Human exposure measurements to radioelectric fields – Radioelectric environment

Any electric charge set in motion produces electromagnetic radiation that propagates through space. This property is the basis for the production of radioelectric radiation used in radio, television, telecommunications, microwave heating and radar transmitting devices. Consequently, any system powered by electricity, or a fortiori containing a radiating element, emits electromagnetic radiation or generates an electric and/or magnetic field in its immediate vicinity, or even far away, which we will characterize in this article by the generic term "electromagnetic field".

Two concerns emerge from this electromagnetic presence:

• one concerns electronic systems; this is electromagnetic compatibility (EMC);

• the other, human exposure to electromagnetic fields induced by non-ionizing radiation (NIR).

This dossier, dedicated to the measurement of radioelectric fields in the frequency range covered by non-ionizing radiation and excluding optical radiation, focuses exclusively on the latter aspect: the human environment.

In order to provide health authorities with reliable assessment data, the first step is to quantify, by measurement, the relevant quantities characterizing human exposure. The aim of this dossier is to describe "good" laboratory practice.

Two articles make up this dossier Measuring human exposure to radioelectric fields:

• the first – [R 933v2] "Radioelectric environment" – describes radioelectric fields and sets out the regulatory framework;

• the second, more technical, – [R 934] "Exposimetry" – describes field measurements and the difficulties involved in interpreting them.