Abstract
This commentary, by three authors with an aggregate experience of more than a century in technology and health and safety studies concerning radiofrequency (RF) energy, asks what has been learned over the past 75 years of research on radiofrequency and health, focusing on technologies for exposure assessment and dosimetry. Research programs on health and safety of RF exposure began in the 1950s, initially motivated by occupational health concerns for military personnel, and later to address public concerns about exposures to RF energy from environmental sources and near-field exposures from RF transmitting devices such as mobile phones that are used near the body. While this research largely focused on the biological effects of RF energy, it also led to important improvements in exposure assessment and dosimetry. This work in the aggregate has made RF energy one of the best studied potential technological hazards and represents a productive response by large numbers of scientists and engineers, working in many countries and supported by diverse funding agencies, to the ever rapidly evolving uses of the electromagnetic spectrum. This review comments on present needs of the field, which include raising the quality of dosimetry in many RF bioeffects studies and developing improved exposure/dosimetric techniques for the higher microwave frequencies to be used by forthcoming communications technologies. At present, however, the major uncertainties in dosimetric modeling/exposure assessment are likely to be related to the inherent variability in real-world exposures, rather than imprecision in measurement technologies.
Highlights
This Special Issue of IJERPH concerns human exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy, both in occupational and nonoccupational settings
The present authors have an aggregate experience of more than a century in RF technology and health and safety studies concerning this form of nonionizing radiation and offer these brief historical comments. This commentary provides a brief overview of the impressive advances in RF dosimetry and exposure assessment over the past three quarters of a century and outlines some current issues in integrating technical advances in these areas with scientific studies to improve the understanding and control of the possible health and safety issues with RF energy
The limits were based on a review of the scientific literature, as well as on approximate paper-and-pencil calculations of tissue heating by RF fields. This standard was later updated and revised under the auspices of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), with subsequent editions building on improvements in exposure assessment and dosimetry, as well as on updated reviews of the bioeffects literature
Summary
This Special Issue of IJERPH concerns human exposure to radiofrequency (RF) energy, both in occupational and nonoccupational settings. The present authors have an aggregate experience of more than a century in RF technology and health and safety studies concerning this form of nonionizing radiation and offer these brief historical comments. This commentary provides a brief overview of the impressive advances in RF dosimetry and exposure assessment over the past three quarters of a century and outlines some current issues in integrating technical advances in these areas with scientific studies to improve the understanding and control of the possible health and safety issues with RF energy.
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