Worldwide standards on exposure to electromagnetic fields: an overview

Over the last years, a wide debate has developed on the possible health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields. In-depth research activity was therefore developed by the international scientific community aimed at evaluating the risk associated with exposure to this type of radiation. At the same time, various international institutions began to issue recommendations on exposure limits valid for workers and for the population in the frequency range up to 300 GHz. Most of the recently revised safety standards worldwide are set in terms of internal rates of electromagnetic energy deposition (Specific Absorption Rate) at radiofrequency and microwave frequencies, and of induced electric fields or current densities at lower frequencies up to 10 MHz. At the international level, the most authoritative guidelines have been developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP); another internationally well recognized standard is that developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in the USA, adopting the same basic approach of ICNIRP, although with some differences in numerical values. This article is mainly focused on the analysis of different approaches for the protection against electromagnetic fields, and on the rationale of most relevant standards.