Assessing Compliance with 60-Hertz Magnetic-Field Exposure Guidelines

Exposure limits for magnetic fields in the extremely low frequency range (3 to 3000 hertz) have been established by a number of organizations. The limits are generally intended to prevent overstimulation of electrically sensitive tissue and are expressed as ceiling values—levels not to be exceeded even momentarily. Exposures near or above the limits occur around high-current equipment and often have large spatial and temporal variability. The combination of variable exposures and ceiling-value exposure limits means that a practical exposure assessment must be statistically based. Practical guidance for assessing compliance for these exposures is limited. To fill this gap, this work develops a statistically based sampling and analysis methodology for evaluating compliance with magnetic-field exposure guidelines, using 60-hertz exposures in the electric utility industry as a model. The resulting methodology relies on [1] defining a scenario that includes tasks with similar high-field exposures for a group of workers, [2] having appropriate protocols for performing magnetic-field personal exposure measurements or having an exposure data set corresponding to that scenario, [3] assuming that the measured peak field is consistent with the exposure limit, [4] assuming that the peak exposure values follow a lognormal distribution, and [5] collecting sufficient measurements to determine the probability of compliance with a desired degree of statistical confidence. As examples, specific compliance probabilities and their confidence intervals are estimated for electric utility scenarios from available personal exposure measurements. This specific application demonstrates the general methodology and indicates that compliance with existing exposure limits may become an issue for certain tasks.