Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields are used to communicate information for a wide variety of current and emerging wireless consumer devices used by the general public such as 5G mobile phones, internet routers, and Internet of Things devices. To support faster data transmission, these technologies will increasingly rely on RF energy at higher frequencies ranging from 6 GHz to 300 GHz. At these frequencies, RF energy is absorbed near the body's surface, which can result in excessive heating of superficial tissues such as the skin and cornea of the eye. International organizations including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection have recently developed recommendations for safe RF exposure limits for consumer devices in this frequency range. In Canada, the exposure limits in Safety Code 6, which have also been recently updated, are used to protect the public from adverse effects of RF exposures. Importantly, most research in this area has focused on computer models to predict skin temperature changes in response to RF exposures, while direct evaluation of skin temperature responses in humans have only been conducted in a small number of studies. As such, the aim of my research program is to directly evaluate human skin temperature responses to RF fields = 6 GHz under safe conditions that avoid pain and tissue damage in order to improve our understanding of the impact that Inter-individual factors such as age, sex and body composition, as well as Environmental factors such as air temperature and humidity have on the resulting rise in tissue temperature. This work is vital for understanding how RF exposures from consumer devices may impact different segments of the Canadian public and for developing safe exposure limits to protect the most vulnerable people. Ultimately this work will be used to improve recommendations for safe exposure limits in support of compliance requirements for consumer wireless devices that will operate in Canada within this frequency range.