On EMP safety hazards

The only two quantitative criteria presently available for setting of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) safety standards are: (1) the ANSI C95.1 Safety Standard based on limiting thermal insult at microwave frequencies, and (2) the thresholds for the stimulation of excitable membranes by electric current. The first is not realistic for application to the EMP since the induced currents and energy deposition in exposed tissue is not based on an applied field amplitude and duration relationship, but is related only to the rise and fall time of the applied field pulse. The induced currents in the tissues of man exposed to impulsive electromagnetic fields do not appear to be sufficient for stimulating action potentials.