Welcome to the electromagnetic shielding Technical Steering Committee
Are exposures above the guidelines harmful?
18/02/2013
It is perfectly safe to eat a pot of strawberry jam up to the expiration date – but if you consume the jam any later the manufacturer cannot guarantee good food quality. Nevertheless, even a few weeks or months after the expiration date, it will usually be safe to eat the jam. Similarly, electromagnetic field guidelines ensure that, within the given exposure limit, no known adverse health effects will occur. A large safety factor is applied to the level known to cause a health consequence. Therefore, even if you experienced field strengths several times higher than the given limit value, your exposure would still be within this safety margin.In everyday situations, most people do not experience electromagnetic fields that exceed the guideline limits. Typical exposures are far below these values. However, there are occasions where a person's exposure may, for a short period, approach or even exceed the guidelines. According to ICNIRP, radiofrequency and microwave exposures should be averaged over time to address cumulative effects. The guidelines specify a time-averaging period of six minutes and short-term exposures above the limits are acceptable.In contrast, exposure to low frequency electric and magnetic fields is not time-averaged in the guidelines. To make things even more complicated, another factor called coupling comes into play. Coupling refers to the interaction between the electric and magnetic fields and the exposed body. This depends on the size and shape of the body, the type of tissue and the orientation of the body relative to the field. Guidelines must be conservative: ICNIRP always assumes maximum coupling of the field to the exposed individual. Thus the guideline limits provide maximum protection. For example, even though the magnetic field values for hairdryers and electric shavers appear to exceed the recommended values, extremely weak coupling between the field and the head prevents the induction of electrical currents that could exceed guideline limits.

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