Review date
17 January 2024
Article publication date
8 January 2024
Summary
This review compares the guidelines and restrictions set by various international, national and regional bodies for exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). A total of 10 RF-EMF guideline documents are reviewed. The comparison shows very similar guidance provided by each of the peak international bodies: the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation (ICNIRP) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Minor differences are found between these guidelines and those set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at particular frequencies due to differences in the assessment of RF-EMF absorption within the human body.
Further examination of guideline documents showed that ICNIRP’s limits have been adopted by a majority of countries. The authors address the more conservative limits (1-2 orders of magnitude lower than ICNIRP) adopted by a subset of countries as well as some proposed extreme limits (6 orders of magnitude lower than ICNIRP). As a part of their evaluation, the authors assert that these lower limits, particularly the extreme limits, do not have a scientific basis. Conversely, USA and Japan are identified as the only two countries with less restrictive limits than elsewhere in the world as they take their guidance from the FCC.
The authors also contextualise the limits by comparing them to measurements of RF-EMF exposure in the environment that members of the public may be exposed to from sources such as mobile telephony and Wi-Fi. This comparison demonstrates that the average RF-EMF exposure in the environment is far below the limits set by ICNIRP and is also below the more conservative limits set by other countries and bodies.
Link to
Published in
Environmental Research
ARPANSA commentary
This review clearly presents the similarities and differences between RF-EMF exposure limits set by different countries and how they compare to guidance from international bodies, similar to a 2018 report that ARPANSA has previously summarised. The report highlights that the exposure to RF-EMF experienced by the public, including by people in Australia, remains well below the limits set by safety standards. The review’s criticisms of the more conservative limits set by some countries echoes criticisms presented in similar reviews in the past (Madjar, 2016).
In Australia, exposure to RF-EMF is limited by the ARPANSA Safety Standard which details exposure limits for the general public and for occupationally exposed people. The ARPANSA Safety Standard is congruent with the limits set by ICNIRP and with those adopted by most countries worldwide. The standard is designed to protect people of all ages and health statuses against all known adverse health effects from exposure to RF-EMF. The standard is based on current scientific research that shows the levels at which harmful effects occur and it sets limits well below these harmful levels.
