Report No. 067 – Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields – Properties, Quantities and Units, Biophysical Interaction, and Measurements (1981)

Report No. 67 represents the first result of the Council's decision of some years ago to enter the area of nonionizing radiation. The initial objective stemming from that decision was the development of a report on quantities and units and on measurement techniques. Subsequently, biological effects and exposure criteria were to be examined. NCRP Report No. 67 is concerned with the first objective, although the Report represents an expansion of the effort to include material on properties and biophysical interactions of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Inclusion of these subjects permits a unified treatment of background material which is expected to be useful in the preparation of a subsequent report treating biological effects and exposure criteria. Report No. 67 is intended to be a comprehensive discussion of fundamentals, especially those that relate to radiation protection. In addition, it develops a perspective for those quantities and units that are needed to relate, quantitatively, a biological effect to a particular exposure. The Report represents, for nonionizing radiation, a step toward the goal, long sought in connection with ionizing radiation, of instilling increasing rigor into the definitions of fundamental quantities and units.

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Table of Contents
Preface