Building Biology RF Radiation Testing Reliability Examined

The FCC guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields were derived from the recommendations of two expert organizations, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Both the NCRP exposure criteria and the IEEE standard were developed by expert scientists and engineers after extensive reviews of the scientific literature related to RF biological effects.

Radiofrequency radiation (RFR), used for wireless communications and “smart” building technologies, including the “Internet of Things,” is increasing rapidly. As both RFR exposures and scientific evidence of harmful effects increase apace, it is timely to heed calls to include low RFR levels as a performance indicator for the health, safety and well-being of occupants and the environment. Adverse biochemical and biological effects at commonly experienced RFR levels indicate that exposure guidelines for the U.S., Canada and other countries are inadequate to protect public health and the environment.

Measurement surveys have shown that exposure to RF radiation in the environment from various sources is very low and typically much lower than the allowable limit for safety in the Australian RF Standard. Exposure to sufficiently high levels of RF EMR can heat biological tissue and potentially ...

A medical exam maybe appropriate for "accidental" exposures defined as an exposure above some measured trigger level. Although not required for compliance with existing standards, RF exposure data is necessary to enhance epidemiology studies of RF biological effects.

The HF antenna was a 4 × 4 curtain array suspended between 60-m towers and radiating 500 kW at 21.55 MHz. The total field in front of the antenna at 1 m height ranged from about 32 V/m at 10 m through a maximum of 90 V/m at 30 m, a minimum of 7 V/m at 70 m and thereafter rose to around 20 V/m at distances in the range 100–160 m. Mantiply et al. (1997) have summarized measurements of RF fields from MF broadcast transmitters contained in several technical reports from the mid-1980s to early 1990s from government agencies in the USA.

Measurement systems must not only determine averaged field strengths but must be able to measure the peak amplitude over time and, consequently, the cumulative radiation. This would make the characterization of EMFs much more realistic. In addition, parameters such as frequency and modulation ...

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... There is no proof of any mechanism of harm other than (1) heating from high intensity radiofrequency fields and (2) electrostimulation from low frequency fields; Non-thermal (or low-level) effects are either not repeatable or have no proven health effects; Overall, worldwide expert groups ...