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A model to assess personal exposure to ELF magnetic fields from common household sources
Author(s) -
Delpizzo Vincent
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.2250110205
Subject(s) - bioelectromagnetics , exposure assessment , extremely low frequency , environmental health , medicine , magnetic field , physics , quantum mechanics
Emission data are inadequate to characterize the contribution of a source to the total personal extremely‐low‐frequency (ELF) magnetic field exposure. In this paper, a simple model is proposed that takes into consideration the position of the subject with respect to the source and the duration of exposure. The magnetic field is spatially averaged over the whole body of the exposed subject and integrated over time. Exposure is regarded as significant if it approaches or exceeds 400 μT‐h/year. By use of this method, the ELF magnetic fields generated by several household sources were compared with the levels of residential external sources, to assess their relative significance. Some common domestic electrical appliances are found to be responsible for an exposure comparable to that from power lines. When the model is used to assess exposure to electric blankets, apparently conflicting findings may be reconciled.