ICNIRP: “ICNIRP GUIDELINES FOR LIMITING EXPOSURE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS (100 KHZ TO 300 GHZ)”
ICNIRP (often pronounced “ick-nerp”) is the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. They are a global research group that has been studying the safety implications of electromagnetic radiation (as opposed to nuclear ionizing radiation, e.g. Chernobyl), from DC to 300 GHz, since 1992. (The commission was chartered in 1992, but includes research and researchers going back to 1973.) They publish a wide variety of freely available guidelines, statements, and papers on their website. The most recent major guideline document for RF energy (100 kHz - 300 GHz) was published in 2020 and can be downloaded here.
ICNIRP has published major guidelines on safe levels of electromagnetic energy for both the general public and specialist workers in 1998 and 2020. It has had a significant influence on related standards such as ANSI C95.1. The two main categories of potential EM field/human body interactions with RF fields are nerve stimulation (more prevalent at lower frequencies) and tissue heating. Probably the table that product designers will reference the most is Table 2 on basic restrictions (2020), as seen below.
SAR = specific absorption rate, which is the key metric when looking at exposure from devices such as cell phones.
After this table there is a lot more information on refining these levels for different scenarios. And as always, there is extremely useful information contained in the appendices.
There is a 2010 document that covers 1 Hz - 100 kHz for low-frequency effects and exposure to magnetic fields. There’s also a 2014 document with guidance on fields that vary at less than 1 Hz.
TIP:
In general, the exposure guidelines have relaxed over time, as additional research allows the commission to refine its knowledge of human effects and move away from worst-case assumptions. However, since many medical devices are still in circulation that were built assuming the stricter guidelines from 1998, if you need to set default limits, you should use the 1998 document as your guidance.
TIP:
ICNIRP has gotten drawn into numerous controversies and public panic about high voltage power lines, cell phones, 5G specifically, and other topics. If you have concerns about any of these topics, I highly recommend you go through their meticulously researched and documented (and freely available) publications on your specific concerns. I have learned a lot about EM interactions with human bodies through reading their research.