Effects of electromagnetic fields on mental health of the staff employed in gas power plants, Shiraz, 2009

Abstract

The aims of this study are to assess, in a power station in Shiraz, the effects of noise and electromagnetic field on psychological mood. By the great industrial and technological improvements human beings have been exposed to different types of physical and chemical factors. Some of these factors such as electromagnetism are known as the constant components of the environment. According to the studies carried out in one of the power stations in Shiraz, psychological disorders caused by jobs are among the most important problems of the workers. This study is performed to determine the presence or absence of these psychological disorders. This cross-sectional study is performed on these groups: (1) The gas power plant staff who were in contact with electromagnetic field and nose, (2) employees who were only exposed to noise and (3) a group of staff employed in the administrative parts of the Telecommunication companies who did not have any history of being exposed to electromagnetic field and sounds. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is used in this study to recognize psychosomatic disorders. Measurements indicate that range of electromagnetic field varies from 0.087 micro Tesla in the phone homes to 30 micro Tesla in power stations. The results of this study has shown that a significant number of staff which were exposed to electromagnetic fields and noise (78.2%) were suspected to have a kind of mental disorders. The results obtained from this studywhich shows the prevalence of mental disorders among the suspected case is higher than the results of Noorbala and colleagues study in 2006. © 2010 Asian Network for Scientific Information.