Recent Advances in Bioelectromagnetics Research on Mobile Telephony and Health - An Introduction

Abstract

Abstract-It is not widely known that biological and health effects of radiofrequency (RF) energy have been studied for about 50 years. Currently, there are about 1500 published studies related to RF health research, covering various disciplines from biophysics to epidemiology, usually defined as bioelectromagnetics research. All these studies can be found at WHO EMF database (http://www.who.int/peh-emf/en/). Current international EMF safety guidelines, established by the International Commission on Nonionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and IEEE, are based on this extensive research database.Recent advances in multidisciplinary bioelectromagnetics research addressing mobile telephony and health issue have significantly increased our knowledge about fundamental scientific questions in this area. Improved dosimetry and exposure design have made it possible to conduct well-controlled biomedical experiments. Several carefully conducted theoretical biophysical analyses have also increased our understanding about the responses of cell macromolecules to RF energy. However, inconsistent molecular biological findings have raised questions whether the observed changes are real and whether they have any significance on human health. In this regard, part of the biomedical research community has forgotten a fundamental rule that an observed effect cannot be considered established if it has not been independently replicated and confirmed by other researchers. RF energy-cancer link has been rejected by recent carefully conducted animal studies. However, inconsistent epidemiological findings and misinterpretation of epidemiological data continue to create confusion in mobile telephony-cancer debate in many countries. Studies on other health endpoints than cancer have not either been able to confirm any adverse health effects in humans, such as effects on central nervous system (CNS) at low RF exposure levels. The weight of scientific evidence shows that RF energy does not cause adverse health effects in humans below the internationally accepted RF exposure guidelines, such as established by ICNIRP and IEEE.

Improving the SAR Distribution in Petri-Dish Cell Cultures

“…Non-thermal effect studies are becoming a topic of current focus because of the amount of lowpower RF devices employed in current devices [1,2]. Two important requirements are needed in non-thermal effects in vitro research: 1) the uniformity of the specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution over the area of cells under observation, and 2) exposures with a sufficiently high level of power (high SAR), so that high-power amplifiers are not needed, and the total system cost is not further increased.…”

Effect of microwave emission from mobile phones on the rat thalamus and the potential protective role of ascorbic acid

“…As mobile phones are usually held close to the head when in use, part of the microwave they emit is absorbed by the brain [3].…”

The Effect of Microwave Emmision From Mobile Phones on Neuron Survival in Rat Central Nervous System

“…In addition to those obvious life-threatening hazards of using a mobile phone under certain conditions, such as mobile phone use while operating an automobile or the unwanted interferences with medical equipment or implanted pacemakers by mobile phone radiation, the low intensity, pulsed microwave radiation that the GSM mobile phones emit can also exert subtle, non-thermal influences on the organism. Since mobile phones are usually held close to the head when they are in use, part of the microwave they emit is absorbed by the brain [7][8][9]. For example, most microwaves in the frequency range of 800-1000 MHz can penetrate the cranium and near 40% of them can reach the deep brain [1,4,5,[10][11][12][13].…”