New York’s Radiofrequency Radiation Mapped Across All Five Boroughs

Researchers walked 38 paths across New York City's five boroughs measuring RF-EMF from 88 MHz to 5.9 GHz. Mean total exposure was 0.97 V/m, with cellular downlink accounting for 45–55% of exposure. A moderate correlation was found between exposure and foot traffic.

"A mean total RF-EMF exposure of 0.97 [...] 0.88 V/m was measured in NYC."

— Thielens et al.

"We [...] compared RF-EMF exposure quantitatively across urban environment type: commercial, residential, greenery, train underground, water ferry, indoor; across the five boroughs of the City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island; and across six technology categories: radio and TV broadcast, cellular downlink, cellular uplink, WiFi (WLAN), Time Division Duplex (TDD), and Total Exposure."

— Thielens et al.

"We found a moderate positive correlation (ρ = 0.5, p-value < 0.05) between exposure and foot traffic, and a weak or negligible, but statistically significant, positive correlation (ρ = 0.1, p-value < 0.05) between exposure and domiciled population density."

— Thielens et al.

"RF exposure measurements are below ICNIRP and FCC reference levels"

— Thielens et al.

"These results are important for policymakers when establishing RF exposure guidelines for the population of NYC and other urban areas in North America."

— Thielens et al.

📄 Underlying Research

Urban Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure in New York City

Arno Thielens, Salvatore Davi, Sassama Hema, Ricardo Toledo-Crow (2026) Environmental Research Journal Level 2ⓘ

📚 PubMed

📡 New York’s Radiofrequency Radiation Mapped Across All Five Boroughs

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📄 Underlying Research