Study of the exposure of 1 year-old infant to 3G tablet and femtocell using Polynomial Chaos theory

The public concern toward the exposure to Radio-Frequency electromagnetic fields (RF- EMF) exists despite the intensive use of wireless communication system. There is also an increasing usage of novel RF devices among very young population. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the level of exposure of infants (0-3 years-old) to near and far-field sources, simultaneously (uplink and downlink mode) [1]. Furthermore, the assessment of real exposure scenarios is still an open issue, due to the variability of the input parameters that influence the exposure itself (e.g., the source design, the morphology and posture of the subject exposed). Stochastic dosimetry, e.g. using the Polynomial Chaos (PC) theory [2], is a promising method to assess the variability of exposure at a lower computational cost than the deterministic dosimetry. In this study PC theory has been applied to study the exposure of a 1-year-old child to a 3G tablet emitting at 1940 MHz (uplink mode) and to a femtocell at 2100 MHz (downlink mode), separately. The exposure has been characterized in terms of Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). A PC expansion has been built for the whole-body SAR and the SAR in the brain to assess the variability of the child exposure with the change in the tablet and femtocell position, separately.