{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,7]],"date-time":"2026-02-07T04:27:14Z","timestamp":1770438434958,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2015,4,1]],"date-time":"2015-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1427846400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>During the last decades studies addressing the effects of exposure to Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (ELF-EMF) have pointed out a possible link between those fields emitted by power lines and childhood leukaemia. They have also stressed the importance of also including in the assessment the contribution of frequency components, namely harmonics, other than the fundamental one. Based on the spectrum of supply voltage networks allowed by the European standard for electricity quality assessment, in this study the exposure of high-resolution three-dimensional models of foetuses to the whole harmonic content of a uniform magnetic field with a fundamental frequency of 50 Hz, was assessed. The results show that the main contribution in terms of induced electric fields to the foetal exposure is given by the fundamental frequency component. The harmonic components add some contributions to the overall level of electric fields, however, due to the extremely low permitted amplitude of the harmonic components with respect to the fundamental, their amplitudes are low. The level of the induced electric field is also much lower than the limits suggested by the guidelines for general public exposure, when the amplitude of the incident magnetic field is set at the maximum permitted level.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph120403667","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2015,4,7]],"date-time":"2015-04-07T03:47:46Z","timestamp":1428378466000},"page":"3667-3690","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Assessment of Foetal Exposure to the Homogeneous Magnetic Field Harmonic Spectrum Generated by Electricity Transmission and Distribution Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Serena","family":"Fiocchi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell'Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni IEIIT,  CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ilaria","family":"Liorni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell'Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni IEIIT,  CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy"},{"name":"Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria DEIB, Politecnico di Milano,  Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9008-7530","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Parazzini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell'Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni IEIIT,  CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0282-3329","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Ravazzani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Istituto di Elettronica e di Ingegneria dell'Informazione e delle Telecomunicazioni IEIIT,  CNR Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milan 20133, Italy"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,4,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"314","article-title":"Comments concerning guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields (up to 300 GHz)","volume":"76","author":"Reilly","year":"1999","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"341","DOI":"10.1097\/00004032-200209000-00004","article-title":"Neuroelectric mechanisms applied to low frequency electric and magnetic field exposure guidelines\u2014Part I: Sinusoidal waveforms","volume":"83","author":"Reilly","year":"2002","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.1097\/01.HP.0000257856.83294.3e","article-title":"A neurobiological basis for ELF guidelines","volume":"92","author":"Saunders","year":"2007","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"ICNIRP\u2014International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (2010). Guidelines for limiting exposure to time-varying electric and magnetic fields (1 Hz to 100 kHz). Health Phys., 99, 818\u2013836.","DOI":"10.1097\/HP.0b013e3181f06c86"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a112681","article-title":"Electrical wiring configurations and childhood cancer","volume":"109","author":"Wertheimer","year":"1979","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.2250070209","article-title":"50-Hz Electromagnetic environment and the incidence of childhood tumors in Stockholm County","volume":"7","author":"Tomenius","year":"1986","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a114943","article-title":"Case-control study of childhood cancer and exposure to 60-Hz magnetic fields","volume":"128","author":"Savitz","year":"1988","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"923","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a116176","article-title":"Exposure to residential electric and magnetic fields and risk of childhood leukemia","volume":"134","author":"London","year":"1991","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"467","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a116881","article-title":"Magnetic fields and cancer in children residing near Swedish high-voltage power lines","volume":"138","author":"Feychting","year":"1993","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"831","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordjournals.aje.a009899","article-title":"Power-frequency electric and magnetic fields and risk of childhood leukemia in Canada","volume":"149","author":"McBride","year":"1999","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"692","DOI":"10.1054\/bjoc.2000.1376","article-title":"A pooled analysis of magnetic fields and childhood leukemia","volume":"83","author":"Ahlbom","year":"2000","journal-title":"Br. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"624","DOI":"10.1097\/00001648-200011000-00003","article-title":"A pooled analysis of magnetic fields, wire codes, and childhood leukemia","volume":"11","author":"Greenland","year":"2000","journal-title":"Epidemiology"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"728","DOI":"10.1002\/1097-0215(200002)9999:9999<::AID-IJC1097>3.0.CO;2-D","article-title":"Residential magnetic fields as a risk factor for childhood acute leukaemia: Results from a German population-based casecontrol study","volume":"91","author":"Schuz","year":"2001","journal-title":"Int. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1290","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.330.7503.1290","article-title":"Childhood cancer in relation to distance from high voltage power lines in England and Wales: A case-control study","volume":"330","author":"Draper","year":"2005","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"643","DOI":"10.1002\/ijc.21374","article-title":"A Japanese case-control study of childhood leukaemia and residential power-frequency magnetic fields","volume":"119","author":"Kabuto","year":"2006","journal-title":"Int. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1128","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6605838","article-title":"Pooled analysis of recent studies on magnetic fields and childhood leukaemia","volume":"103","author":"Kheifets","year":"2010","journal-title":"Br. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1122","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6605795","article-title":"Childhood cancer and magnetic fields from high-voltage power lines in England and Wales: A case-control study","volume":"103","author":"Kroll","year":"2010","journal-title":"Br. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1899","DOI":"10.1038\/bjc.2013.128","article-title":"Childhood leukaemia close to high-voltage power lines\u2014The Geocap study, 2002\u20132007","volume":"108","author":"Demoury","year":"2013","journal-title":"Br. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"171","DOI":"10.1007\/s10552-013-0319-5","article-title":"Distance from residence to power line and risk of childhood leukemia: A population-based case-control study in Denmark","volume":"25","author":"Pedersen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Cancer Causes Control"},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2002). Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, IARC press."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"396","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.2250160608","article-title":"Designing EMF experiments: What is required to characterize \u2018exposure\u2019?","volume":"16","author":"Valberg","year":"1995","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Portier, C.J., and Wolfe, M.S. (1998). Assessment of Health Effects from Exposure to Power-line Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields. NIEHS Working Group Report, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. NIH Publication No. 98-3981."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"McKinlay, A.F., and Repacholi, M.H. (1998, January 7\u20139). Exposure metrics and dosimetry for EMF epidemiology. Proceedings of an International Workshop, NRPB, Chilton, UK."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1016\/S0003-4878(00)00015-6","article-title":"Hazard surveillance for industrial magnetic fields: II. Field characteristics from waveform measurements","volume":"44","author":"Bowman","year":"2000","journal-title":"Ann. Occup. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.10001","article-title":"Study of high- and low-current-configuration homes from the 1988 Transformer Station Exposures Denver childhood cancer study","volume":"23","author":"Kaune","year":"2002","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.20264","article-title":"Survey of residential 50 Hz EMF exposure from transformer stations","volume":"28","year":"2007","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1269\/jrr.08019","article-title":"Assessing the potential leukemogenic effects of 50 Hz magnetic fields and their harmonics using an animal leukemia model","volume":"49","author":"Bernard","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Radiat. Res."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Khan, A., and Silva, G.D. Measurement and Analysis of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field exposure in Swedish Residence. Available online: http:\/\/publications.lib.chalmers.se\/records\/fulltext\/136881.pdf."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2383","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/51\/10\/003","article-title":"Development of pregnant female, hybrid voxel-mathematical models and their application to the dosimetry of applied magnetic and electric fields at 50 Hz","volume":"51","author":"Dimbylow","year":"2006","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/52\/4\/001","article-title":"Fetal exposure to low frequency electric and magnetic fields","volume":"52","author":"Cech","year":"2007","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncp285","article-title":"The effects of body posture, anatomy, age and pregnancy on the calculation of induced current densities at 50 Hz","volume":"139","author":"Dimbylow","year":"2010","journal-title":"Radiat. Prot. Dosim."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1815","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/57\/7\/1815","article-title":"Children and adults exposed to low-frequency magnetic fields at the ICNIRP reference levels: Theoretical assessment of the induced electric fields","volume":"57","author":"Bakker","year":"2011","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"580","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21878","article-title":"Dosimetric study of fetal exposure to uniform magnetic fields at 50\u2009Hz","volume":"35","author":"Liorni","year":"2014","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1310","DOI":"10.1109\/TPWRD.2003.817744","article-title":"Low-frequency magnetic fields from electrical appliances and power lines","volume":"18","author":"Garrido","year":"2003","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Power Deliv."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"58","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.10147","article-title":"Exposure assessment of ELF magnetic fields in urban environments in Extremadura (Spain)","volume":"25","author":"Paniagua","year":"2004","journal-title":"Biolectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (2010). Voltage Characteristics of Electricity Supplied by Public Distribution Networks, CENELEC. EN 50160:2010."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"SEMCAD X v.14.8.4 by SPEAG Schmid & Partner Engineering AG, Zurich, Switzerland. Available online: http:\/\/www.speag.com."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/55\/2\/N01","article-title":"The virtual family-development of surface-based anatomical models of two adults and two children for dosimetric simulations","volume":"55","author":"Christ","year":"2010","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"369","DOI":"10.1097\/HP.0000000000000129","article-title":"Quantification of RF-exposure of the fetus using anatomical CAD-models in three different gestational stages","volume":"107","author":"Cabot","year":"2014","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Hasgall, P.A., Neufeld, E., Gosselin, M.C., Klingenbock, A., and Kuster, N. IT\u2019IS Database for Thermal and Electromagnetic Parameters of Biological Tissues. Available online: www.itis.ethz.ch\/database."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2231","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/41\/11\/001","article-title":"The dielectric properties of biological tissues: 1. Literature survey","volume":"41","author":"Gabriel","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2251","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/41\/11\/002","article-title":"The dielectric properties of biological tissues: 2. Measurements in the frequency range 10 Hz to 20 GHz","volume":"41","author":"Gabriel","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2271","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/41\/11\/003","article-title":"The dielectric properties of biological tissues: 3. Parametric models for the dielectric spectrum of tissues","volume":"41","author":"Gabriel","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4863","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/54\/16\/002","article-title":"Electrical conductivity of tissue at frequencies below 1 MHz","volume":"54","author":"Gabriel","year":"2009","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1047","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/50\/6\/002","article-title":"Development of the female voxel phantom, NAOMI, and its application to calculations of induced current densities and electric fields from applied low frequency magnetic and electric fields","volume":"50","author":"Dimbylow","year":"2005","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1863","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/41\/9\/020","article-title":"Use of low-frequency electrical impedance measurements to determine phospholipid content in amniotic fluid","volume":"41","author":"Cametti","year":"1996","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/54\/2\/004","article-title":"Variation of the dielectric properties of tissues with age: The effect on the values of SAR in children when exposed to walkie-talike devices","volume":"54","author":"Peyman","year":"2009","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1586","DOI":"10.1109\/TPEL.2004.836615","article-title":"Harmonic interaction between a large number of distributed power inverters and the distribution network","volume":"19","author":"Enslin","year":"2004","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Power Electron."},{"key":"ref_49","unstructured":"Nikolic, A., Naumovic-Vukovic, D., Skundric, S., Kovacevic, D., and Milenkovic, V. (2007, January 9\u201311). Methods for power quality analysis according to EN 50160. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Electrical Power Quality and Utilisation, EPQU, Barcelona, Spain."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"431","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/53\/2\/010","article-title":"Assessment of multiple frequency ELF electric and magnetic field exposure","volume":"53","author":"Leitgeb","year":"2008","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"439","DOI":"10.1093\/rpd\/ncm460","article-title":"Magnetic emission ranking of electrical appliances. A comprehensive market survey","volume":"129","author":"Leitgeb","year":"2008","journal-title":"Radiat. Prot. Dosimetry"},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"373","DOI":"10.1097\/00004032-200010000-00005","article-title":"Restricting exposure to pulsed and broadband magnetic fields","volume":"79","author":"Jokela","year":"2000","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2011","DOI":"10.1109\/TBME.2014.2312023","article-title":"Temperature increase in fetus exposed to UHF RFID readers","volume":"61","author":"Fiocchi","year":"2014","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6033","DOI":"10.1088\/0031-9155\/51\/23\/006","article-title":"Dielectric measurement: Error analysis and assessment of uncertainty","volume":"51","author":"Gabriel","year":"2006","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"695","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.21739","article-title":"Exposure of the human body to professional and domestic induction cooktops compared to the basic restrictions","volume":"33","author":"Christ","year":"2012","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/12\/4\/3667\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T20:44:12Z","timestamp":1760215452000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/12\/4\/3667"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2015,4,1]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2015,4]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph120403667"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph120403667","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2015,4,1]]}}}