title: Electric field and current density distributions induced in an anatomically-based model of the human head by magnetic fields from a hair dryer.
abstract: We have used the impedance method to calculate the induced electric (E) fields and current densities (J) for the spatially varying vector magnetic fields due to a hair dryer. In this method, applicable for low-frequency exposures where the quasi-static approximation may be made, the biological body or the exposed parts thereof are represented by a three-dimensional (3-D) network of impedances whose individual values are obtained from the electrical properties sigma, epsilon r for the various tissues. We have measured the 3-D variations of the 50-Hz magnetic fields from a typical hair dryer and found that the various components correlate well with those for a helical coil. The non-uniform magnetic fields thus obtained are used to calculate the induced E and J with a resolution of 1.31 cm for the model of the head and neck. The induced E values are compared with the fields endogenous to the body and the minimum detectable E-field limits based on the cellular thermal noise model proposed by Weaver and Astumian (1990, 1992).
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Sanità Pubblica, Ivrea, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tofani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ossola
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: d'Amore
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Gandhi
mesh_terms: D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006257:Head; D006801:Humans; D008961:Models, Structural