Assessment of Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields: Review and Future Directions

2021 · Unclear · Insufficient evidence

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UnclearInsufficient evidencePaper 1000

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2021

Study typereview

Reported directionUnclear

Evidence ratingInsufficient

Abstract

Assessment of Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields: Review and Future Directions Akimasa Hirata, Yinliang Diao, Teruo Onishi, Kensuke Sasaki, Seunyoung Ahn, Davide Colombi, Valerio De Santis, Ilkka Laakso, Luca Giaccone, Wout Joseph, Essam A. Rashed, Wolfgang Kainz, Ji Chen. Assessment of Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields: Review and Future Directions. IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, doi: 10.1109/TEMC.2021.3109249. Wolfgang Kainz, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20852 USA (e-mail: wolfgang.kainz@fda.hhs.gov). Abstract This article reviews recent standardization activities and scientific studies related to the assessment of human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). The differences of human exposure standards and assessment of consumer products and medical applications are summarized. First, we reviewed human body modeling and tissue dielectric properties. Then, we explain the rationale of current exposure standards from the viewpoint of EMF and the standardization process for product compliance based on these exposure standards. The assessment of wireless power transfer, as an example of emerging wireless devices, and environmental EMFs in our daily lives are reviewed. Safety in magnetic resonance systems, where the EMF exposure is much larger than from typical consumer devices, is also reviewed. Finally, we summarize future research directions and research needs for EMF safety. Excerpts The overall improvement in human model accuracy is an important topic as mentioned in Section II-A and B. This may include an intersubject variability study using different models or an analysis of the population level. In addition, the accurate measurement of dielectric human tissue properties is essential for evaluating the induced field strength. Recent studies suggest that the conductivity of skin and brain tissues may be significantly higher than those commonly used in LF dosimetry (e.g., [31]). Recent publications reported a novel approach for dielectric measurements that allows the estimation of dielectric human tissue properties in vivo using MRI [137]. These and other novel medical imaging and measurement technologies will help to further improve human body modeling. Research needs in the areas of human EMF safety (Section III) are summarized by various international standardization bodies [4], [138], [139]. The topics listed therein relate to human body modeling, as well as the necessity of more accurate dosimetry, which includes reductions of uncertainties, and multiphysics or multiscale methods for correlating the field quantities with substantiated biological effects (e.g., [140]). The assessments of exposure to emerging LF and RF technologies and simultaneous exposure (local and whole-body) to multiple sources will also prove useful for identifying potential changes in the dominant factors affecting EM safety. Additional research on human EM safety will provide more scientific data and improve the justifications for exposure limits, especially at frequencies higher than 6 GHz, and in the intermediate frequency range. New mobile wireless technologies, such as 5G/6G and beyond, are being developed continuously. Their safe use demands not only conservative short- and long-term exposure limits for the new frequencies, but also adequately standardized compliance methods. Therefore, additional relevant exposure evaluation methods are needed to support frequencies from 100 to 300 GHz within the next 10 years. As the complexity of new wireless technologies has substantially increased over the years, further development and standardization of novel and more efficient EMF compliance testing methodologies are needed. International standardization will continue to play a key role in harmonizing global test procedures to establish compliance with current and future wireless technologies. One challenge faced by standardization will be to define test conditions that provide conservative, but realistic exposure conditions based on real-life situations, rather than relying on theoretical or unreasonable assumptions and simplifications. The assessment methods by the computation may become more common for emerging wireless systems, and thus further research is needed for verification of its effectiveness in different scenarios. Future work for the environmental spectral measurement (see Section V) will focus on measurement procedures to assess worst-cases and realistic exposure to EMF from 5G New Radio (NR)—Ma-MIMO with a focus on sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave bands. The literature scarcely documents in situ assessment of 5G Ma- MIMO signals at millimeter waves and the proper adjustment of measurement settings. For personal exposimeter studies, protocols for 5G personal exposure assessment will need to include active and inactive users. In contrast to legacy technologies, Ma-MIMO base station exposure strongly depends on the activity of the individual user (e.g., streaming data, downloading files, and web browsing). Involving millimeter waves for personal exposure assessment is a significant challenge. Also, in RF-MR safety, it is necessary to develop clinically relevant human body models for measurements in addition to developing new computational methods for multiscale and multiphysics applications. Most computational human body models use over 30 different types of tissue. However, below 500 MHz dielectric human tissues properties are not significantly different from each other. Some preliminary studies provided evidence that simplified human body models can still achieve accurate EM simulation results. This leads to the possibility of developing simplified computational and experimental models for different RF-MR safety measurement needs for PIMDs, AIMDs, and high-field MR systems (e.g., [141]). Furthermore, simple and equivalent test methods/equipment those are based on the physics principles should be developed (e.g., [142]). ieeexplore.ieee.org

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AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typereview

Effect directionunclear

PopulationNot supplied

Sample sizeNot supplied

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthInsufficientConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

The article reviews recent standardization activities and scientific studies related to assessing human exposure to EMF, including modeling, dielectric properties, rationale for exposure standards, and compliance processes. It identifies research needs such as improved human body models, more accurate dosimetry with reduced uncertainties, and additional exposure evaluation methods, particularly for frequencies above 6 GHz and for emerging technologies including 5G/6G and 100–300 GHz.

Outcomes measured

human exposure assessment methods/standards
human body modeling and tissue dielectric properties
dosimetry and compliance testing methodologies
environmental EMF measurement (including 5G NR massive MIMO, sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave)
wireless power transfer exposure assessment
magnetic resonance (MR) EMF safety

View raw extracted JSON

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    "human exposure assessment methods/standards",
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    "environmental EMF measurement (including 5G NR massive MIMO, sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave)",
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  "main_findings": "The article reviews recent standardization activities and scientific studies related to assessing human exposure to EMF, including modeling, dielectric properties, rationale for exposure standards, and compliance processes. It identifies research needs such as improved human body models, more accurate dosimetry with reduced uncertainties, and additional exposure evaluation methods, particularly for frequencies above 6 GHz and for emerging technologies including 5G/6G and 100–300 GHz.",
  "effect_direction": "unclear",
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      "reason": "Discusses exposure standards, rationale, and international standardization activities."
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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1109/temc.2021.3109249
PubMed: Not supplied

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