Electromagnetic radiation--parameters for risk assessment

The assessment of human exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) under occupational and environmental conditions is one of the most complicated problems of public health science and practice. The problems arise from the very essence of EMR, the conflicting requirements of the measuring instruments, the complexity of electromagnetic waves in the working environment, and the still unknown mechanisms of their biological effects. One of the best ways to develop methods and criteria for exposure assessment of EMR is to determine the electromagnetic field parameters as well as those related to the quantity of energy absorbed by the organism. Definitions have been given mainly regarding tissues' electric and magnetic characteristics, and regarding the energetic parameters of EMR, without description of concrete methods of exposure assessment in different complicated cases of wide-ranging impulsive, non-homogeneous radiation. The best parameters for exposure assessment are the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), the energetic loading of the human body (the electromagnetic dose W), the time-weighted average (TWA), using time-dependent hygienic norms and standards.