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Health Council of The Netherlands: no need to change from SAR to time-temperature relation in electromagnetic fields exposure limits

Not an original health-effects study

Authors not listed · 2011

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The Health Council of the Netherlands concluded that changing from SAR to time-temperature limits would not resolve controversies about non-thermal effects and favored keeping the current SAR-based approach.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

The Health Council of the Netherlands examined whether exposure limits should shift from specific absorption rate to a maximum allowable temperature increase. The council evaluated this change across six criteria including consistency, applicability, and causality. The council concluded that changing the dosimetric quantity would not advance the debate on non-thermal effects from long-duration, low-intensity exposure. The council recommended keeping the current system of basic restrictions and reference levels expressed as SAR and in V/m or µT.

Why This Matters

The council's position rests on the premise that induced electric current and the generation and absorption of heat in biological material are the only scientifically established causal effects of radiofrequency fields with possible adverse health consequences. The exposure guidelines for the 10 MHz to 10 GHz frequency range are based on avoiding adverse effects of increased temperatures that may occur of the entire human body at a specific absorption rate (SAR) level above 4 W/kg. Adopting a time-temperature framework would require defining adverse time-temperature thresholds.

Exposure Information

A logarithmic frequency spectrum from 10 Hz to 100 GHz showing where this study's 10 MHz - 10 GHz exposure sits relative to common EMF sources.Where This Frequency Sits on the EMF SpectrumELFVLFLF / MFHF / VHFUHFSHFmm10 Hz100 GHzThis study: 10 MHz - 10 GHzPower lines50/60 HzCell phones~1 GHzWiFi2.4 GHz5G mm28 GHzLogarithmic scale

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Cite This Study
Unknown (2011). Health Council of The Netherlands: no need to change from SAR to time-temperature relation in electromagnetic fields exposure limits.
Show BibTeX
@article{health_council_of_the_netherlands_no_need_to_change_from_sar_to_time_temperature_relation_in_electromagnetic_fields_exposure_limits_ce1151,
  author = {Unknown},
  title = {Health Council of The Netherlands: no need to change from SAR to time-temperature relation in electromagnetic fields exposure limits},
  year = {2011},
  doi = {10.3109/02656736.2010.534528},
  
}
DOI: 10.3109/02656736.2010.534528PubMed: 21591902

Quick Questions About This Study

The council concluded that changing the dosimetric quantity would not help resolve scientific controversies about non-thermal effects and favored maintaining the current SAR-based approach.
A workshop on Thermal Aspects of Radio Frequency Exposure in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in January 2010 raised the question of whether expressing limits as a maximum allowable temperature increase would offer a practical advantage.
The council considered six points: consistency, applicability, quantification, causality, comprehensibility, and acceptability.
Current guidelines are based on avoiding adverse effects of increased temperatures that may occur in the entire human body at a specific absorption rate above 4 W/kg.
The council assumes that induced electric currents and the generation and absorption of heat in biological material are the only scientifically established causal effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields with possible adverse health consequences.