In our daily life, we are surrounded by electromagnetic radiation (EMR), there are emitted from the environment, radio, television, medical diagnostic, and communication devices such as cell phones, and also Wi-Fi routers. Radiation from cell phone and Wi-Fi is the radiation that we encountered the most in our life, and this resulted in increased human exposure to electromagnetic radiation and health risks. The current review is to summarize the effect of EMR exposures on physical and mental health. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is a form of energy generated by oscillation of electric and magnetic disturbance, or by the movement of electrically charged particles (e.g. electron) traveling through a vacuum or material medium. The electric and magnetic field (MF) oscillates in planes mutually perpendicular to each other, and thus create the disturbance. EMR propagated through a material medium or through free space in the form of electromagnetic waves. The EMR has certain unique characteristics, given as frequency, energy, or wavelength. [1] Electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) is the range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation (EMR). In general, EMR can be classified into ionizing or nonionizing radiation (NIR), based on their energy possessed to knock electrons off atoms that it interacts with. Ionizing radiation holds a great number of energy to knock off electrons and ionize the matter, whereas NIR does not possess enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules. Ionizing radiation can be further divided into five types, namely, alpha-particles, beta-particles, gamma-ray, X-rays, and neutron particles. NIRs are part of EMS encompass the wavelength (>100 nm), low photon energy (<12.4 eV) portion of the EMS from 1 Hz to 3 × 10 15 Hz. NIR is divided into four regions, namely, static electric and magnetic field, extremely low-frequency filed, radiofrequency, and microwave radiation and optical radiation. NIR can be from both natural (e.g., sunlight) and man-made sources (e.g., wireless communications devices). EMR exposures can be divided into three categories, which is high-level, medium-level, and low-level exposure. High-level radiation exposure can cause damage to the body, and the affected cells cannot repair fast enough with a dose that may quickly kill the exposed person. EMR is hazardous to all living organisms because its effects are latent, painless, and cumulative. The current review is to summarize the effect of EMR exposures on physical and mental health.
