Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Fields
Effect on Human Health
For over 50 years, the American Academy of
Environmental Medicine (AAEM) has been studying and treating the effects of the
environment on human health. In the last 20 years, our physicians began seeing
patients who reported that electric power lines, televisions and other
electrical devices caused a wide variety of symptoms. By the mid 1990's, it
became clear that patients were adversely affected by electromagnetic fields
and becoming more electrically sensitive. In the last five years with the
advent of wireless devices, there has been a massive increase in radiofrequency
(RF) exposure from wireless devices as well as reports of hypersensitivity and
diseases related to electromagnetic field and RF exposure. Multiple studies
correlate RF exposure with diseases such as cancer, neurological disease,
reproductive disorders, immune dysfunction, and electromagnetic
hypersensitivity.
The electromagnetic wave spectrum is divided into ionizing radiation such as
ultraviolet and X-rays and non-ionizing radiation such as ultrasound and
radiofrequency (RF), which includes WiFi, cell
phones, and Smart Meter wireless communication. It has long been recognized
that ionizing radiation can have a negative impact on health. However, the
effects of non-ionizing radiation on human health recently have been seen.
Discussions and research of non-ionizing radiation effects centers around
thermal and non-thermal effects. According to the FCC and other regulatory agencies,
only thermal effects are relevant regarding health implications and
consequently, exposure limits are based on thermal effects only.1
While it was practical to regulate thermal bioeffects,
it was also stated that non-thermal effects are not well understood and no
conclusive scientific evidence points to non-thermal based negative health
effects.1 Further arguments are made with respect to RF exposure
from WiFi, cell towers and smart meters that due to
distance, exposure to these wavelengths are negligible.2 However,
many in vitro, in vivo and epidemiological studies demonstrate that significant
harmful biological effects occur from non-thermal RF exposure and satisfy
Hill's criteria of causality.3 Genetic damage, reproductive defects,
cancer, neurological degeneration and nervous system dysfunction, immune system
dysfunction, cognitive effects, protein and peptide damage, kidney damage, and
developmental effects have all been reported in the peer-reviewed scientific
literature.
Genotoxic effects from RF exposure, including studies
of non-thermal levels of exposure, consistently and specifically show
chromosomal instability, altered gene expression, gene mutations, DNA
fragmentation and DNA structural breaks.4-11 A statistically
significant dose response effect was demonstrated by Maschevich
et al. , who reported a linear increase in aneuploidy as a function of the
Specific Absorption Rate(SAR) of RF exposure.11 Genotoxic
effects are documented to occur in neurons, blood lymphocytes, sperm, red blood
cells, epithelial cells, hematopoietic tissue, lung cells and bone marrow.
Adverse developmental effects due to non-thermal RF exposure have been shown
with decreased litter size in mice from RF exposure well below safety
standards.12 The World Health Organization has classified RF
emissions as a group 2 B carcinogen.13 Cellular telephone use in
rural areas was also shown to be associated with an increased risk for
malignant brain tumors. 14
The fact that RF exposure causes neurological damage has been documented
repeatedly. Increased blood-brain barrier permeability and oxidative damage,
which are associated with brain cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, have
been found.4,7,15-17 Nittby et al.
demonstrated a statistically significant dose-response effect between
non-thermal RF exposure and occurrence of albumin leak across the blood-brain
barrier.15 Changes associated with degenerative neurological
diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
(ALS) have been reported.4,10 Other neurological and cognitive
disorders such as headaches, dizziness, tremors, decreased memory and
attention, autonomic nervous system dysfunction, decreased reaction times,
sleep disturbances and visual disruption have been reported to be statistically
significant in multiple epidemiological studies with RF exposure occurring
non-locally.18-21
Nephrotoxic effects from RF exposure also have been reported. A dose response
effect was observed by Ingole and Ghosh in which RF
exposure resulted in mild to extensive degenerative changes in chick embryo
kidneys based on duration of RF exposure.24 RF emissions have also
been shown to cause isomeric changes in amino acids that can result in
nephrotoxicity as well as hepatotoxicity.25
Electromagnetic field (EMF) hypersensitivity has been documented in controlled
and double blind studies with exposure to various EMF frequencies. Rea et al.
demonstrated that under double blind placebo controlled conditions, 100% of
subjects showed reproducible reactions to that frequency to which they were
most sensitive.22 Pulsed electromagnetic frequencies were shown to
consistently provoke neurological symptoms in a blinded subject while exposure
to continuous frequencies did not.23
Although these studies clearly show causality and disprove the claim that
health effects from RF exposure are uncertain, there is another mechanism that
proves electromagnetic frequencies, including radiofrequencies, can negatively
impact human health. Government agencies and industry set safety standards
based on the narrow scope of Newtonian or "classical" physics
reasoning that the effects of atoms and molecules are confined in space and
time. This model supports the theory that a mechanical force acts on a physical
object and thus, long-range exposure to EMF and RF cannot have an impact on
health if no significant heating occurs. However, this is an incomplete model.
A quantum physics model is necessary to fully understand and appreciate how and
why EMF and RF fields are harmful to humans.26,27 In quantum physics
and quantum field theory, matter can behave as a particle or as a wave with
wave-like properties. Matter and electromagnetic fields encompass quantum
fields that fluctuate in space and time. These interactions can have long-range
effects which cannot be shielded, are non-linear and by their quantum nature
have uncertainty. Living systems, including the human body, interact with the
magnetic vector potential component of an electromagnetic field such as the
field near a toroidal coil.26,28,29 The
magnetic vector potential is the coupling pathway between biological systems
and electromagnetic fields.26,27 Once a patient's specific threshold
of intensity has been exceeded, it is the frequency which triggers the
patient's reactions.
Long range EMF or RF forces can act over large distances setting a biological
system oscillating in phase with the frequency of the electromagnetic field so
it adapts with consequences to other body systems. This also may produce an
electromagnetic frequency imprint into the living system that can be long
lasting.26,27,30 Research using objective
instrumentation has shown that even passive resonant circuits can imprint a
frequency into water and biological systems.31 These quantum electrodynamic effects do exist and may explain the adverse
health effects seen with EMF and RF exposure. These EMF and RF quantum field
effects have not been adequately studied and are not fully understood regarding
human health.
Because of the well documented studies showing adverse effects
on health and the not fully understood quantum field effect, AAEM calls for
exercising precaution with regard to EMF, RF and general frequency exposure.
In an era when all society relies on the benefits of electronics, we must find
ideas and technologies that do not disturb bodily function. It is clear that
the human body uses electricity from the chemical bond to the nerve impulse and
obviously this orderly sequence can be disturbed by an individual-specific
electromagnetic frequency environment. Neighbors and whole communities are
already exercising precaution, demanding abstention from wireless in their
homes and businesses.
Furthermore, the AAEM asks for:
Submitted by: Amy L. Dean, DO, William J. Rea,
MD, Cyril W. Smith, PhD, Alvis L. Barrier, MD
Bibliography:
Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Fields Effect on Human Health