Simulation of Thermal Effects of Wi-Fi Electromagnetic Fields on Humans Using FDTDLab

Currently, humans are living in an environment of increasing electromagnetic (EM) pollution. It is related to developing and introducing current-technology communication equipment, such as phones, computers, Wi-Fi, and cellular networks. It results in a natural EM background violation. Continuous exposure to a high-intensity electromagnetic field (EMF) can be hazardous to both human health and the health of entire living organisms. Consequently, the EMF effect remains a highly relevant problem, prompting continued research efforts. The purpose of the presented research is to study the thermal effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure on humans at the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi frequency using numerical simulations. We performed the numerical calculations using FDTDLab, a simulation software based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD method provides a powerful means to simulate the effects of radiation from wireless communication devices on biological tissues. Using the simulation results, we estimate EMF absorption by human bodies (female and child) in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR) and induced dielectric heating. We calculated the 1g and 10g mass-averaged Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), the whole-body-averaged SAR, and the temperature rise within the human body and its parts. These results were then assessed against international safety limits for SAR and temperature rise to confirm compliance.