Exposure of Working Population to Pulsed Magnetic Fields

Reference values of exposure for working population at extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields have been stated in ICNIRP Guidelines of 1998, and accepted by European Parliament in 2004. Nevertheless, quantification of coupling mechanism under pulsed field conditions is still an open question. The effect of complex non-sinusoidal or non-periodic waveforms is not univocally defined and several ways of estimating it have been proposed. This paper compares different ways of assessing effects of pulsed electromagnetic fields with frequency spectrum below 100 kHz and compare them to the eddy currents induced in one realistic model of human body by a resistance spot welding system supplied by in pulsed medium frequency direct current mode.