EMF limits – ICNIRP basic restrictions

Dries van Wageningen and Eberhard Waffenschmidt, Philips Research

Alternating magnetic fields may have a biological impact on the user. That’s why a scientific committee (ICNIRP) has published recommendations for a maximum exposure [1]. It is based on hundreds of related scientific publications, evaluated by the authors of the ICNIRP committee.
This publication gives basic restrictions for the current density and the Standard Absorption Rate (SAR) in the body of an exposed human. The frequency dependence is shown in Figure 8. The limits are given for “occupational exposure”, relevant for a short exposure and for “general public exposure”, which in a first instant should be relevant for consumer applications. The SAR value distinguishes between whole body exposure, head and trunk, and limbs.
In the frequency range between 100 kHz and 10 MHz the induced current density dominates over the SAR for magnetic fields.

[1] International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, "Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields", Health Physics April 1998, Volume 74, Number 4.