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 SITE
SURVEY - RF Health & Safety
A White Paper from NAS Wireless
Historical Development:
The health effect of cellular phone usage has been a
concern for many years. This concern has crossed over into the radio
communications industry. Radio frequency (RF) energy is a type of radiation,
similar to commercial radio and television broadcasts. There are large
differences between safe and potentially damaging forms of RF radiation.
As faster data transmission is required, more
radio spectrum is being made available and higher radio frequencies are used.
Higher frequencies produce shorter radio waves, which have the potential for
more interaction with human body tissue. Most radio frequencies do pass through
the human body without any interaction or harmful effects. Normally, when the
body absorbs radio energy, the amount is typically so low as to have no effect.
These low levels of radio energy are called non-ionizing. Radio frequency
products commercially available on the market today are non-ionizing.
Standards:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
among others, have studied the biological effects of RF energy for the past 50
years. A major area of interest for these organizations is developing a standard
that assures safe usage of RF energy.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE) has developed a guide to prevent harmful effects in humans
exposed to electro magnetic fields produced at high frequencies. This guide is
published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under publication
#C95.1-1982, and revisions. These standards require handheld RF devices to
operate at a total power level of less than 0.7 watts.
Bottom Line:
All commercial RF data communications systems operate
at much lower power levels than CBs, police radios, and cellular phones. Most
commercial RF systems also utilize a power management feature, or "sleep mode";
similar to that found on personal computers. This mode minimizes the time the
radio actually transmits. Additionally, most RF antennas use a narrow, focused
beam, which further limits RF energy exposure.
Source: Aironet Communications, RF Health and
Safety.
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