Summary - K.160 (12/2025) - Assessment of human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from wireless communication devices operating close to the human body

With the proliferation of International Mobile Telecommunications-2020 (IMT-2020), Internet of things (IoT) and millimetre wave (mmWave) wireless communication networks, the world is witnessing the emergence of next generation personal communication devices, such as hand-held devices including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, wearable devices and sensors, which can operate at high frequencies, including 6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. Technologies such as machine to machine (M2M) communication and IoT have given rise to the densification of wireless communication networks and have triggered a digital revolution in our daily lives in the form of smart homes, smart cities, smart factories, smart vehicles, etc. On one hand, this digital revolution has enabled ubiquitous connectivity not only for everyone but also for everything, and on the other, it has brought wireless networks and devices closer and closer to human life, leading to a quantum jump in the number, types and variety of wireless communication devices that operate in close proximity to the human body.
Recommendation ITU-T K.160 focuses on the assessment and monitoring of human exposure to radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from portable wireless communication devices operating in close proximity to the human body. This includes procedures for evaluating exposure and compliance with safe exposure limits for specific absorption rate (SAR) and absorbed power density (Sab) and reference levels for incident power density (Sinc) using existing international standards as a reference. This Recommendation gives dedicated and clear guidance for the EMF exposure-compliance assessment of portable wireless communication devices operating close to the human body.