Historical Perspective on the Radio Frequency Radiation Dosimetry Handbook

Abstract

The major difficulty in assessing the biological effects of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Radiation (RFR) is to relate correctly the biological response being measured to the actual radiation dose causing the response. This must be accomplished while maintaining control of all other variables. It was sometime in 1972 that I had a meeting with Dr. Curtis C. Johnson and Dr. Arthur W. Guy, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington to discuss some of the more obvious dosimetry problems that were showing up in many biological effects studies being reported in the literature. In subsequent discussions with Curtis Johnson, we came up with the idea of developing a “dosimetry handbook”. The original idea was to develop sufficient data in some type of “handbook” format to assist biological scientists to: (1) design better experiments, (2) more correctly interpret existing biological effects studies, and (3) extrapolate from animal studies performed under various laboratory conditions to likely human response under realistic (real world) RFR exposures. We felt that if such data could be developed and published for all to use, that the whole field of bioelectromagnetic research might be significantly improved. In early 1973, Curtis Johnson and Bill Guy met with me and other members of our staff at the School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) to further explore what might be done. Over the next twelve to eighteen months this idea for a handbook was discussed with many other people at numerous research centers and I pressed our organization for the necessary approval and funding to proceed. Subsequently in 1975 a decision was made at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine to award a contract to the University of Utah to begin the development of the “Radiofrequency Radiation Dosimetry Handbook”