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Frontiers in Psychiatry
Research
Occupational
Elf
๐ฌ Power Plant Study Links ELF-EMF Exposure to Poor Sleep and Depression
A 2026 cross-sectional study of Tunisian Electricity and Gas Company workers reports that employees exposed to extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields had higher rates of poor sleep quality, depression, anxiety and stress than administrative workers. After multivariate analysis, ELF-EMF exposure remained significantly associated with poor sleep quality and depression.
Note: The exposure levels in this study are well above the 0.4 ยตT threshold used by IARC in its Group 2B classification for childhood leukemia, and reflect an occupational setting rather than common household exposures.
"According to the PSQI global score, 64.9% of the EG [Exposed Group] had poor sleep quality versus 29.5% of the NEG [Non-Exposed Group]."
โ Kacem et al.
"After multivariate analysis, ELF-EMF exposure was significantly associated with poor sleep quality and depression."
โ Kacem et al.
"The present study revealed that ELF-EMFs can affect sleep and mental health."
โ Kacem et al.
Exposure
"The median value of the ELF-EMFs was 5.86 ฮผT at the power plant [min 0.1, max 40.34 ฮผT]."
โ Kacem et al., Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2026
๐ Underlying Research
Impact of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields exposure on sleep quality and mental health in a Tunisian power plant: a cross-sectional study
Kacem et al.
(2026)
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Journal Level 1โ
