Assessment of Fetal Exposure to 4G LTE Tablet in Realistic Scenarios: Effect of Position, Gestational Age, and Frequency

The continuous development of radio frequency (RF) devices used in everyday life highlights the need to conduct appropriate health risk assessment due to RF electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure, especially for the fetal exposure in realistic scenarios. In this study, we used stochastic dosimetry, an approach that combines electromagnetic computational techniques and statistics, to assess the fetal exposure to a fourth-generation Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) tablet in realistic scenarios, assessing the influence of the position of the tablet, the gestational age of the fetus, and the frequency of the emitting antenna. Results showed that the exposure in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR) was within the limits of the ICNIRP 1998 General Public Guidelines in all the considered scenarios. The position of the tablet was very influential for the induced SAR in the fetus, resulting in quartile coefficient of dispersion always higher than 40%. The level of exposure for the later pregnancy was found to be higher than those for the early pregnancy. As to the effect of the emitting frequency of the tablet, we found that the higher the frequency, the lower the induced SAR in the fetus.