Evaluation

A final evaluation of the potentially adverse health effects of electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields is a time-consuming and difficult process conducted by a qualified panel of experts. During such a process, all types of studies (in vitro, animal-experimental, epidemiological, etc.; cf. chapter Types of studies) have to be collected and assessed for a certain frequency range, distinct endpoints and with respect to their individual quality (e.g. dosimetry, study design, sample size, statistics), reproducibility of the results and comparability to other studies. Authorities and institutions which conduct such evaluation processes are, for example, the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) or the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) or in Germany, the German Commission on Radiological Protection (SSK) at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety or the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. All these institutions provide different extensive reports on the effects of electromagnetic fields.