Radioprotection 2025, 60( 4), 373 – 381 © M. Zhou et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2025 https:// doi. org / 10.1051 / radiopro / 2024060
Available online at: www. radioprotection. org
ARTICLE
Assessment for occupational hazards to cardiac implantable electronic devices due to electric field exposure at power frequency within the framework of European standards
M. Zhou 1,*, D. Kourtiche 1, J. Claudel 1, M. Nadi 1, P. Roth 1, I. Magne 2 and F. Deschamps 3
1 Université de Lorraine, Institut Jean Lamour( UMR 7198), CNRS, 2 allée André Guinier, Campus Artem, 54000 Nancy, France. 2 EDF, Direction Prévention Santé Sécurité Groupe, Pôle Prévention des Risques, 4 rue Floréal, 75017 Paris, France. 3 RTE, Direction Développement Ingénierie, Département Concertation et Environnement, Place du Dôme, 92073 Paris La Défense
Cedex, France. Received: 23 September 2024 / Accepted: 30 November 2024
Abstract – Workers with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices( CIEDs) may face interference hazards from electromagnetic fields emitted by industrial electrical apparatus, which may compromise device functionality and safety, leading to significant occupational risks. A risk assessment approach was proposed for the non-clinical investigation in the process of specific assessing within the framework of the European standards EN 50527. An exposure system, the voltage injection system( VIS), was introduced to experimentally investigate the interference thresholds and the induced voltages of CIEDs exposed to electric fields( EFs) at power frequency( 50 Hz) by in vitro testing. A thorough risk assessment was performed on four CIEDs in two exposure scenarios, as an application illustration of VIS assessment. Correspondence between in vitro testing and real-case exposure was founded based on the study of induced voltages under EF exposures to establish VIS assessment. In the risk assessment for CIEDs, severe interference was observed in some cases with maximum sensitivity and in ICDs with nominal sensitivity at the high Action Level specified in the Directive 2013 / 35 / EU( 20 kV / m). The VIS assessment proposed in this work provides an efficient, easy-to-setup, on-site solution to evaluate the EF exposures at power frequency of workers with CIEDs in the workplace. The findings highlight the importance of conducting risk assessment for specific cases.
Keywords: occupational exposure / risk assessment / electromagnetic field / safety standard
1 Introduction Human activities nowadays are always accompanied and influenced by the use of electricity. Workers within the electrical industry may be exposed to a combination of magnetic fields( MFs), electric fields( EFs), spark discharges, and contact current. This fact has motivated interest and attention towards the assessment of electromagnetic field( EMF) exposure at the workplace. Since the widespread adoption of electrical pacing in the diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases, electromagnetic interference( EMI) has constantly been recognized as a potential hazard to cardiac implantable electronic devices( CIEDs). Given the omnipresence of EMFs, CIEDs, such as pacemakers( PMs) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators( ICDs), are typically
* Corresponding author: mengxi. zhou @ univ-lorraine. fr equipped with selective filters that significantly reduce or eliminate interference. However, the power frequencies of 50 / 60 Hz, prevalent in electrical industry workplaces, may not be filtered by the electronic system in CIEDs, as these frequencies fall within the detection range of human cardiac signals( 0.05 – 150 Hz). International guidelines( ICNIRP, 2010; IEEE, 2019) are widely acknowledged and implemented to protect workers from overexposure, however, individuals with CIEDs are outside of their scope. Therefore, exposure to EMFs in the vicinity of industrial electrical apparatus may be considered as a particular risk that employers are obliged to assess, as indicated in the Directive 2013 / 35 / EU.
Studies have been conducted to ensure the safety of patients with cardiac implants in public( Stunder et al., 2017; Driessen et al., 2019; Magne et al., 2020), and some occupational scenarios( Magne et al., 2012; Tiikkaja et al., 2013; Napp et al., 2015; Mattei et al., 2019, 2021). The safety of magnetic resonance imaging( MRI) for CIEDs has also been a prominent
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