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The history of electromagnetism goes back to 1865 when James Clerck Maxwell
developed a theory of electricity and magnetism. The behaviour of electric and
magnetic fields is described by the Maxwells equations. The sources in the
Maxwells equations are charges and currents.

Maxwells theory will be the basis for the interaction between electromagnetic fields
and human beings.

As a reference for the rest of the course, the fundamental quantities with their
dimensions are listed.

As a reference for the rest of the course, universal constants in electromagnetism with
their dimensions are listed.

Speed in and intrinsic impedance of free space can be derived from the permittivity
and permeability of free space.

This slide shows the use of the logarithm and dB scales. These are very suitable for
showing largely varying values in one graph.

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The ratio of voltages and powers is expressed in dB. An ideal splitter splits the power
in two equal parts. This corresponds to an attenuation of 3 dB.

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Voltages are normally expressed in mV. A conversion to dBmV and dBmV is shown.

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Frequency and period are very important in electromagnetism because applications will
operate in different frequency bands. Later in this course, we will also see that potential
health effects are dependent on the frequency.

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Distance is not a universal quantity in electromagnetism. You always need to compare it to

the wavelength at the operational frequency. So objects can be small, comparable or large
with respect to the wavelength. The interaction with humans will depend on this
comparison to the wavelength.

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Which quantity are the gray box and the green box hiding?

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The range of frequencies is also called the electromagnetic spectrum.

Remark that there is also a split between ionising and non-ionising radiation. In this
course, only non-ionising radiation is treated.

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This is a more visual representation of the electromagnetic spectrum.

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One can subdivide the spectrum of non-ionising electromagnetic fields in different

categories. This is done in different ways in literature and applications. In this course
we will use the divisions as listed.

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Here the difference between ionising and non-ionising radiation is given. It is very
important to point out that what ever the strength of the non-ionising electromagnetic
field is, it will never have enough energy to cause ionisation or the breaking of
atomic compounds in molecules.

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As the sources of an electric field are charges, electric fields will exist in the
neighbourhood of a charged body. The electric field is a vector, which means that is
has three components or a magnitude and a direction. The magnitude is proportional
to the force it acts on a unit positive charge and the direction is equal to the direction
of the force. The magnitude and direction will change from point to point in space.

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The electric flux density or electric displacement vector is related to the electric field
through the permittivity of the medium.

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The permittivity is related to the ability of a medium to store electrical potential

energy.
One also defines the relative permittivity as the ratio of the permittivity of the
medium to the permittivity of vacuum. This ratio is always larger than 1.

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As the electric displacement vector takes into account the medium, it is this vector
that is used to draw the lines of force between positive and negative charges. But we
can also show the electric vectors in space.

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When charges are moving, a current exists. This current creates a magnetic field with
a magnitude and direction.

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Instead of magnetic field, the magnetic induction vector is mostly used. As a human
being is non-magnetic, the incident magnetic field will not be disturbed by the human
body.

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The permeability is representative for the property of the medium to store magnetic
potential energy. As air is non-magnetic the ratio or the relative permeability is 1. The
relative permeability will be larger than one for magnetic materials such as iron.

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This illustrates an experiment known from the secondary school: if we put some
iron fillings around a magnet, they will organise themselves in the pattern of the
magnetic field lines between the north and south pole of the magnet. Remember that
magnetic fields only exist when charges are moving, in this case between north and
south pole.

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Again magnetic lines can be plot around the magnetic object. The field lines
always start at the north pole and end on the south pole.

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Because wires are important conductors of current (e.g. wires of power supplies,
overhead power lines, ....), it is important how magnetic fields behave around the
wire. As can be seen, the magnitude of the magnetic field will be proportional to the
magnitude of the current and inversely proportional to the distance from the wire.
The direction of the magnetic field will be tangential to circles around the wire as
displayed in the figure. This is however only valid for low frequencies where the
current is hardly changing along the wire.

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Derived from Maxwells equations, electric and magnetic fields will not be anymore
coupled at low frequencies. A voltage drop will determine the value of the electric
field while the current will cause the magnetic field.

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This simple example explains that the electric field is always present even if the light
is not switched on because the voltage drop of 220 V will always be present when the
plug is inserted in the power socket. Only when the light is switched on, a current
will flow through the wire and create a magnetic field.

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There are many sources that create a low-frequency field. All apparatus operating on
electricity will create electric and magnetic fields. But as already said, there are
natural sources that also create mainly magnetic fields. Our focus will be on
electricity transport as many biological and epidemiological studies focused on
people living close to overhead high-tension lines.

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Static and 50 Hz fields are present. The natural static field is under normal conditions
due to the voltage difference between the positively charged ionosphere and the
negatively charged earth surface and can be very high during thunderstorms due to
the discharging effect. The natural 50 Hz fields are much smaller than the man-made
ones.

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The most prominent example of a magnetic field is the earths magnetic field.
The field is produced by the spinning iron core. Also on the sun magnetic fields
exist that are associated with sunspots.

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This slides shows the chain of electricity production and distribution.

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Here the electric fields are shown for two poles of high-tension lines with voltages
150 kVolt and 380 kVolt respectively. Both poles are carrying wires in double flag
configuration (2 times 6 wires). Although the configuration is quite complex, the
maximum magnitudes of the electric field can be estimated as the voltage divided by
the height of the mast. The electric field is decaying fast when moving away from the
mast.

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To determine the magnetic fields the current load must be determined. As in the two
configurations the current ratio is about 2, therefore the ratio will scale in the same
way. The voltage will not play anymore a role in the magnetic field values. As the
current load will change during the day the magnetic fields will vary in the same way.
Again, the magnetic field is decaying fast when moving away from the mast.

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In this slide the values of measurements on high-tension lines are shown. Average
and 95% confidence current values and magnetic induction fields are shown. The
magnetic induction values scale approximately with the current values. Again the
field values decrease very fast with the distance from the high-tension lines.

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People under high-tension lines are not only exposed to direct magnetic and electric
fields, the fields can create charges on metallic surfaces such as the ones of a truck.
When a person touches the charged surfaces, a discharge of the current through the
body of the person will happen.

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This slide shows typical magnetic field values for all kind of home devices as a
function of distance.

Sources at intermediate frequencies are

- Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) systems
- Alarm and video surveillance systems
- Scanning systems
- Identification systems

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EAS systems operate with detection system panels and labels. These panels are often
detection gates at the exit of for example a shop, museum or a library and consist of a
field exciting part, mostly a current coil that creates a magnetic detection field at low
frequencies and a receiving part. There are three types of EAS systems as listed.

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At higher frequencies (from radio frequencies on), the electric and magnetic fields
will always be coupled. This means that if an electric field exists, a magnetic field
will be automatically produced. Therefore, one talks about electromagnetic fields.
The sources of these fields are both charges and currents. There is a relationship
between current and charges: the charge conservation law which states that the net
change in the amount of electric charge in any volume of space is exactly equal to the
net amount of charge flowing into the volume minus the amount of charge flowing
out of the volume. Flowing charges are currents. Charge conservation is the principle
that electric charge can neither be created nor destroyed.

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In the near-field zone (where the distance r << /2) The E-field for an
electric source (a short wire antenna) varies inversely proportional with r3 and
the H-field inversely proportional with r2. For a magnetic source (small loop
antenna), H varies inversely proportional with r3 and E inversely proportional
with r2. In practice, the sources of electromagnetic fields will always behave
as a combination of electric and magnetic sources whereby E and H in the
near field vary as 1/rx, with 2 < x < 3.

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In the far field when reflections do not play a role, E and H are always proportional
with 1/r. The vectors E and H are perpendicular to each other and form together a
so-called plane wave. The ratio of E and H is equal to the impedance of the
medium in which the waves are propagating.

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These examples show the near-field zones for 50 Hz (overhead power lines) and 900
MHz (GSM frequency). As can be seen people will always be in the near field for 50
Hz while for the GSM frequency, people will always be in the far field for
basestations (antenna masts) of GSM networks.

As already mentioned, electromagnetic fields in the far field behave as plane waves
whereby the electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to each other and are in
phase. The direction of travel of the waves is perpendicular to the plane formed by
the electric and magnetic field vectors.

If we convert the complex electric and magnetic fields to the time domain, it is more
clear that the first solution is a plane wave propagating in the positive direction
because a fixed point on the wave moves in the positive z-direction if time increases.

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Power density is an important quantity for describing propagating electromagnetic

waves. It is defined as the rate of flow of electromagnetic energy per unit area to
measure the amount of radiation at a given point from a electromagnetic wave. For
plane waves in free space one can derive the power density from the magnitude of the
electric field or from the magnetic field.

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This slide lists some radiofrequency sources used in public, medical and industrial
environments.

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Picture of radiofrequency sources are shown in this slide:

- RF coils in Magnetic Resonance systems
- Microwave ovens
- Wireless communication systems
- RF healing systems
- Hyperthermia systems

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As radiofrequency fields produce heating they can be used to remove, deform or seal
parts applied in a large variety of industries.

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Microwaves are a subgroup of the radiofrequencies. Wavelengths are between 1 mm

and 1 m. For example, microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz or 2450 MHz with a
wavelength of about 12 cm.

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As the majority of households have a microwave oven, I included this slide. They
operate at 2.45 GHz, a license free frequency which is also used by Wifi and
bluetooth systems. A microwave oven is considered to be a closed box system,
which means that only a very small electromagnetic field may leak from the oven
although large powers are used (600 to 1200 W). Microwave ovens have been
measured in operations and the average leakage was always below the values in the
Belgian product norm.
Before sales: from 5 cm on, leakage < 1 mW/cm2 -> 61.4 V/m
In operations: from 5 cm on, leakage < 5 mW/cm2 ->137,30 V/m

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This slides shows the frequency bands for the GSM (2G, second generation system,
only voice and GPRS) and UMTS (3G, third generation, voice and data) wireless
communication systems.

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The transmit power of GSM-UMTS base station will be tuned by the operator such
that all mobile phones in the covered area will receive a sufficiently large signal such
that a call can be done or data can be transmitted and received at an acceptable speed.
The maximum power will be several tenths of Watt, that will be radiated
continuously in the bundle created by the antenna of the base station.

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When GSM networks were initially rolled out, the antennas were installed on masts.
In rural areas this is still the case. In the early days of deployment (mid nineties),
each operator built its own masts. The environmental planning agency in Flanders
introduced the principle of site sharing in order to limit the number of masts. In city
areas, the antennas are mostly installed on roofs of buildings. The antennas are
dipole aray antennas having beams with opening angle of 6 till 10.

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I order to explain the electromagnetic behaviour of a base station antenna, one has to
introduce the principle of a radiation pattern of an antenna. Let us assume that the power
of the device is P. If the source radiates in each direction equally, then the power density
through each point of a sphere with radius r, will be the power divided by the surface area
of the sphere.
In the case of an antenna, the power will be radiated more in some directions than in
others. Therefore, the distribution of the power over the different directions is
characterised by the gain of the antenna. The gain of the antenna as a function of all angles
(,) is also called the antenna pattern. The power density in a direction (,) can now be
derived by multiplying the power density for an omnidirectional source with the same
power with the gain of the antenna.
The electric field in free space is the square root of the power density multiplied with the
impedance of free space.

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Base station antennas consist of an array of dipole antennas. Here the horizontal and
vertical pattern of a commonly used commercial base station antenna is shown.

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For antennas there is a more precise formula to calculate the far-field distance: it is
proportional to the square of the length of the antenna and inversely proportional to the
wavelength. For the antenna in our example, the calculated far-field distance is 22.35 m.
However, the formula is only correct for single antennas and not for an array of antennas.
The far-field distance is much smaller as shown in next slide.

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This slide shows the electric field as a function of distance, perpendicular to the centre of
the base station antenna. One curve shows the exact field behaviour calculated by solving
exactly the Maxwells equations, while the other curve is constructed using the antenna
pattern and the formulas in the slide of the antenna pattern (this is the far-field
approximation). It can be seen that both already coincide from about 7 m on, which will be
the realistic far-field distance.

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Now we will calculate using the antenna pattern of the base station antenna placed at a
height of 32 m the electric field at 1.2 m height. Remark that the calculations are done in
free space with only ground present. No reflections from people, buildings, cars,
vegetation, ... are taking into account. So this will be a rough estimate.

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This shows the vertical antenna pattern of the antenna used.

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Two observations from the results can be made:

- Under the base station antenna, the field levels are always the lowest
- The maximum field levels are around 1 V/m. These are levels that often are measured in
real-life environments.

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This slides shows typical values around GSM base stations on positions where public
may stay as measured by BIPT (Belgian Institute for Postal services and
Telecommunications). The electric field values are mostly lower than 3 V/m.

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The transmit power of GSM-UMTS phones is variable. The maximum peak power is
1 to 2 Watt. But as the phone only will transmit 1/8th of the time, the average power
will be 0.125 to 0.25 Watt. To reduce the battery consumption, the phone will
automatically reduce its transmit power when one comes closer to the base station.
Many obstacles between the phone and the base station (for example metal when one
uses the phone in the car) will on the other hand increase the transmit power. In
stand-by, the phone transmits now and then a signal to announce its position in the
network.

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The electric field close to the phone can go up very high, up to 100 V/m. The head will
always be in the near field when one uses the phone close to the ear.

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There is a different interaction between people and electromagnetic fields when

people are in the near and far field. In the near field, people will interact strongly
with the incident fields which are very complex in the near-field zone. Due to the
interaction, the currents of the source may change and matching of the antenna to the
input power source could degrade. Therefore, it will be important to take into account
people in the design of the antenna when people are always present (e.g. head is
nearly always present when a GSM phone is used).
In the far field, the incident field will not be changed by the people. One can
decompose the incident fields as a superposition of plane waves (due to reflections).

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For ELF, there will be different interaction when the incident field is an electric field
or a magnetic field.
At ELF, one can consider the human body as a very good conductor. In this case, the
electric field will end perpendicular on the surface of the human body. Charges will
be created on the body and currents will flow. However, these currents will be very
small under normal conditions, i.e. negligible to create any health effect.

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According to Faradays law, a time-varying magnetic flux induces an electric field E,

with resulting eddy induced loop currents through the conducting paths inside the
human body.
Induced currents depend on:
- the intensity of the B-field
- the frequency of the B-field
- the orientation of the B-field with respect to the person
- the shape and dimensions of the tissues
- the conductivity of the human tissues.

The currents will be much larger in comparison to currents induced by the E-fields.
These currents will have to be considered when evaluating health effects.

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If a plane wave is incident on a medium with properties different from that of the
medium of incidence, reflection will appear. We can find the reflection coefficient by
proposing solutions for the Maxwells equations in the first and the second medium.
In the first medium, in which the plane wave is incident, the fields are a superposition
of the incident wave propagating in the positive z-direction and the reflected wave
propagating in the negative z-direction. Because of the radiation condition, the
transmitted wave in the second medium is propagating in the positive z-direction.

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Here the dielectric properties (relative permittivity and conductivity) are shown for
different tissues. As can be seen, the tissues can have very different dielectric
properties. The differences are determined, to a large extent, by the fluid content of
the material. For example, blood and brain conduct electric current relatively well.
Lungs, skin, fat, and bone are relatively poor conductors. Liver, spleen, and muscle
are intermediate in their conductivities.
Differences in dielectric constants are more difficult to explain.
The dielectric constant decreases and the conductivity increases with frequency.

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This picture shows the total field in the space left to the tissue. The total field will be
the vector sum of the incident and the reflected field. There will be constructive
(maximum total field) and destructive interference (minimum total field) between the
incident and the reflected field. When the medium would be a perfect conductor, the
magnitude of the reflectivity (is a complex number) would be 1. The reflectivity will
be to a large extent determined by the difference in the relative permittivity of the
two media.

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In the tissue, the electric field will decay very fast. The rate of decay will be
dependent on the tissue properties and the frequency.
The maximum value at the surface of the tissue is also dependent on the tissue type.
If less energy is reflected ( is smaller), then the maximum is higher.

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The decay in the tissue is exponential. The approximation of the formula for the
attenuation constant is dependent on the ratio of /. If this is much larger than 1,
the attenuation constant will be proportional to the square root of the frequency and
of the conductivity while for very small values of the ratio, the attenuation constant
will be proportional to the conductivity and inversely proportional to the square root
of the dielectric constant but independent of the frequency.

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The skin depth is a fundamental quantity describing the penetration in tissues.

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This slide shows an example for brain tissues at the lower end of the
radiofrequencies. It is clear that the conductivity increases with frequency while the
relative permittivity decreases with frequency. / goes from values above 1 to
values below 1. Therefore the penetration depth starts inversely proportionally to the
square root of the frequency and goes at the end of the considered frequency band to
constant values (independent of the frequency). The reflectivity also decreases with
frequency.

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Specific absorption rate (SAR) is a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the
body when exposed to a radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field. It is defined as the
power absorbed per mass of tissue and has units of watts per kilogram. SAR is usually
averaged either over the whole body (whole-body averaged SAR), or over a small
sample volume (typically 1 g or 10 g of tissue) (Localised SAR). The value cited in a
product description (such as for a GSM phone) is then the maximum level measured in the
body part studied over the stated volume or mass.
The SAR can also be calculated from the magnitude of the electric field at a certain
position, the conductivity and mass density of the tissue in which the position lies.

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The mass density of a tissue is dependent on the material of the tissue.

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This slides shows different tissues in and typical dimensions of the head of a human.

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As also was clear from the example of the plane wave incident on a homogeneous
flat medium, there will be a very fast decay in the head when using a mobile phone.
The maximum field will be in the ear.

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As the head is in the near field of the mobile phone, there are many influencing
parameters on the SAR distribution and values.

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The initial temperature rise at a point in a tissue is proportional to the local SAR and
inversely proportional to the specific heat of the tissue.
Initially, heat conduction and thermoregulation will be negligible but after some time these
mechanisms starts to counteract the temperature rise. After about 6 minutes a steady state
in the temperature is reached.
So in principle the SAR can be estimated from the initial temperature rise.

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In this slide it is shown that the electromagnetic radiation of the GSM-phone can never
cook the brain as sometimes has been reported in the press. One can easily show that the
temperature will even not significantly rise. If one has a warmth feeling when phoning,
this will be due to the thermal isolation of the ear and the pressure of the ear caused by the
phone.

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