Occupational Exposure to Non-Ionizing radiation. Main effects and criteria for health surveillance of workers according to the European Directives

Occupational exposure to Non-Ionizing radiation (NIR), including Electromagnetic fields (EMF) and Optical radiation (OR), is almost ubiquitous. EMF may induce various effects: in the case of direct short term effects, static and low-frequency fields interact with the biological tissues through the induction of currents, while high frequency fields through thermal mechanisms. EMF can also induce indirect effects, as interference, causing a specific risk e.g. in workers with active medical devices as pacemakers. The induction of various long term effects has also been proposed, but up now data supporting a causal effect are considered insufficient by almost all authoritative international agencies. Moving to OR, sources can be artificial (incoherent or coherent in the case of LASER) or natural; the main source of occupational OR exposure is natural: the Sun, exposing millions of outdoor workers worldwide. The main targets of OR effects are the skin and the eye. Among OR bands, the ultraviolet component is of particular relevance, inducing photochemical alterations in human cells that can cause both acute and long term effects as burns and skin cancers or cataract. For all workers NIR risk should be evaluated and, in case of significant risk, an adequate health surveillance (HS) should be implemented, also considering the possible presence of workers with conditions inducing a higher susceptibility to the risk, as subjects with active medical devices for EMF or subjects with a fair skin photo-type or eye alterations as aphakia or aniridia for OR. Aims of HS of occupational NIR exposure are the prevention and early detection of related health effects. The appropriate specific HS content depends on the NIR band(s) and on the specific work activities but, in general, at least a screening of the conditions inducing a particular risk and an active seeking of symptoms possibly induced by exposure should be performed before of the employment, and periodically repeated.