Whole-body average SARs in Korean male models

Compliance of the reference level (electric field strength) to the basic restriction (whole-body average SAR) was examined when Korean male models at the ages of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 20 years are exposed to a plane wave in the frequency range of 10 MHz-3 GHz. We considered the standing postures with arms up as well as arms down. The WBA SAR values in the human models isolated and grounded were calculated using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The electric field values required to produce 0.08 W/kg were calculated in all models and compared with the reference levels of the ICNIRP guidelines and the action levels of the IEEE Std C95.1-2005. The results show that the current exposure limits are not conservative in frequency regions of lower than 200 MHz and higher than 1 GHz. The basic restrictions regarding the WBA SAR were chosen to provide a safety factor (the ratio of the WBA SAR to 4 W/kg, the threshold for potentially adverse effects) of 50 for public exposure. In these regions, the lowest safety factor for the ICNIRP reference levels was calculated as between 30 and 35.