The Centers For Disease Control are focusing on three electric and magnetic fields that are highly suspected or known to have human health risks. They are Radio Frequencies (RF); Extremely low Frequencies (ELF); and Static Magnetic Fields. There is also Microwave Radiation.
The health effects of EMR are a complicated and difficult to understand ares. There are arguments, pro and con about the mutagenic and cancer effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation, yet despite massive efforts to evaluate and to study the effects, there are few definitive answers about getting cancer from cell phones, power transmission towers or household microwaves. In the RF and microwave areas, heat is the primary issue. There are also differences between exposure to commonly used products and exposure in industrial settings.
The problem lies in differences of opinion as to whether biological effects should always be considered to be biological hazards. Most of the biological effects of cell phone and home microwave oven fields are not necessarily hazards. Yet experimentation and investigation is ongoing and is determined to not let any biological effects let alone potential hazards go undetected.
As a result of the complexity and the lack of definitive answers, this is an area that calls for use of the links at the end of this article to get more detailed understandings of the concepts of radio frequency, electric and magnetic fields, as well as of ionizing and non ionizing radiation.
RF involves the non ionizing radiation from radio and microwave frequencies that are used for telecommunications, broadcast, and other communication services. The concept is of energy “fields” where radiation moves from one point to another, through space, in wave form. The common RF uses are in cell phones, personal data devices, law enforcement and fire department communications, satellite communications and amateur radio. These are low frequency and low radiation entities.
Microwaves are a special low frequency of radio waves that heat material rapidly in industrial and home applications. In medicine, microwaves are used in diathermy therapy to provide heat to underlying tissue, or microwave hyperthermic therapy or for treating cancerous tissue and injury. In industry, heat sealing is one of the primary uses of microwave energy. These waves can range from a few hundred megahertz to several gigaherz. A home microwave oven, for example operates at around 2450 MHz or 2.45 GHz..
The health hazards from non ionizing radiation from RF devices involves heat. As a result, there are no clear human health hazards from the lower levels of heat that are produced from common RF and Microwave devices, such as cell phones with their non ionizing radiation fields that generate low heat.
RF devices that generate higher heat may have two issues: human biological results from prolonged exposure to higher levels of heat, where the eyes and the testes are the most involved; and some physiological and auditory issues. There are two areas, proximity and length of exposure that are of interest.
EM fields surround and are most often associated with power lines.The EM fields around power lines, however, become weak very quickly. Electromagnetic radiation in industrial cases of high power transmission combined with close proximity and extended duration of exposure can be the cause of health problems.
There is no definitive answer for electromagnetic radiation a cause of childhood leukemia and other cancers in humans who live close to power lines. Power line EM fields officially remain a possible source of cancers, but with no definitive support that confirms or denies their role in causing cancers.
In summary, there are two recommendations for dealing with biological effects of the electromagnetic and radio frequency products of the average home and person: increase the distance from the source and limit the time spent around the source.
Federal Communication Commission, Biological Effects of Radio Frequency
Food And Drug Administration: Products That Emit Radiation
Environmental Protection Agency, Electromagnetic radiation from power lines.
Medical And Nursing Training, “Static Electromagnetic Fields On Your Health”
