Computational assessment of pregnant woman models exposed to uniform ELF-magnetic fields: compliance with the European current exposure regulations for the general public and occupational exposures at 50 Hz

The Recommendation 1999/529/EU and the Directive 2013/35/EU suggest limits for both general public and occupational exposures to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields, but without special limits for pregnant women. This study aimed to assess the compliance of pregnant women to the current regulations, when exposed to uniform MF at 50 Hz (100 μT for EU Recommendation and 1 and 6 mT for EU Directive). For general public, exposure of pregnant women and fetus always resulted in compliance with EU Recommendation. For occupational exposures, (1) Electric fields in pregnant women were in compliance with the Directive, with exposure variations due to fetal posture of <10 %, (2) electric fields in fetuses are lower than the occupational limits, with exposure variations due to fetal posture of >40 % in head tissues, (3) Electric fields in fetal CNS tissues of head are above the ICNIRP 2010 limits for general public at 1 mT (in 7 and 9 months gestational age) and at 6 mT (in all gestational ages). (authors)