[Effects of magnetic field on mental health staff employed in gas power plant, Shiraz, 2008]

ABSTRACT

In the industrial world, almost everyone is unavoidably exposed to ambient magnetic field [ELF] generated by various technical and household appliances. According to the studies carried out in a power station 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 psychological disorders. The General Health Questionnaire [GHQ] is used in this study to recognize psychosomatic disorders. Measurements indicate that range of magnetic 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 magnetic fields and noise] 78.2%] were suspected to have a kind of mental disorders. The results obtained from this study which shows the prevalence of mental disorders among the suspected case is higher than the results of Noorbala and colleagues study in 2006. Therefore, there are necessities to do more research in order to find the relationship between electric and magnetic fields and psychological disorders