Petersen R C
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ 07974-2070.
Health Phys. 1991 Jul;61(1):59-67. doi: 10.1097/00004032-199107000-00006.
Limits for exposure to electromagnetic fields at RF and microwave frequencies have, at times, been subject to criticism and controversy. In many cases the controversy results from a lack of absolute proof that some nominal levels of exposure are safe, from a misunderstanding of how to apply the limits, and from a lack of understanding (by critics) of the rationale upon which the limits were developed and of the consensus process required for approval. Exposure limits, based on rather simple models, were developed during the early 1950s and have been used extensively without revision for almost three decades (and still are by various organizations including the U.S. Department of Labor). During the past decade, however, these limits have been modified extensively to reflect both the increase in knowledge of bioeffects associated with exposure to electromagnetic energy and the advances in dosimetry and, also, to overcome obvious shortcomings in the earlier exposure guides. This paper will review the exposure criteria developed during the past decade by the American National Standards Institute and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, with particular emphasis on the underlying rationale.
