Measured and computed induced body currents in front of an experimental RF dielectric heater.

Operators of industrial high-frequency dielectric heaters are exposed to electromagnetic fields that are high enough to significantly increase body temperature. The assessment of exposure based on the measurement of external field strengths is, however, inaccurate due to the non-uniformity of the fields. This paper presents an exposure assessment method based on the measurement of the current induced by the external electric field in the body of the operator. Body current distributions were measured at 27.12 MHz using various current meters under a condition simulating the exposure to stray fields emitted by a dielectric heater. The specific absorption rates and induced body currents were computed with the finite-difference time-domain method using heterogeneous and homogeneous human models. The numerical analysis indicated that the basic restrictions for occupational exposure are not exceeded when the current induced in the limbs is lower than the action level (100 mA), even though the maximum electric field significantly exceeds the action value (61 V m(-1)). For the heterogeneous human model the exposure limit for local specific absorption rate was exceeded when the current induced in the ankle was 166 mA at a distance of 0.3 m from the electrode of the device. The vertical component of current density proved to be much more significant than the horizontal components. The importance of the horizontal components was highest near the electrode. The computations showed no concentration of the induced current to the superficial tissues due to the skin effect.