RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION DOSIMETRY HANDBOOK (Fourth Edition)
Carl H. Durney, Habib Massoudi, Magdy F. Iskander · 1986
This 1986 military handbook established the SAR calculation methods that still underpin today's inadequate wireless device safety standards.
Plain English Summary
This 1986 Air Force handbook compiled methods for calculating how radiofrequency radiation penetrates and deposits energy in biological tissues. The technical reference provided standardized approaches for measuring SAR (specific absorption rate) in different body models and frequencies. It established foundational dosimetry methods still used today for EMF safety assessments.
Why This Matters
This Air Force dosimetry handbook represents a pivotal moment in EMF research - the establishment of standardized methods for calculating how radiofrequency energy penetrates living tissue. While purely technical, this work laid the groundwork for today's SAR limits that supposedly protect us from wireless devices. The reality is that these 1980s-era calculation methods, developed primarily for military applications, became the foundation for consumer device safety standards decades later. What's concerning is how these theoretical models, created long before smartphones and WiFi became ubiquitous, still drive regulatory decisions about acceptable exposure levels. The handbook's focus on SAR calculations reflects the prevailing view that heating effects were the only concern - a perspective that ignored the growing evidence of non-thermal biological effects that we now know occur at much lower exposure levels.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Show BibTeX
@article{radiofrequency_radiation_dosimetry_handbook_fourth_edition__g4943,
author = {Carl H. Durney and Habib Massoudi and Magdy F. Iskander},
title = {RADIOFREQUENCY RADIATION DOSIMETRY HANDBOOK (Fourth Edition)},
year = {1986},
}