Web application to determine the permissible values for electromagnetic fields

Status:

completed 06/2024

Aims:

A study was conducted by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA) and the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the trade and distribution industry (BGHW) in which electromagnetic fields were measured on a range of apparatus and equipment used in the retail trade. Exposure of the various groups of people affected (employees, members of the public, wearers of medical implants) to these electromagnetic fields was subsequently evaluated. Violations, in some cases substantial, of the permissible field strengths were observed on some of the apparatus and equipment. Detailed discussions with the operators and manufacturers revealed that they had considerable difficulty correctly determining the limit values for EMF exposure for the different groups of persons. Besides the search for the permissible field strength values in the relevant tables of the bodies of regulations, calculation of the permissible field strengths according to a function proved difficult and/or highly prone to error in some cases.

The objective of this project was to provide users with a web application into which they only need to enter the stated frequency, and which would then calculate, in accordance with the selected body of regulations, the associated permissible values for the EMF to which the person(s) are exposed, and display these values in numerical and graphical form. The web application was also to provide the precise designations of the permissible values and state their form (peak and RMS values), together with further characteristics. An option was to be provided to take the measurement uncertainty into account for the permissible values.

During meetings of the working group, EMF experts were asked whether they were in favour of this planned use of a web application to determine the permissible values for EMF. A pilot test application was to provide those questioned with insights into the project. The substantial positive feedback and the four initiators recruited from the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions had revealed a considerable need for the application.

Activities/Methods:

For the purposes of the web application, the scope of the input and output values was defined and geared to practical use. The relevant bodies of regulations governing EMF required in this application for comprehensive evaluations of EMF exposure were also specified. Once the boundary conditions had been specified, the required functionality was implemented in a prototype web application.

In addition to provision of further information in the application, a specified procedure was followed to determine whether the values output by it were consistent with the permissible values in the body of regulations. Following this verification phase, the application went live. The web application was used at the EMF seminars of the German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the energy textile electrical and media products sectors (BG ETEM). This enabled further practical experience gained there by users to be taken into account. Upon conclusion of the project, a specialist article on the new web application was authored and published in the journal Sicher ist Sicher, in order to promote awareness of it.

Results:

The objective of the project, i.e. the web application described above, was implemented in full and within the planned project term. The EMF-LIT web application was geared specifically to the needs and requirements of the user groups and was implemented accordingly. The values output by the web application were reviewed against the relevant values in the bodies of regulations, thereby ensuring that the correct permissible values were output, together with the precise designations and statement of the sources. Following addition of a language option in the web application and of the option for selecting the European Directive as the body of regulations, the web application can now attain greater relevance in Europe rather than its user group being limited solely to the national level. Ease of use and the option for input of a measurement uncertainty and a measured value for direct evaluation guides the user to the correct permissible values serving as the reference codes for evaluation and to an evaluation of the measured values.

This web application prevents permissible values from being determined incorrectly and ensures that the precise designation of the permissible values and their form (peak and RMS values) are stated, together with further characteristics.

The application simplifies determining of a permissible value from the bodies of regulations and offers a direct comparison of the values. The help page for EMF-LIT provides comprehensive guidance on the subject and groups all current bodies of regulations by means of links to the website of the German Social Accident Insurance Institution.

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