone antennas or power lines at home (on a scale of 1: "Not disturbed" to 5: "Very disturbed").
In 2019 and 2023, participation was possible not only by telephone, but also by online questionnaire, with 90% and 95% of respondents respectively choosing the latter option. Since 2019, a new weighting model has also been used. As a result of these two methodological changes, the results obtained up to 2015 are only partially comparable with those obtained from 2019 onwards.
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