2. NIR Safety Awareness
Module 3: NIR Standards

3. IEEE C95 Series of Standards
IEEE C95.1TM Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields, 3 kHz to 300 GHz
IEEE C95.6TM – 2002 (R2007) Safety Levels with Respect to Human Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields, 0-3 kHz

4. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®)
2016 TLVs® and BEIs®
Static Magnetic and Electric Fields
Sub-Radiofrequency Magnetic and Electric Fields
Radiofrequency and Microwave Radiation
Light and Near-Infrared Radiation
Ultraviolet Radiation

5. International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)
ICNIRP Guidelines for Limiting Exposure to Time-Varying Electric and Magnetic Fields (1 Hz – 100 kHz). Health Physics 99(6): ; 2010.
Similar lineup of guidelines as ACGIH®

6. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
FCC OET 65: Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields ( ns/oet65/oet65.pdf)

7. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
Dated Information
Useful Links to Additional Resources

8. GM Standards
Electrical and Magnetic Field Exposure Assessment – S&IH TS
Non-Ionizing Radiation – S&IH TS
GM Occupational Exposure Limits List – S&IH TS

9. Static Magnetic Fields – ACGIH Limits

10. Static and Sub-Radiofrequency Electric Fields (1 Hz - 30 kHz)
0 Hz < f < 220 Hz ETLV = 25 kV/m
220 Hz < f < 3 kHz ETLV = x 106/f
3 kHz < f < 30 kHz ETLV = 1842 V/m
Ceiling value for exposure of persons wearing cardiac pacemakers or other implanted medical electronic devices is 1 kV/m at power frequencies (50/60 Hz).

11. Sub-Radiofrequency Magnetic Fields (1 Hz - 30 kHz)

12. RF Limits Several standards define “controlled vs. public” limits
Public: RF Safety Program Unavailable
IEEE C Example:
Category
Freq
(MHz) E
(V/m) H
(A/m) S
(W/m2)
Ave Time
(Min)
Controlled
61.4
0.163 10 6
Public
27.5
0.0729 2 30

13. Concepts of Time and Spatial Averaging
Excursions above limits allowed if specified average over time (usually 6 minutes) is within limits.
Spatial averaging allowed for non-uniform exposures (average over an area equivalent to body cross section)

14. Time Averaging Example
Averaging time for IEEE Controlled Area standard is 6 minutes for the range 3 kHz – 15 GHz
Averaging time is 616,000/f1.2 from 15 GHz to 300 GHz, where f is MHz
From 30 to 300 MHz (where MPE = 1 mW/cm2) exposures greater than the limit are permitted such that:
S (mW/cm2) ● t (min) = 6 mW-min/cm2)

15. Time Averaging Example II
T ≥ 6 min
S = 1 mW/cm2
T = 3 min
S = 2 mW/cm2
T = 1 min
S = 6 mW/cm2
T = 0.5 min
S = 12 mW/cm2

16. Spatial Averaging Example
Heat Sealer
20cm

17. Mixed Frequency Calculation
In mixed fields with emitters at frequencies with different MPEs, the fraction of the MPE incurred within each frequency range should be determined and the sum of all such fractions should not exceed unity.

18. Mixed Frequency Calculation II
S1, S2, and S3 represent the individual plane-wave equivalent power density values
S1 is in the range MHz (MPE = 100 mW/cm2)
S2 is in the range MHz (MPE = 1 mW/cm2)
S3 is in the range GHz (MPE = 10 mW/cm2)
Permitted exposure must satisfy:
S1/ S2/1 + S3/10 ≤ 1

19. ACGIH TLV® for UV Radiation – Spectral Effectiveness

20. Ultraviolet Radiation
For a broadband source ( nm), use 'effectiveness factors' to account for both eye/skin sensitivity at various wavelengths (based on maximum biological effect at 270 nm):
Calculate the effective irradiance of a broadband source using:
Eeff = S El Sl Dl, where:
Eeff = effective irradiance (W/cm2) relative to 270 nm
El = spectral irradiance (W/cm2 • nm)
Sl = relative spectral effectiveness (unitless),
Dl = bandwidth (nm)
8 hour Eeff TLV =0.1 μW/cm2

21. Questions?