Problems of electromagnetic field hygienic assessment UHF and MW therapy departments

Introduction. Medical staff in Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) therapy and Microwave (MW) therapy departments are exposed to continuous and pulsed electromagnetic fields of varying intensities and over different time intervals, which makes it important to conduct an adequate hygienic assessment of working conditions.The study aims to conduct a hygienic assessment of the complex electromagnetic environment in UHF and MW therapy rooms.Materials and methods. The authors conducted a hygienic assessment of the electromagnetic environment in two UHF and MW therapy rooms, which contained a total of 2 microwave therapy devices and 4 UHF therapy devices. Specialists conducted time motion studies at workstations near the devices, as well as in the center of room No. 2; they analyzed procedure logbooks, measured the electric and magnetic field strengths, and the energy flux density. Based on the data obtained, they calculated the coefficients of excess for maximum remote control and maximum energy exposure. Two scenarios of staff operation were considered based on data from the procedure release logs: 1) each employee released procedures only on one type of device (UHF or MW); 2) responsibilities for releasing procedures on each type of device were distributed equally. The assessment was carried out in accordance with R 2.2.2006-05 and the Special Assessment of Working Conditions (SAWC) methodology.Results. In room 1, the class of working conditions was 3.1 in scenario 1 and 3.2 in scenario 2. In room 2, the class of working conditions was 3.1 when working only with MW therapy devices and 3.2 in scenario 2; in case of working only with UHF therapy devices the class of working conditions was 3.1 when assessed using the SAWC methodology and 3.3 when assessed according to R 2.2.2006-05.Limitations. The number of examined rooms is limited, which does not allow us to extrapolate the data to all rooms.Conclusion. The studies indicate the exceeding permissible exposure limits in UHF and MW therapy rooms, where the occupational hazard class reach 3.3, which highlights the problem of preserving the health of medical personnel in terms of adequate control of multi‑frequency exposure when several devices are operating simultaneously. Differences in assessment of occupational hazards according to R 2.2.2006‑05 and the SAWC methodology identified problem of harmonizing various methods for assessing the harmfulness of working conditions.Ethics. This study did not require the conclusion of an Ethics Committee.Contributions:Perov S.Yu. — research concept and design, data collection and processing, text writing, editing;Kormilitsin A.A. — collection and processing of material, writing of the text;Zimenkov A.D. — collection and processing of material.Funding. The study had no funding.Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.Received: 15.10.2026 / Accepted: 26.10.2026 / Published: 03.11.2026