Mechanisms causing the changes are not considered in setting the limit, so if some of the observed changes were found to be caused by an athermal effect, they are also covered by the safety standards. RF bioeffects are real. Don't let any of your experiences convince you otherwise. Many effects are undetectable. You often can't detect that your behavior has changed due to RF exposure.
Some damage takes years of exposure to be noticed.
To protect us from influences that cannot be seen, heard, smelled or felt we have developed RF safety standards. We owe it to ourselves, the people around us, and Amateur Radio to deal with RF safely and reasonably. We can do so by staying informed about the realities of RF safety, and not letting the unfounded extreme views that reside at either end of the pendulum affect what we know to be right. He serves as chairman of the ARRL RF safety Committee and as a member of the IEEE Committee on Man and Radiation. A former professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neurology at Northwestern University, Lapin now works as a consulting professional engineer in the electronics industry.