A review of analytically determined electric fields and currents induced in the human body when exposed to 50-60-Hz electromagnetic fields

In this review paper, analytical methods are used to determine the electric field and current induced in the conducting human body when this is exposed to an electromagnetic field at extremely low frequencies (ELFs) or very low frequencies (VLFs). This is done by treating it as a parasitic antenna when this is modeled successively as a sphere, an ellipsoid, and a cylinder. Because the body is electrically very short at ELF and VLF, the axial current depends primarily on the length of the body. Comparison with the ellipsoidal shape shows that the induced current is virtually independent of the cross-sectional shape. It is concluded that the axial current induced in the cylinder is a good approximation of the current induced in an actual body with the same length and mean cross sectional area. References to persons standing on the earth and with the arms raised are given. The significance of the accurate knowledge of induced currents and fields for biomedical purposes is discussed.