Electromagnetic Fields

Courtsey: Tuberose.com

Electromagnetic Fields

The Earth is a huge magnetic sphere. Living things have been tied to the Earth's natural magnetic field from the time that life began. This magnetic field permeates and contributes to all life on the planet by the generation of what we call the atmosphere. This field varies in strength and consistency through the ages and, with this variance, so too does life on the planet change. Our bodies own magnetic frequencies and bio-field patterns react to this variance of the Earth's field. All matter on Earth assists in creating this field and so becomes charged with this magnetic resonance, displaying different results, dependant on the substance. Each individual cell--as well as entire organisms--senses and derives timing information from the natural cycles of the geomagnetic field. As all matter is made up of magnetic resonant field patterns, of varying strength and frequencies, applying a magnetic device of any configuration will produce an effect one way or another.

The healers-of-old knew the benefits and curative powers fo magnetic lodestones when properly placed along the meridian lines of energy and not necessarily at the area of pain. Lodestones, being basically iron oxide, have the capacity to retain and exhibit a magnetic field. These lodestones have been charged by the Earth, and thus are harmoniously in tune with the human bodies' frequencies as well, they have for thousands of years been successfully used in the healing arts. These healers continued their practice through the ages, since the patients could see the results and then utilized the methodology themselves. Although this same methodology is still practiced with desired results in some cultures today, twenty-first century man is destroying the healing effects with modern materials.

Modern magnetic therapy is based on traditional ideas, but uses stronger and "out of phase" magnetic materials. Most everyone considers magnetism a basic and natural force similar to the magnetic field exhibited by the field of an artificial permanent or electromagnet has a distinct man-made flavor within the internal structure or matrix of the field itself. The frequency of the field is the governing factor as to whether the field is beneficial or harmful. The field of a permanent magnet receives its frequency when energized, depending on the energizing process and the composition of the magnet itself, resulting in the frequency of the final product. Powerful permanent magnets have their matrix altered by the artificial energizing processes used, and do not conform to the natural complex magnetic field structure of the human bio-organism, or that of the planet. These processes use artificial electrical energy, which has within its structure a frequency composition different to that of nature. This is why lodestones work well in healing situations since they have the required field strength and attenuation to the life force of the planet.

Human use of electromagnetism for power and communications has produced an abnormal electromagnetic environment unlike anything that existed before. More than a thousand scientific papers on this topic are published each year. Both epidemiological and laboratory studies exist, indicating that abnormal frequencies, regardless of their frequencies, produce increased health risks.

What is an Electromagnetic Field?

All electromagnetic fields are force fields, carrying energy and capable of producing an action at a distance. These fields have characteristics of both waves and particles. An electric current flowing in a wire or coil produces its own magnetic field. A compass needle will swing at right angles to the wire. What is the difference between an electric field and a magnetic field? Actually both are usually all around us, since they are present wherever there is electricity. Both an electric and a magnetic field exist around power lines, appliances, light fixtures, and electric wiring; but electromagnetic fields are generated only when current is flowing through a wire. The voltage on a wire produces electric fields.

If you plug in a lamp or an appliance, even though it is not turned on, it will produce an electric field. When the light is lit or the appliance is running, both an electric and electromagnetic field will be present. A permanent magnetic field is stationary or still, unless you are moving the magnet. Permanent magnets are completely safe, and are not involved in this controversy. Magnetic fields are produced by moving electrical currents, and the field of a bar magnet is produced by the spinning electrons around the atomic nuclei in the iron material of the magnet itself. In order to act as a "magnet," these atoms must be lined up in the same direction so that the individual magnetic fields combine to produce one big field. If a magnet is dropped on a hard floor, the magnetic field is destroyed because the atoms are "shaken up" and their direction is changed, resulting in a random pattern.

When an electrical current flows in a wire, the movement of the electrons produces a similar field in space, but one that is oriented around the wire. If the current is a DC (direct current), the magnetic field is steady, like that form a permanent magnet. The strength of the magnetic field depends upon the amount of current flowing in the wire--the more current there is, the stronger the magnetic field will be. If the current in the wire is fluctuating, the magnetic field will have the same fluctuations. We characterize the field in this case on the basis of the rate, or frequency of fluctuation. All of the possible frequencies of electromagnetic waves or fields can be put onto an electromagnetic spectrum, starting with the slowest frequencies and going to the highest. The electromagnetic spectrum is usually pictured as a line that increases from zero, to trillions of cycles per second. About three-fourths up the frequency spectrum is something we are very familiar with--light. Sunlight, as well as the light from electric lights, is the same thing as the magnetic field. It is produced by the movement of electrons and has the same characteristics as the Earth's magnetic field, radio waves, and X-rays. It is an electromagnetic field, but one for which we have developed specific anatomical detectors--our eyes. Electrical currents flow in living organisms and they produce magnetic fields that extend outside of the body and can be influenced by external magnetic fields as well. The magnetic field produced by the brain is easily detected using a special magnetometer.

Extra low frequency magnetic fields, such as those from 50 & 60 Hz systems, penetrate even a cast iron bath tub with little attenuation. They freely intrude our homes and our bodies. They are biologically active at intensities of a milligauss (mG) or less.

The flow of the electrical currents in the brain produce a magnetic field that can be measured and analyzed several feet away from the head. We, and all other living things, are surrounded by a magnetic field extending out into space from our bodies, and the fields from the brain reflect what is happening in the brain. Living organisms have the ability to somehow sense these minute daily cycles in the Earth's magnetic field and to use them to time their biological cycles.

Electronics 101

If two electrons are separated by one centimeter, each electron will experience a repulsive force of 2.3X10^-24 gram equivalents. Doubling the separation will reduce the force to one quarter. Doubling the number of electrons on one side will double the repulsive force acting on the lone electron on the other side. Most matter is neutral, so it contains an equal number of protons and electrons. However, sometimes electrons are deliberately or accidentally removed from one object, and deposited onto another object. If a proton is placed near these two charged objects, the proton will be attracted to the negative object, which has excess electrons, and simultaneously repelled from the positive one, which is missing some electrons. The total force acting on the proton is a measure of the electric field that the proton is exposed to. The direction of the force that acts on the proton is the same as the direction of the electric field and the strength of the force is proportional to the strength of the electric field. If an electron were substituted for the proton, the force would be of the same strength, but in the opposite direction of the electric field. If two protons "tied" together were substituted for the single proton, they would experience twice as much total force.

If the terminals of a battery are connected to two large metal plates, the + plate will lose some electrons, which will flow through the battery to the - plate. A battery acts as an electron pump, establishing an electric field between the plates. A proton would be attracted toward the - plate and repelled from the + plate. The strength of this electric field equals the battery voltage divided by the distance between the plates (usually measured in meters). For example, if the battery is 1.5 volts and the spacing is one meter, the electric field is 1.5 volts per meter (V/m), but if the spacing is reduced to ½ meter, the electric field increases to 3V/m, which doubles the force that a single proton, if placed in the center, would experience. Any charged particle placed between the plates would experience a force downward if the particle were positive, or upward if negative.

All conductive bodies contain charged particles that can freely move around. In metals these particles are the electrons from the outer part of the atom. In conductive liquids such as salt water, the conductive particles are called ions: positively charged sodium atoms and negatively charged chlorine atoms, which can move through the water. If a conductive body is placed between the plates, the charged particles inside the conductor will quickly shift position a little. The charged particles shift position simply because they are responding to the electric field from the battery and metal plates. Because no electric field now exists within the conductive body, the internal charged particles have stopped moving and the configuration is stable. If the battery is subsequently reconnected to the plates in reverse, all charges will reorient so that - and + ultimately interchange after a small fraction of a second. The movement of charges is defined as an electric current, so that during that brief time the charges in the conductive body are reorienting themselves, a current is flowing. At all other times (when charges are stable), no current flows. Therefore, inside a conductive body, no current flows and no internal electric field exists except during the periods when the outside electric field is changing.

A changing electric field can produce a magnetic field. The electric field is fundamental; the magnetic force arises directly from the electric force. In two parallel wires each 40" (100 cm) long and are one cm apart and carry one amp of current will attract each other with a force of 0.002-gram equivalents due to the magnetic force. The force will double if the current in either wire is doubled or if the separation is reduced to ½ cm. If the direction of current in one of the wires is reversed, the force will become repulsive, but will remain the same strength. The current in the first wire creates a magnetic field that acts on the current in the second wire. In a similar way, the second wire also acts on the first. The attraction is mutual; the first wire attracts the second with the same amount of force that the second attracts the first. No charge will actually flow through the air gap between them, yet a magnetic field will be created in that gap as if the charge were flowing. The amount of magnetic force a wire experiences is proportional to the product of magnetic field strength that the wire is subjected to, times the length of the wire, times the amount of current (in amps) the wire is carrying. The direction of the force is at right angles both to the direction of the magnetic field and the direction of the current.

Besides being influenced by a magnetic field, a wire that is carrying a current also produces a magnetic field. If the wire is long, the field strength is double at half the distance from the wire and is four times as much at a quarter the distance. Milligauss is a unit of flux density, not magnetic field strength, but the difference is not important. A wire that carries one amp will have a magnetic field of 200 milligauss (mG), a distance of one cm away. At two cm the field will be one-half as much. Certain types of metal--iron, steel, nickel, and vanadium--internally produce this circulating current without the help of a battery or wires. These metals are called ferromagnetic and their single outer electrons each produce a tiny, circulating current due to the electron orbits. All electrons in a Ferro magnet (if fully magnetized) spin in the same direction. If two such magnets are brought close together with the North of one facing the South of the other, they will attract. This attraction is because the electron currents spin in the same direction around the edge of the magnets. If the North of a magnet is brought close to the North of another magnet, they will repel, because the electron currents are circulating in opposite directions.

A changing magnetic field can create an electric field. This is the basis of power transformers and electric power generation. One coil of wire is placed close to another. An increasing current flow is established in the first coil, which creates an increasing magnetic field. The increasing magnetic field causes electrons to circulate (current) around the second coil in such a way as to oppose the increasing magnetic field that the first coil is trying to establish. The changing magnetic field creates an electric field directly in the wire, which causes electrons in the wire to move. The amount of voltage generated is proportional to the total length of wire in all the loops. A changing magnetic field will also create an electric field in the human body, which causes a current to flow. The current is at right angles to the direction of the changing magnetic field, and is strongest near the extremities of a person. Current tends to flow along the outer surface of the body. Its strength is proportional to the rate at which the field changes.

For a 60 Hz (60 oscillations per second) field with strength of three milligauss, a current is created in an adult, which is on average, one-billionth amp per square centimeter of cross-sectional area. For these currents induced by magnetic fields, the current per area increases proportional to the linear size of the organism. An animal only 1/10 the size of an adult human would average 1/10 as much current per area. An AC electric field will also create a current in the body. This current usually flows in the same direction as the electric field and is fairly uniform throughout the body. As with the magnetic field current, the current from an AC electric field is proportional to the frequency multiplied by the strength. For an adult, a 2000 V/m electric field at 60 Hz will create, on average, one-billionth amp per square cm. Unlike the case of magnetic current, the electric current per square centimeter does not scale down for a small animal.

The changing electric and magnetic effects make possible electromagnetic waves (radio waves). These waves are usually emitted from a wire (antenna) connected to an oscillator (in essence, a battery changing polarity very fast). The antenna rapidly oscillates between + and -, creating a rapidly changing electric field. Most radio waves are in the frequency range from half a million to several billion oscillations per second. That rapidly changing electric field creates a rapidly changing magnetic field. The magnetic field, in turn, creates an electric field, which reinforces the existing electric field. Because of this reinforcement, the strength of the electric field far from the antenna is much greater than it would be without the reinforcement. For example, if a one-foot antenna is connected to one volt DC (electric field is not oscillating), the electric field one mile away will be 1/100 billion V/m.

However, if that same one volt is continuously reversed 200 million times per second (proper frequency for a one foot antenna), the peak electric field one mile away will be 1/3000 V/m, or 33 million times higher. By using radio waves, the fields can be carried a long distance. For the AC frequencies typically encountered in the home (60, 180, and 300 oscillations per second are typical from power line current, and up to 17,000-35,000 oscillations from the horizontal scan of TV and computer monitors), antennas and coils would have to be at least several miles long to emit true radio waves. Because the devices that emit these fields (vacuum cleaners, fluorescent lights, etc.) are much smaller than that, household sources of fields are often pure magnetic (from wires or coils that carry AC current), pure electric (from metal plates or wires that are connected to the electric "hot" wire, regardless of whether any current is present), or some mix of magnetic and electric. Unlike radio waves, household field sources tend to weaken quickly in strength when you're more than a few feet away.

Natural Electromagnetic Fields

The spinning core of molten iron miles beneath the surface of the Earth creates a dipole magnetic field, like a bar magnet. The energy of the sun distorts and perturbs this simple field into a unique structure known as the magnetosphere. The strength of the Earth's magnetic field averages about half a gauss. Its daily change in strength is less than 0.1 gauss. Compared with the 200-gauss strength of the magnet that holds a refrigerator door closed, this seems miniscule. The sun constantly gives off a solar wind, composed of high-energy atomic particles. These particles travel through space at great speed and crash into the outer layers of the Earth's magnetic field, compressing it until its energy matches that of the solar wind. The area of interaction between these two forces is called the bow-shock region. The sun's magnetic field is organized into sectors, much like the segments of an orange. Alternate sectors have their fields directed inward and outward, so that as the sun rotates, a slight change is produced as each sector boundary crosses the line connecting the sun with the Earth. On the side away from the sun, the magnetic field is drawn out into a long magneto tail, which stretches away from the Earth far into space. It contains vast stores of energy and demonstrates reliable daily fluctuations in strength, as well as longer periodic changes. It is subject to sudden, massive storms produced by energetic events on the sun. Over geologic time, it exhibits strange reversals of polarity.

The Earth rotates on a day-night cycle within this complex field. The magnetosphere does not rotate but remains fixed in space, with one side always facing the sun. Because of this, any given spot on the surface of the Earth is in a constantly changing magnetic field. The daily rise and fall in the strength of this field causes biological rhythms. Magnetic storms appear to have a direct effect on the operations of the human brain. This interaction results in the generation of enormous electrical currents with billions of watts. It also results in the production of ionizing radiation and various electromagnetic waves. The EMF energy of the earth is usually absorbed through the feet. There is a point on the sole near the upper center of the foot, through which it is specifically drawn up. Lying on the ground is also a way of recharging. The earthly forces rebalance the heavenly forces.

Water can be energized with specific magnetic fields that aid life compared to untreated water. Water that comes up out of the earth, or is brought up out of the earth, looses it's charge after ninety-two hours and thus any water having magnetic healing properties, such as the water from Lourdes, must be used soon after taking the sample from its source. Any water brought up from an underground source and used to energize a treatment device, looses all effectiveness in ninety-two hours as well. If the treatment device also contains magnets or a mechanism to spiral the water (clockwise in Northern hemisphere), then a small helpful effect is imparted to the water for a limited time. Magnetic field generators are available that impart a magnetic field to the water, designed purposefully for bio-magnetic field patterns based on the frequencies of the human bio-field. This water is then used in the treatment of ailments, with positive results. With life on Earth being water-based, magnetizing water before use, whether on plants or humans, will give better health and vitality.

The Magnetic Organ

In 1975, a researcher noticed that the bacteria he was studying always clustered at the north side of their culture dish. Even if he turned the dish so that they were at the south end and left it overnight, the next morning the bacteria were back at the north side. Each bacterium contained a chain of tiny magnets! The magnets were actually crystals of the natural magnetic mineral magnetite, the original lodestone of preliterate peoples. Somehow, the bacteria absorbed the soluble components from the water and put them together in their bodies as the insoluble crystalline chain. In 1971, another researcher reported on a lengthy series of experiments with pigeons. He found the same crystals of magnetite, as a submicroscopic mass located on the surface of the pigeon's brain. He found that the mass of crystals was full of nerve fibers that seemed to go into the brain. The magnetite crystals "tell" the pigeon's brain the exact direction of the Earth's magnetic field, and the pigeon uses this information to navigate with its amazing precision. The salamander has two separate magnetic navigational systems. One provides a simple compass, so that when traveling "cross country," it will go in a straight line. The other system enables it to return to the exact spot where it was hatched from its egg in order to mate and lay more eggs. The human "magnetic organ" has been found in the posterior wall of the ethmoid sinus, just in front of the pituitary gland. Humans have an innate ability to sense the direction of magnetic north, and this ability can be blocked by placing a bar magnet against a person's forehead for only fifteen minutes! The directional sense is disturbed for as long as two hours after application of the magnet. It is a sense organ that informs the organism of the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. Nature has provided us with yet another organ that also senses the field and extracts even more significant information from it.

The Pineal Gland's Magnetic Sense

The pineal gland is the "clock" that controls biological cycles. The cyclic pattern of sleep-wakefulness is dependent upon the level of melatonin secretion by the pineal. The pineal gland is the principal structure in the brain that is directly sensitive to the Earth's magnetic field. As a result, it functions abnormally when exposed to abnormal fields. Because the pineal produces a host of psychoactive chemicals (such as melatonin, dopamine, serotonin, and others), its abnormal functioning may result in a variety of neurological and behavioral abnormalities. It was first determined that a part of the output of the retina is diverted to the pineal, where it senses the day-night cycle and melatonin secretion is adjusted accordingly. The pineal is also sensitive to the daily cyclic pattern in the Earth's magnetic field. Abnormal secretion of hormones by the pineal is linked to many behavioral abnormalities. The primary effect of a chronically abnormal biocycle is the production of chronic stress syndrome a condition that produces a wide variety of health problems, including a marked decline in competency of the immune system. Nature intended the pineal to simultaneously receive the same signals from the daily pattern of day-night and the same rise and fall in strength of the geomagnetic field. Obviously, when one or both signals are abnormal, the pineal does not respond in the normal fashion, and the body's biological cycles become disturbed--with important health results. Over two billion years of evolution, living things have taken advantage of the two portions of the electromagnetic spectrum that could be depended upon to always be present: the geomagnetic field and visible light. Life developed specific organs to sense the geomagnetic field and to derive timing information from it just as it developed specific organs to sense and derive information from light.

The Human Crystal

The key to understanding the assimilation of energy into our physical structure is through the awareness of our bodies as a series of synchronous, interacting crystal structures. The body on this level is linked by oscillating solid and liquid crystals that form an overall energy pattern for the total body. Each organ, gland, nerve system, cell and protein structure--even the tissue salts in the body--shows a level of organization with some degree of crystalline-like function. Marcel Vogel, the world-renowned crystal expert, has pointed out that the human energy field exists as an array of oscillating energy points which have a layered structure and a definite symmetry. He points out that these properties fulfill the definition of a normal crystal in material form. Our bone structure has long been recognized as a solid crystal structure with piezoelectric properties. A piezoelectric effect is the creation of an electromagnetic field pulse when a crystalline structure is physically stressed or pushed out of its normal shape. As a solid crystal, it has the ability to convert vibrational energy, such as sound or light, into magnetic and electric energy. Crystals can absorb, store, convert, amplify, transduce and transmit vibrational energies, which have biological effects. Psychic healing energies alter the measurable electromagnetic pattern of a crystal, suggesting that subtle energies can alter the physical structure of a crystal. When physical stress or an electromagnetic field (EMF) is applied to a piezoelectric crystal, the crystal will change shape and generate an EMF. Bone, quartz crystal and tourmaline are among the few crystal forms with piezoelectric properties.

Studies suggest that the crystalline-like components of the extra cellular matrix of bone, such as collagen and proteoglycans, possess piezoelectric qualities. Mineralized tissue such as cartilage, dentin, teeth in general and relatively non-mineralized tissues such as keratin in skin, elastin, artery tissue, connective tissue (tendons and ligaments), and even some amino acid crystals (glysine, proline and hydroxyproline) all have piezoelectric properties. The main forces which create pulsed piezoelectric EMFs in bone are the anti-gravity muscles, the cardiovascular system, voluntary muscles and impact with the environment. Projected EMFs have the ability to create a piezoelectric response in bone. These fields have biological activity affecting: cell nutrition, local pH control, enzyme activation and suppression, orientation of intra and extra cellular macromolecules, migratory and reproductive activity of cells, synthetic capacity and specialized function of cells, contractility and permeability of cell membranes, and energy transfer. Another type of electric or electromagnetic field response is also found in bone structure, called streaming potentials, an electrical field created by the flow of ions, charged solutes and cells such as red blood cells through the tissues, carried by extra cellular fluids such as blood through the extra cellular matrix. When the bone is even subtly bent from pressure by such events as walking or even by the pulse of our arteries, the extra cellular fluids are pumped through the bone. A charge is created by the electrostatic interaction of the charged fluids moving past the fixed charge in the crystalline bone structure. These fluids interact with the piezo fields of bone.

Liquid Crystals

There are other forms of crystalline-like systems in the body, and one of the most important is the liquid crystal. A liquid crystal is technically defined as having form, liquid properties, stored information and a measurable electromagnetic field. A liquid crystal can act simultaneously as liquid and crystal. The larger liquid crystal systems include fatty tissue, muscle and nerve tissue, the lymphatic system, white blood cells, and the various pleural and peritoneal linings. Muscle and nerve tissue exist as liquid crystal systems held in shape by bone and skin systems. The muscles have also been shown to have some piezoelectric properties. On a cell level, all cells and cell membranes are considered liquid crystals. These include the plasma membrane, mitochondrial membrane, smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum, nuclear membranes and chloroplast membranes. Bodily fluids also have crystal qualities. A water molecule contains the potential forms of all crystals in its primary form of a tetrahedron. Water can bring all different forms of ions into a crystalline state an hold them in solution. The more structured the water is, the higher concentration of ions it can hold. One of the most important ion solutions is the dissolved cell salts. When the body cells and tissues become diseased or cancerous, the crystalline protein structures no longer have the proper configuration to maintain the water in a structured state.

Ions and other solutes in the cell consequently become redistributed by the new pattern of unstructured water. If the water in the cell, extra cellular fluid or blood plasma becomes structured, it will then be able to attract and hold more ions by virtue of its hydration shell patterns. Identical crystal resonant fields emanated by micronutrients are attracted to larger resonant fields emanated by the organism's larger crystalline and liquid crystalline patterns. This explains how micronutrients, homeopathic remedies, etc., through vibrating crystalline fields, are drawn to the appropriate resonating crystalline sites. In An Atlas of Cellular Oscillators by P.R. Rapp, research in over 450 papers is cited in cataloging an atlas of biological and biochemical oscillators with a periodicity of one hour or less. This includes oscillations in enzyme-catalyzed reactions such as photosynthesis, oscillations in protein synthesis, and oscillations in cell membranes, secretory cells, neuronal cells, skeletal cells, smooth cells, heart muscle cells and cell movement. In a healthy state, the body's structures are a multi-leveled series of interacting systems and subsystems that resonate harmoniously. From this perspective, disease occurs when this synchronicity is thrown into disharmony. Each organ system or subsystem gives off a specific measurable electromagnetic field. The EMFs are measurable, subtle fields that can have great effect on the behavior of an organism.

Man-made Electromagnetic Fields

Life on earth evolved under geomagnetic fields and electromagnetic forces that have been constant for hundreds of millions of years. All that changed a little over 100 years ago, when Thomas Edison built the first power station in New York City. Before 1900, the Earth's electromagnetic field was composed simply of the field and its associated micro pulsations, visible light, and random discharges of lightning. We swim in a sea of energy that is almost totally man-made. Silicon sensors are already calling to each other. Soon, countless communicating microchips, embedded everywhere, will be sending streams of encoded electrical energy through glass, steel, concrete, bone and flesh. The exposure of living organisms to abnormal electromagnetic fields results in significant abnormalities in physiology and function. The cells of the brain and central nervous system are particularly sensitive to abnormal fields. The developing central nervous system of the fetus or the newborn is particularly sensitive. These abnormal fields arise primarily from external sources. Most are unaware of the substantial risks associated with the use of many devices in their own homes. 60-Hz fields of only 3 milligauss have been shown to be significantly related to increase in cancer rates.

Microwaves

Microwaves are very short waves of electromagnetic energy that travel at the speed of light. Microwave ovens contain a magnetron, a tube in which electrons are affected by magnetic and electric fields in such a way as to produce micro wavelength radiation at about 2450 Megahertz (MHz) or 2.45 Gigahertz (GHz). This microwave radiation interacts with the molecules in food. All wave energy changes polarity from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. In microwaves, these polarity changes happen millions of times a second. Food molecules--especially the molecules of water--have a positive and negative end in the same way a magnet has a north and a south polarity.

As the microwaves generated from the magnetron bombard the food, they cause the polar molecules to rotate at the same frequency, millions of times a second. All this agitation creates molecular friction, which heats up the food. The friction also causes substantial damage to the surrounding molecules, often tearing them apart or forcefully deforming them. The scientific name for this deformation is structural isomerism. By comparison, microwaves from the sun are based on principles of pulsed direct current (DC) that don't create frictional heat; microwave ovens use alternating current (AC) creating frictional heat. A microwave oven produces a spiked wavelength of energy with all the power going into only one narrow frequency of the energy spectrum. In addition to violent frictional heat effects (called thermic effects), there are also athermic effects, which have hardly ever been taken into account. These athermic effects also deform the structures of molecules and have qualitative consequences. For example, the weakening of cell membranes by microwaves is used in the field of gene-altering technology. Because of the force involved, the cells are actually broken, thereby neutralizing the electrical potentials--the very life of the cells--between the outer and inner sides of cell membranes. Impaired cells become easy prey for microorganisms. Natural repair mechanisms are suppressed, and cells are forced to adapt to a state of energy emergency--they switch from aerobic to anaerobic respiration. Instead of water and carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide are produced. Any reversal of healthy cell processes may occur because of a number of reasons, and our cells then revert from a robust oxidation to an unhealthy fermentation. The same violent friction and athermic deformations, that can occur in our bodies when we are subjected to radar or microwaves, happens to the molecules in the food cooked in a microwave oven.

Microwave Sickness

The Russians did research on thousands of workers who had been exposed to microwaves during the development of radar in the 1950's. Their research showed a breakdown of the human life-energy field, so serious that the Russians set strict limits of 10 microwatts exposure for workers and one microwatt for civilians. The first signs of microwave sickness are low blood pressure and slow pulse. The later and most common manifestations are chronic excitation of the sympathetic nervous system (stress syndrome) and high blood pressure. This phase also often includes headache, dizziness, eye pain, sleeplessness, irritability, anxiety, stomach pain, nervous tension, inability to concentrate, hair loss, plus an increased incidence of appendicitis, cataracts, reproductive problems, and cancer. The chronic symptoms are eventually succeeded by crisis of adrenal exhaustion and ischemic heart disease. Changes are observed in the blood chemistries and the rates of certain diseases among consumers of microwaved foods. Lymphatic disorders were observed, leading to decreased ability to prevent certain types of cancers.

An increased rate of cancer cell formation was observed in the blood. Increased rates of stomach and intestinal cancers were observed. Higher rates of digestive disorders and gradual breakdown of the systems of elimination were observed. There is degeneration and destabilization of the external energy activated potentials of food utilization within the processes of human metabolism and of internal cellular membrane potentials while transferring catabolic processes into the blood serum from the digestive process. There is a degeneration and breakdown of nerve electrical circuits and loss of energy field symmetry in the neuroplexuses both in the front and the rear of the central and autonomic nervous systems, along with a loss of balance and circuiting of the bioelectric strengths within the ascending reticular activating system (controls the function of consciousness). There is long-term cumulative loss of vital energies within humans, animals and plants that are located within a 500-meter radius of operational equipment. There is long-lasting residual effects of magnetic "deposits" located throughout the nervous system and lymphatic system.

There is destabilization and interruption in the production and maintence of hormones in males and females by continually eating microwaved foods. Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven, or using cell phones, causes permanent brain damage by shorting out electrical impulses in the brain (depolarizing or demagnetizing the brain tissue). There is markedly higher levels of brainwave disturbance in the alpha, theta, and delta wave signal patterns of persons exposed to microwave emission fields, with a resultant negative psychological effects, including loss of memory, loss of ability to concentrate, suppressed emotional threshold, deceleration of intellective processes, and interruptive sleep episodes. Microwaves cause long-term depolarization of tissue neuroelectric circuits with irreversible damage to the neuroelectrical integrity of various components of the nervous system, in individuals subjected to continual range emissive field effects of microwave apparatus, either in cooking apparatus, in transmission stations, and PCS cell phones. The body cannot metabolize unknown byproducts created in microwaved food.

Electric Power Systems

Our electric-power systems operate at fifty or sixty cycles per second, just above the highest naturally occurring frequency of 30 Hertz (Hz.)the frequency in cycles per second. Our microwave beams operate at billions of times per second and are getting ever closer to the trillion-cycle frequencies of visible light. We have filled the previously empty electromagnetic spectrum between these two extremes with man-made radiation that never existed on Earth, and we did it in less than 80 years. Because our society runs on electromagnetic (EM) energy, there really is no place to hide. We are living in a "radio-frequency soup." Microwave and low-frequency radiation is all around us--emitted by television and radio towers, satellites, high-voltage electric lines, personal computers, police radios, paging systems, microwave ovens and electronic games, CB radios, alarm systems, telecommunications systems, garage door controls, signal generators, etc. Even in the remotest mountain valleys, you're exposed to some level of the ubiquitous power frequencies of 50 or 60 Hz., short-wave radio waves reflected back from the ionosphere, as well as microwaves being beamed from satellites. It is not ionizing--it doesn't displace electrons and start biochemical reactions in our cells like ionizing radiation--but it does affect human health.

Televisions & Computers

There have been "clusters" of miscarriages among female computer operators. Most people know that the television or computer screen gives off a small amount of ionizing radiation as X-rays, but few are aware of the amount and distribution of the electromagnetic radiation from the entire unit. Actually, the electromagnetic fields are generated within the circuitry of the entire device. The TV set is what is called a broadband radiating source, meaning that it gives off a variety of frequencies, from the 60-Hz power frequency to radio frequencies in the MHz (mega hertz) range. The radiation is given off in all directions from the TV set and computer screen. The fly-back circuit operates in the VLF (very low frequency) range, generally around 17 kHz, and this frequency is a major part of the total frequencies given off. When you sit in front of the set, you are being irradiated with a wide range of frequencies, with the strongest components probably being the 60-Hz power frequency and the 17-kHz fly-back frequency. In general, the larger the size of the screen, the stronger the fields, and the further out from the unit they will extend.

Electromagnetic radiation goes through wood and other usual building materials. If the TV set or computer is placed with its back against an inside wall, radiation will be present in the adjoining room just as if there were no wall present. Consequently, an infant's or child's bed should not be placed against a wall opposite a television set, or computer, regardless of the device's field strength. If you live in an apartment or condominium, you probably don't know what's on the opposite side of the walls or above or below you. Because the strength of the field drops off with the square of the distance, the closer one's head to the machine, the stronger the field. A TV viewer usually sits back at least 6-8 feet from the screen. But with computers, the keyboards are attached to the rest of the device and the operator's head is only about fifteen to eighteen inches from the screen. There is a trend of introducing school children to computers at earlier and earlier grade levels. Many schools are using computers and people who have upgraded their own machines and given their older, unshielded, high-radiation models to a local school donated many to them. Schoolchildren are still growing and have a constant level of cell multiplication within their bodies, which leaves them even more susceptible to the harmful effects of electromagnetic field bombardment.

Fluorescent Lights

The incandescent lamp simply causes a resistive filament to glow when current at 120 volts and very small amperage is forced through it. The fluorescent lamp has no filament. Instead, a coating of chemical on the interior of the tube is excited to glow when a high-voltage discharge is produced within the tube. This requires that the 120 volts of house current be raised to several thousand volts by means of a transformer. The fluorescent light produces much different magnetic fields compared with the incandescent bulb. Two inches from a 60-watt incandescent bulb, the 60-Hz field is 0.3 milligauss; and at one foot, the field is lost in the ambient field. A 10-watt fluorescent tube produces a magnetic field at least twenty times greater than a 60-watt incandescent bulb. The ceiling fluorescent fixtures, with several 20-watt tubes, produce a field greater than 1 milligauss near the heads of the office workers below. Considering the average time of exposure, the fields produced by fluorescent lights can reach dangerous levels.

Electric Clocks

An electric motorized clock, plugged into a wall socket, produces an amazingly high magnetic field because of the small electric motor that runs it. A small bedside alarm clock of this type will produce a field of as much as 5 to 10 milligauss two feet away. If the bedside table is placed close to the sleeper's head, or if a clock or radio is placed on the headboard shelf near the head, it is within this range. The dose rate is considerable for the average eight hours per night (one-third of your life).

Razors & Hairdryers

The electric razor and hair dryer produce an extremely high-strength magnetic field (200 to 400 milligauss for the razor and 50 milligauss at six inches for the hair dryer) if it is a line-operated device--that is, if it is plugged into a wall socket rather than battery operated. These devices are used for just a few minutes once a day, so the total exposure, or dose, to the user is minimal.

Electric Blankets, Heating Pads & Water Beds

Electric-blanket and heating pad field strengths are somewhat lower (50-100 milligauss) but are still within the danger zone. The electric blanket or heating pad is applied as close to the body surface as the electric razor. Even the water bed heater, being farther away from the body, because it is used for several hours at a time, the total administered dose is much higher. The incidence of miscarriage is much higher among pregnant women who use electric blankets or heating pads than among those who do not.

Electric Heaters

A four-foot-long baseboard heater produces 23 milligauss at a distance of six inches; at one foot, the field is 8 milligauss; at two feet, it is about 3 milligauss; and it falls to 1 milligauss at three feet. The small portable electric heaters that plug into the wall socket produce about the same field intensities, but they are even more dangerous because they may be placed much closer to the body. In recent years, electric heat cables have been installed in ceilings as a more efficient means of heating an entire room. This produces an average field of about 10 milligauss throughout the entire room. Any device that electrically produces heat will have a major field strength at short distances from the device. The electric stove produces 50 milligauss at eighteen inches above a twelve-inch burner.

Microwave Ovens

Today, more than 90% of American homes have a microwave oven, used for meal preparation. The Nazis originally developed microwave radiomissor cooking ovens for use in their mobile support operations, to be used for the invasion of Russia. Microwaves are very short waves of electromagnetic energy that travel at the speed of light. Microwave ovens contain a magnetron, a tube in which electrons are affected by magnetic and electric fields in such a way as to produce micro-wavelength radiation at about 2450 Megahertz (MHz) or 2.45 Gigahertz (GHz). This microwave radiation interacts with the molecules in food. All wave energy changes polarity from positive to negative with each cycle of the wave. In microwaves, these polarity changes happen millions of times every second. Food molecules--especially the molecules of water--have a positive and negative end in the same way a magnet has a north and a south polarity. As the microwaves generated from the magnetron bombard the food, they cause the polar molecules to rotate at the same frequency, millions of times a second. All this agitation creates molecular friction, which heats up the food. The friction also causes substantial damage to the surrounding molecules, often tearing them apart or forcefully deforming them. The scientific name for this deformation is structural isomerism. By comparison, microwaves from the sun are based on principles of pulsed direct current (DC) that don't create frictional heat; microwave ovens use alternating current (AC) creating frictional heat. A microwave oven produces a spiked wavelength of energy with all the power going into only one narrow frequency of the energy spectrum.

The toxic effects of microwave cooking are another in a long list of unnatural additives in our daily diets. Artificially produced microwaves are based on the principle of alternating current. Atoms, molecules and cells hit by this hard electromagnetic radiation are forced to reverse polarity 1 to 100 billion times a second. Production of unnatural molecules is inevitable. Naturally occurring amino acids undergo isomeric changes (changes in shape morphing), as well as transformation into toxic forms, under the impact of microwaves produced in ovens. There are no atoms, molecules or cells of any organic system able to withstand such a violent, destructive power for any extended period of time, not even in the low energy range of milliwatts. Current regulations allow leakage of 1 milliwatt per centimeter squared. Damage to the gasket material around the door will markedly increase the level of microwave radiation that leaks from the device when it is in use. Of all the natural substances, which are polar, the oxygen of water molecules reacts most sensitively. This is contrary to the conventional heating of food, in which heat transfers convectionally from without to within. Cooking by microwaves begins within the cells and molecules where water is present and where the energy is transformed into frictional heat.

Effects on Cells

In addition to violent frictional heat effects (called thermic effects), there are also athermic effects, which have hardly ever been taken into account. These athermic effects also deform the structures of molecules and have qualitative consequences. For example, the weakening of cell membranes by microwaves is used in the field of gene-altering technology. Because of the force involved, the cells are actually broken, thereby neutralizing the electrical potentials--the very life of the cells--between the outer and inner sides of the cell membranes. Impaired cells become easy prey for microorganisms. Natural repair mechanisms are suppressed, and cells are forced to adapt to a state of energy emergency--they switch from aerobic to anaerobic respiration. Instead of water and carbon dioxide, hydrogen peroxide and carbon monoxide are produced. Any reversal of healthy cell processes may occur because of a number of reasons, and our cells then revert from a robust oxidation to an unhealthy fermentation. The same violent friction and athermic deformations, that can occur in our bodies when we are subjected to radar or microwaves, happens to the molecules in the food cooked in a microwave oven.

A microwave oven decays and changes the molecular structure of the food by the process of radiation. We've all been told that microwaving food is not the same as irradiating it. The two processes are supposed to use completely different waves of energy and at different intensities. In fact, when food is microwaved, the oven exerts a power input of about 1,000 watts or more. This radiation results in destruction and deformation of molecules of food, and in the formation of new compounds (called radiolytic compounds) unknown to man and nature. Microwave cooking changes the nutrients so that significant unhealthy changes take place in the blood of the participants who consume microwaved food--changes that cause deterioration in the human systems.

Cell Phones

The number of people using cellular telephones has risen dramatically during the past decade, and is expected to continue increasing. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), there are currently (2002) over 110 million wireless telephone users in the United States. This number is increasing at a rate of about 46,000 new subscribers per day. Experts estimate that by 2005 there will be over 1.26 billion wireless telephone users worldwide. A study by scientists in Finland has found that mobile phone radiation can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain. The study at Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority found that exposure to radiation from mobile phones can cause increased activity in hundreds of proteins in human cells grown in a laboratory. Nonetheless the study, the initial findings of which were published June 2002, in the scientific journal Differentiation, raises new questions about whether mobile phone radiation can weaken the brain's protective shield against harmful substances. The study focused on changes in cells that line blood vessels and on whether such changes could weaken the functioning of the blood-brain barrier, which prevents potentially harmful substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream.

They also found that one hour of exposure to mobile phone radiation caused cultured human cells to shrink. The researchers believe this is triggered by a response that normally only happens when a cell is damaged. In a person, such changes could disable safety mechanisms that prevent harmful substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream. Radiation-induced changes in the cells could also interfere with the normal death process of apoptosis. If cells that are "marked" to die do not, tumors can form. The study found that a protein called hsp27 linked to the functioning of the blood-brain barrier showed increased activity due to irradiation and pointed to a possibility that such activity could make the shield more permeable, he said. Increased protein activity might cause cells to shrink--not the blood vessels but the cells themselves--and then tiny gaps could appear between those cells through which some molecules could pass.

The number of people using cellular telephones has risen dramatically during the past decade, and is expected to continue increasing. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), there are currently over 110 million wireless telephone users in the United States. This number is increasing at a rate of about 46,000 new subscribers per day. Experts estimate that by 2005 there will be over 1.26 billion wireless telephone users worldwide. The concern about an increased risk of cancer with cellular telephone use is related to the radiation that the device produces. Like televisions, alarm systems, computers, and all other electrical devices, cellular telephones emit electromagnetic radiation. In the United States, cellular telephones operate in a frequency ranging from about 800 to 2400 megahertz (MHz). In that range, the radiation produced is in the form of non-ionizing radiofrequency (RF) radiation. AM/FM radios, VHF/UHF televisions, and cordless telephones operate at lower radio frequencies than cellular phones; microwave ovens, radar, and satellite-stations operate at slightly higher radio frequencies. RF radiation is different from ionizing radiation, which can present a health risk at certain doses. Ionizing radiation is produced by devices such as x-ray machines and television and computer monitors that use cathode ray tubes. Because so many people use cellular telephones, it is important to learn whether RF radiation affects human health, and to provide reassurance if it does not.

A cellular telephone user's level of exposure to RF radiation depends on several factors. These factors include the: amount of cellular telephone traffic, quality of the transmission, how far the antenna is extended, and size of the handset. A cellular telephone's main source of RF energy is its antenna. Therefore, the closer the antenna is to the head, the greater a person's expected exposure to RF radiation. The amount of RF radiation absorbed decreases rapidly with increasing distance between the antenna and the user. The antenna of hand-held cellular telephones is in the handset, which is typically held against the side of the head while the phone is in use. The antenna of a car cellular telephone is mounted on the outside of the car, some distance from the user. Transportable cellular telephones or "bag phones" have an antenna in a portable unit separate from the handset. Most of the studies conducted on cellular telephone use and cancer risk have focused on hand-held models, since they deliver the most RF radiation to the user. RF radiation can be harmful at high levels because it produces heat. The emitted microwaves heat the metals in the head, such as amalgam fillings braces, crowns bridges, etc. This increases the galvanic electricity generated as well as the emission of mercury vapor that's inhaled from amalgam fillings. Some people have speculated that the heat produced by RF radiation from hand-held cellular telephones may be associated with brain tumors, because the antenna is held close to the user's head.

Cell phones are becoming increasingly popular, yet most of us are unaware of the damage they are doing to our brains by exposing us to this radiation. Today, there is more and more compelling evidence showing low intensity, pulsed radiation can exert subtle influences that have serious health problems. Your body is an electrochemical instrument of exquisite sensitivity. Its orderly functioning and control are determined by oscillatory electrical processes of various kinds, each characterized by a specific frequency, some of which happen to be close to those used in GSM. Thus, some of your biological electrical activities can be interfered with via oscillatory aspects of the incoming radiation, in much the same way as can the reception on a radio. Your biological electrical activities that are vulnerable to interference from GSM radiation include highly organized electrical activities at a cellular level, whose frequency happens to lie in the microwave region, can interfere with processes as fundamental as cell division. This radiation also seems to affect a variety of brain functions including the neuroendocrine system. Additionally, cell phones have been associated with a 200-300% increase neuroepithelial tumours that occur on the same side of the brain that the cell phone was being used on. People should limit their exposures to these potential dangerous devices that cause irreversible brain damage and cancer. We only have to look less than a hundred years back to learn from similar mistakes our forefathers made in this area. Early in the 20th century radon and radium-enriched spa waters were "recommended" for a wide range of aches and minor ailments. Today, no reputable scientist would disagree with the dangers that ionizing radiation has to our health.

Unfortunately it is nearly technically impossible to design a study to prove that a device or procedure is safe. That is one of the reasons that cell phones health hazards have not received more attention than they have. Cell phones have been one of the fastest growing industries in modern history. 300 million Americans now use cell phones, and this technology is predicted to have over 1.3 billion worldwide users by the year 2005. Every day some 300 million cell phone users are "reaching out and touching someone" they love with the new 1.9 gigahertz (nineteen-hundred-million) broadcasting frequency. Yourself, and anyone else within range of the microwaves emitted by your phone. The uses of electronic communications for average people began with the introduction of personal paging systems in the 1970's--expanding into remote telephones and cell phones by the end of the century. Most people today have either portable phones in the home, cell phones for away-from-home use or both. As entire nations reach for pocket communicators, the explosively emergent $40 billion a year mobile phone industry is poised to deliver a "Wireless Revolution" that over the next five years is expected to double the one-billion people connected by telephone lines over the past century.

The Health Effects Mount

Exquisitely sensitive to subtle electromagnetic harmonies, human brains and bodies as intricate as galaxies depend on tiny electrical impulses to conduct complex life-processes - including the ability to read, recall and respond to these words. Much like a boxer taking repeated blows to the head, rapidly pulsing cell phones signal permanent brain damage. Acting as antennas, our anatomies just as easily tune into spurious signals from radio and microwave transmissions. When it comes to cell phones, a worse frequency could not have been chosen for the human anatomy. The brain reaches peak absorption in the UHF bands, right where cellular telecommunications operate. A study by Dr. Peter Franch found unequivocally that "cells are permanently damaged by cellular phone frequencies." This cellular damage, Franch noted, is maximized at low dosage, and "inherited unchanged, from generation to generation." Franch found that the production of histamine, which triggers bronchial spasms, is nearly doubled after exposure to mobile phone transmissions. Cell phones also reduce the effectiveness of anti-asthmatic drugs, and retard recovery from illness. British military scientists have discovered that cell phone transmissions disrupt the brain sites for memory and learning, causing forgetfulness and sudden confusion. Other studies show that electromagnetic signals from cellular phones reduce the ability to concentrate, calculate and coordinate complicated activities such as driving a car.

Mobile telephones are arguably the most radiative appliance we have ever invented apart from the microwave oven and people are putting them by their heads--arguably the most sensitive part of the body. The pegged needle of a shrieking electromagnetic radiation (EMR) meter placed beside a connected cell phone still shows significant exposure 100 feet away. Cell phones emanate microwave radiation, and human brains may absorb up to 60 percent of that energy. Already there are at least 15,000 scientific reports on the subject. It has been discovered that small amounts of energy, when delivered in the right way, can have the same effects as a massive dose of chemicals. The most delicate fields of electromagnetic energy influence the complexity of living creatures. There are 66 epidemiological studies showing that electromagnetic radiation across the spectrum increase brain tumors in human populations. Two of those studies are for particular brain tumors from cell phones. Because cancer takes decades to develop, it will be another 10 or 20 years before "mobiles" manifest a bonanza in brain tumors. We're already seeing acute effects that are noticed within minutes of using a cell phone.

After two minutes' conversation, a cell phone's digitized impulses disable the safety barrier (blood-brain-barrier) that isolates the brain from destructive proteins and poisons in the blood. Professor Leif Salford, the neurologist who carried out the research for this finding, said "It seems that molecules such as proteins and toxins can pass out of the blood, while the phone is switched on, and enter the brain. We need to bear in mind diseases such as MS and Alzheimer's are linked to proteins being found in the brain." Startled by $4 billion a year in extra claims among cell phone-wielding drivers, North American insurers did a double-take that found simply juggling phones is not causing a 600% increase in accidents over other drivers busy shaving, applying makeup, tuning radios, taming pets, making out, pouring coffee, retrieving dropped cigarettes, talking and gesturing to passengers, or actually steering the vehicle. Instead of just another dangerous distraction, tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy found that using a cell phone severely impairs memory and reaction times. Hands-free mobile speakerphones cause even more crashes because they typically emit 10-times more brainwave interference than handheld units. For all drivers dialing out, University of Toronto investigators report that the heightened probability of cracking up your car persists for up to 15-minutes after completing a call.

That's comparable to the risk of crashing while driving dead drunk exclaims Dr. Chris Runball, chairman of the B.C. Medical Association's emergency medical services committee. Reeling from "dial-a-collision" costs, the government of British Columbia may join England, Spain, Israel, Switzerland and Brazil in restricting or banning the use of cell phones by drivers. In New Zealand, cell phone towers are prohibited on school property because of possible health effects. But Health Canada regulations ignore the hidden hazards of cell-wrenching cell phones, which send pulsed signals through the skull in a process one expert likens to "jackhammers on the brain." "Safety Code 6" looks only at microwaves burning skin. Basically, Health Canada claims if it can't cook you, it can't hurt you, its like saying cigarettes aren't dangerous unless they burn you. Carrying similar risks of long-term lethality, and strangely just as legal, cell phone addiction mirrors the prestigious early allure of smoking - as well as an immensely profitable industry's steadfast denial of risk and responsibility. As poisonous as cigarette smoke and even harder to corral, the cell phone's second-hand microwave and radio-frequency (RF) pollution pose invisible but significant risks to bystanders--particularly children riding in cars that transmit amplified cell phone signals through their steel structure. Cell phone transmissions damage the ability of white blood cells to ward off infectious disease by disrupting the immune system's electromagnetic communications. Dr. Neil Cherry has measured accelerated aging, increased cell death and cancers caused by radio frequency microwaves from cell phones and their relay towers.

With the brain's electro-chemical communications repeatedly zapped by lightning-like cell phone pulses, this Ph.D. biophysicist warns that headaches, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, dizziness, depression, arteriosclerosis and even Alzheimer's can result from frequent or prolonged calls. "There is also a higher incidence of cardiac problems," Cherry comments, "in terms of the timing function in hearts. You get more heart attacks and more heart disease - it has now been shown in many studies." The biophysicist from Lincoln University in Christ Church, New Zealand has also found that cell phones can murderously modify moods. In brains and bodies seriously derailed by tiny imbalances in trace minerals and hormones, depression, suicide, anger, rage and violence can result when calcium and serotonin levels are disrupted by cell phone transmissions.

In 1995, mobile phone sales in North America exceeded the birth rate. Hired by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association to condone cell phones, public health scientist George Carlo found that rare tumors on the outside of the brain are more than doubled among cell phone callers--particularly on the right side of the head where phones are usually held. Carlo told ABC's "20/20" that cell phone causes genetic damage that leads to cancer. Warning of "the potential for a global health disaster," ABC recommended "prudent avoidance" of cell phones after finding that every cell phone they lab-tested exceeded the Federal Communication Commission's standards for EMF absorption rates. EMF researcher Dave Ashton cautioned 20/20 viewers that because cell phones constantly search for the nearest repeating tower, "long-term damage comes from cell phones in the stand-by mode." Cell phone "shields" and headsets cannot adequately address these problems. Dr. Carlo later told London's Express newspaper that cell phones cause genetic damage following a dose-response curve. That is, the more a person uses a cell phone, the more cellular destruction and health risks they incur.

Cell phone-confused cells can go crazy, Carlo cautioned. Experiments on captive animals show that this cumulative DNA damage is passed on to succeeding generations. Addicted as we are to a culture of convenience, we forget how inconvenient it is to contract cancer. As magazine-size "cellular" relay antennas hidden in church steeples and rooflines keep popping up just about everywhere, more and more communities are declaring their airspace a "No Fry Zone." Cellular relay towers in Kansas and Oklahoma have been shut down because they interfered with passing aircraft. These same transmissions pluck our electrical circuitry, inflicting a "chronic edginess" that "twangs human nerves." Sleep disorders are common among people exposed to high levels of electromagnetic pollution. These energy fields can affect the central nervous system and immune system in man. Chronic exposure to EMFs is associated with significant changes in some physiological parameters. The impact on Calcium ions, which are important in maintaining normal health functions in brain tissues, was found in experiments. This may affect nervous system function. Amplitude-modulated (AM) radio frequency radiation can induce responses in cells of nervous tissue origin from widely different animal species, including humans. Another area of concern is in prenatal development in mammals. Australian research has found one of the strongest links between cell phones and cancer. Over periods of 9 to 18 months, exposed mice had twice the tumor rate as unexposed mice. The mice were exposed to cell phone radiation.

As reports linking cell phone use to adverse health conditions have been published, attempts have been made by industry to hose down the findings with what is called "The Hockett Defense" (named after the chief Tobacco Institute scientist) who advise his executives to repeat endlessly, "men aren't rodents." But, DNA is DNA. At the level of normal cell growth processes, human and animal cells act very similar. The body is not a closed system but, rather, an open one, which exchanges energy with all of the forces around it. The human body seeks equilibrium or its own balance. Energy interaction requires a corresponding action from the body. On an energetic level this results in chemical changes, system stress and other interactions, which can be either healthy or not so healthy. EEG-data of man sampled under the influence of these electromagnetic fields are altered extremely in the range of alpha-activity during as well as after exposure for some hours. This biological effect is induced by field intensities lower than the given international limiting values. Regarding these results there is the very important question of possible influences, injurious to health for people exposed to pulsating electromagnetic fields, especially by operating the new type of digital telecommunication networks.

Even fairly low levels of electromagnetic radiation can change the human body's sleep rhythms, affect the body's cancer-fighting capacity by harming the immune system, and change the nature of the electrical and chemical signals communicating between cells. Reports continue to amplify the same results, which are being replicated now around the world. At the same time the industry is shifting the standards, changing cell phone designs and altering other factors that make evaluation of the effects even more difficult. Existing data indicate that RFR of relatively low intensity can affect the nervous system. Changes in blood-brain-barrier, morphology, electrophysiology, neurotransmitter functions, cellular metabolism, and calcium efflux, and genetic effects have been reported in the brain of animals after exposure to RFR. These changes can lead to functional changes in the nervous system. Behavioral changes in animals after exposure to RFR have been reported. New research indicates that exposure to cell phones' radiation causes red blood cells to leak hemoglobin, the build up of which can cause heart disease and kidney stones. Even at lower levels than those emitted by cell phones, the blood cells leaked hemoglobin. Two minutes of exposure to emissions from mobile phones can disable a safety barrier (blood/brain barrier) causing proteins and toxins to leak into the brain. This can cause the chances of developing diseases such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's. Symptoms reported by mobile phone users include fatigue, dizzy spells and memory loss.

Amid an explosive growth of mobile communications, concerns are mounting about cellular telephones' potential links to health problems ranging from headaches to brain tumors. British scientists are demanding that mobile telephones carry a health warning. The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) recommends a limit of 10 milliwatts per gram, though proposed European guidelines are five times more restrictive. There have been reports of headaches caused by cell and portable phone use. Evidence from the 1960s and 70s supports the conclusion that cell phones cause headaches among some users. Cell phone transmitting frequencies fall in the most sensitive band for the microwave hearing effect. The transmitting frequencies are also in the band that has maximal penetration into the head. The area of the head that needs to be exposed to the microwaves in order for people to perceive the effect is in proximity to the antenna of present day cellular telephones. 30 years ago Dr. Frey encountered and reported headaches from microwave energy exposure at approximately the same frequencies, modulations and incident energies that present day cellular telephones emit.

Low intensity microwave exposure opens up the blood/brain barrier, a biological effect that can allow the release of dangerous chemicals into the brain. The radiation from mobile phones makes it easier for poisons to penetrate into the brain. Data in the literature now indicates that the dopamine/opiate system may be involved in headaches and suggest that headaches may be due to cellular emissions...the energy used was approximately the same in frequencies, modulations, and incident energies as those emitted by present day cellular telephones. These current reports of headaches may be the canary-in-the-coal mine, warning of biologically significant effects. The early research by Dr. Frey was most revealing in that it was conducted before the advent of the cell phone. As a result, the research was done with limited, if any, economic impact on industry and the results were unchallenged. Exposure to electromagnetic fields during mobile phone use may increase resting blood pressure. Exposure of the right hemisphere to a radio-frequency electromagnetic field for 35 minutes causes an increase in sympathetic efferent activity with increases in resting blood pressure between 5 and 10 mm Hg, most likely due to more pronounced vasoconstriction.

Mobile phones can cause sudden confusion and short-term memory loss, according to worrying research by British military scientists. Signals from the phones disrupt part of the brain, which controls memory and learning. Frequent mobile users had significantly depressed melatonin - a vital cancer-preventing hormone. An Australian study has linked the phones to a higher rate of brain cancer while a Swedish survey suggested that using a mobile phone for more than 15 minutes could lead to headaches and fatigue. Exposure to RFR does produce various effects on the central nervous system. Other parameters of RFR exposure, such as frequency, duration, waveform, frequency- and amplitude modulation, etc, are important determinants of biological responses and affect the shape of the dose (intensity)-response relationship. As we have increased our exposure to both chemicals and EMFs in the last three decades we have seen certain brain cancers increase in all age groups by 1% a year. Since 1980 those 65 and older have increased 2.5% a year. Among those over 85 the increase has been as much as 500% since 1973.

If you must pack a cell phone, treat it like a loaded pistol. Keep it turned off. Don't carry it near ovaries, testicles, or the heart. For partial protection, buy an antenna shield. Limit calls to one-minute, six to 10 minutes a month. Never fire off a cell phone with children anywhere in sight. A better bet is to facilitate the growth of organic telephone networks with lots of fiber. Instead of more microwave towers, we should be wiring up our cities with fiber-optic cables to provide Internet, fax, telephone, radio and television at very high quality, rather than saturating our cities with the microwave, radio wave and low frequency signals all the time. When it comes to cells, consciousness and cell phones, every call is collect. How can convenience count more than cancer? What is gained by being in constant contact with disembodied voices, while being "out of touch" with the friends and neighbors around us? Are we comfortable having our location traced by monitoring authorities? Unless we start voting with our wallets, consumer complacency could prove as species-limiting as corporate cynicism. Microwave frequencies are the same as those used in radar and your microwave oven. You wouldn't think of sticking your head in the microwave oven, but there is no hesitation to putting the cell phone to your ear.

Remote Home Portable Phones

Cell phones are not the only phones to cause concern about health problems. Today's high-frequency cordless phones may emit a level of EM radiation similar to cell phones. For reasons of health and privacy, a growing number of scientists and other experts are dead set against these phones. They say a cancer risk is associated with signals that have a strong wattage and high frequency (short wavelength). First generation cordless phones operate at about 60 megahertz and the next ones ran at 900 megahertz--higher than 835MHz cell phones. The new 2.4 GHz is higher still and can transmit for several kilometers without fading. Microwave ovens operate at 2.45 GHz.

Brain Tumors

Two new studies have shown links between mobile phone usage and brain tumors. They found a correlation between phone use and cancer. The studies showed that mobile phone use, regardless which side of the head it was held against, increased the risk of a brain tumor by almost two and a half times. Some of the leading researchers were contracted by Motorola to carry out some experiments. Two of the world's leading radiation experts reported to The Express that multinational companies tried to influence the results of their research. Professor Ross Adey, a biologist, had his funding withdrawn by Motorola before completing research which showed that mobiles affected the number of brain tumors in animals. Dr. Henry Lai, who has been studying the biological effects of electromagnetic fields for 20 years, was asked three times to change findings on how they caused DNA breaks in rats. Both of these scientists have been involved in academic, military and other research projects throughout their lives.

Jerry Phillips, who has a doctorate in biochemistry, worked with U.C. Riverside's [Ross] Adey on Motorola-funded research beginning in 1991. He describes a pleasant relationship with them until studies linked exposure to changes in the incidence of brain tumors in rats. "Motorola was adamant that Adey never mention DNA damage and RF radiation in the same breath," Phillips said. "Motorola has been manipulative of research that we and others have reported to them," said Adey. "Essentially they cut us off because we were too inquisitive." Phillips, Adey, and others said they see a strong parallel between what's happening now and the decades of denial by the tobacco industry. Though the head absorbs 60% of the energy radiated from cell phones, the amount is not significant enough to cause heating. Evidence points to DNA damage as a source of the health problems associated with cell phone use. It is suggested that RFR may hinder the ability of DNA to repair itself. For the first time in history, we are holding a high-powered microwave transmitter against the head.

When you talk on your mobile phone, your voice is transmitted from the antenna as radio frequency radiation (RFR) between 800MHz and 1,990MHz at a range that's right in the middle of microwave territory. Microwaves similar to those emitted by cell phones affect long-term memory, according to a new study by a University of Washington researcher, Henry Lai. Public exposure to electromagnetic radiation (radio frequency and microwave) is growing exponentially worldwide with the introduction and use of cordless phones, cellular phones, pagers and antennas in communities designed to transmit their RF signals.

The virtual revolution in science taking place now is based on a growing recognition that non-thermal or low intensity RF exposure can be detected in living tissues and result in well defined bioeffects, including changes in cell membrane function, metabolism, cellular signal communication, activation of proto-oncogenes, and cell death. Resulting effects which are reported in the scientific literature include DNA breaks and chromosome aberrations, increased free radical production, cell stress and premature aging, changes in cell membrane function including memory loss, learning impairment, headaches and fatigue, sleep disorders, neurodegenerative conditions, reductions in melatonin secretion, and cancer. The United States has a de-facto policy of "post-sales surveillance" with respect to cell phones. That means cell phones can be sold to the public, and only after years of use will there be studies to characterize what health consequences, if any, have arisen as a result. Some scientists are even warning that constant cell phone use causes premature aging. Low level radiation from the phone "heats up" body cells, damaging skin and making the user look lined and haggard. Gradually, cells don't work properly, so the life process becomes less efficient. Heavy mobile phone users are just like heavy smokers who constantly inhale cell-damaging toxins without allowing the body time to repair the harm.

The Effect on Children

The fastest growing group of mobile phone users are children and young people. This growth is actively encouraged by professional advertising campaigns from the mobile phone industry, extolling how indispensable the phones are to their lifestyles. They have really gone out after the young people with prepay cards and colored handsets. Phone makers often present their products in adverts as essential "back to school" items for children. This advertising blitz was produced by the same transnational public relations corporations that previously gave us such delightful cartoon characters as "Joe Camel" for the tobacco industry, and no words of warning are heard. However, within the scientific community, there is a growing chorus of expert voices that are urging caution because, if there are adverse health effects from mobile phone use, it will be the children who will be in the front line and who may pay the highest price. For the sake of the future of our children's health, we need to heed these voices seriously and limit children's unnecessary use of mobile phones. Children may be more vulnerable because of their developing nervous systems, the greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. Children are more sensitive to microwaves than adults; they absorb microwaves at 3.3 times the rate of adults. While some manufacturers target children for cell phone sales, cell phone radiation penetrates the skulls and brains of kids more deeply than adults, and this radiation might cause tumors or otherwise affect a developing brain.

Children are more vulnerable because of their developing nervous system, the greater absorption of energy in the tissues of the head, and a longer lifetime of exposure. Absorption of microwaves of the frequency used in mobile telephony is greatest in an object about the size of a child's head, the so-called head resonance, while in consequence of the thinner skull of a child, the penetration of the radiation into the brain is greater than in an adult. Children's brain wave patterns are abnormal and stay like that for a long period. This could affect their mood and ability to learn in the classroom if they have been using a phone during break time, for instance, leading to things like a lack of concentration, memory loss, inability to learn and aggressive behaviour. The still-developing nervous system and associated brainwave activity in a child are more vulnerable to aggression by the pulses of microwaves used in these devices than is the case with a mature adult. This is because the multi-frame repetition frequency of 8.34 Hz and the 2 Hz pulsing that characterizes the signal from a phone equipped with discontinuous transmission (DTX) lie in the range of the alpha and delta brainwave activities, respectively.

The fact that these two particular electrical activities are constantly changing in a child until the age of about 12 years, when the delta waves disappear and the alpha rhythm is finally stabilized, means that they must both be anticipated to be particularly vulnerable to interference from the pulsations. The increased mitotic activity (cell division) in the cells of developing children makes them more susceptible to genetic damage. A child's immune system, whose efficiency is, in any case, degraded by radiation of the kind used in mobile telephony, is generally less integrous than that of an adult, so the child is less able to cope with any adverse health effect provoked by chronic exposure to such radiation. Scientists have discovered that a call lasting just two minutes can alter the natural electrical activity of a child's brain for up to an hour afterwards. They also found for the first time how radio waves from mobile phones penetrate deep into the brain and not just around the ear.

Doctors fear that disturbed brain activity in children could lead to psychiatric and behavioural problems or imair learning ability. Several brands of cell phones exceed the radiation limits specified in FCC guidelines, ABC News show 20/20 reported. The widespread use of mobile phones by children for non-essential calls should be discouraged. The mobile phone industry should refrain from promoting the use of mobile phones by children. Dr. Ross Adey, a widely published RF researcher stated that "Children categorically should not, be encouraged or allowed to use" cell phones. Epidemiology has seen a large number of examples where health hazards were initially described with unconvincing and sometimes inadequate experiments that demonstrated a weak association with a given environmental influence. Such associations were found between cholera and drinking water containing fecal contaminants, between smoking and lung cancer or between exposure to vinyl chloride and certain forms of liver cancer. All these associations were highly questioned in the past and are now well recognized.

Current Research on Cell Phones

Though 85 million Americans now use cell phones, Europeans began widespread use of them much earlier with many now reporting side effects from their use. At least one of the symptoms noted, which include dizziness, concentration difficulties, memory loss, and a burning sensation, showed up in 47 percent of people who reported using these wireless devices an hour or more daily. The China Consumers Association (CCA) issued a "worrisome" warning about Chinese cell phones' electromagnetic radiation and how this might affect phone users. According to the CCA, tests have found that some cell phones' radiation was as high as 10,000 microwatts per square centimeter (1,550 mw per square inch). Half of cell phone's radiation is absorbed by the human body and another quarter by the brain. The strongest link yet shows a high cancer death rate among soldiers exposed to microwave radiation, the same as that emitted by the phones. Using a mobile phone could drastically reduce your sex drive, new research shows. Exposed rats had far less testosterone in their blood stream than those that remained unexposed. The higher the dose of radiation, the less testosterone was released by the body's glands, resulting in diminished sexual activity." The test results are being studied in Britain, where scientists are conducting similar research.

Current safety guidelines for cell phones assume no harmful effects, as long as the microwave radiation they emit does not cause heating of body tissue. Exposure limits are intended to protect us only from excessive temperatures caused by absorption of energy, a known danger linked to the intensity of radio frequency microwaves. But living cells respond in non-thermal ways to the fields produced by cell phones, and at intensities below the established safety threshold. Ionizing radiation is a well-established risk factor for brain tumors. Exposure to ionizing radiation, work in laboratories, and work in the chemical industry increased the risk of brain tumors. Use of a cellular telephone is associated with an increased risk in the anatomic area with highest exposure. In addition to extremely low frequency (ELF) electric power fields, many millions of mobile phone users worldwide are now also exposed daily to radio frequency fields under near-field conditions. We may expect that these newly evolved behavioral patterns will be lifelong, with intermittent exposures at the phone user's head making yet one more contribution to an already complex daily EMF exposure arising in an aggregate of multiple and disparate sources. The cell phone industry continues to downplay the risk and defer to more research. The precautionary principle is a good one for an age in which technology is doubling every few months and the impact of that technology may not be known for years after. We need to open the doors in this area and in the mean time, find ways to reduce risk and exposures for EMFs--particularly those created by home remote and cell phones.

Independent Research Funded by Industry

The industry has been involved in attempting to influence the research and has been required to pay for independent research. The companies involved have attempted to control the data flow to the public as information has become available. As far back as 1996 the issues began to surface with the following report. Motorola Inc. planned how to collaborate with the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and Wireless Technology Research L.L.C. to downplay potentially damaging scientific findings on possible health risks from portable telephones, according to a Dec. 1994 internal Motorola memo. The company the industry sought to collaborate with was the firm, which eventually used over $27,000,000 industry dollars to research the risks of cell phones. In the body of that research several issues emerged creating additional studies.

The U.S. wireless industry, responding to the global proliferation of media coverage of mobile phone health concerns and to Internet-savvy activists, is leading an effort to create a worldwide information-sharing network to counter negative publicity. The Wireless Industry Global Information Network, or WIN, held its first meeting Dec. 10, 1998 in London. Dr. George Carlo's initial reports were framed in the standard conservative approach at finding the facts which science demonstrates. In an attack on the industry for which he once acted as a spokesman, he accused firms of not taking safety seriously. "The companies are now spending millions trying to discredit me because, basically, they didn't like what I told them. I feel angry and let down." After presenting its results to the phone companies in February, he claims they failed to take "the appropriate steps to protect consumers". They have shown total disregard for the users.

Dr. George Carlo, in his capacity as director of Wireless Technology Research wrote a letter to the CEO of AT&T, which has serious legal implications for mobile phone manufacturers who have claimed that there is no evidence for adverse health effects from mobile phone use. With the letter widely circulated in the industry, making that claim now could possibly expose them to litigation in much the same way as what happened to the tobacco industry, where it was shown that industry assurances of no evidence of hazards from smoking was a complete fabrication. The rate of death from brain cancer among handheld phone users is higher than the rate of brain cancer death among those who used non-handheld phones that are away from their head. The risk of acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor of the auditory nerve that is well in the range of the radiation coming from a phone's antenna, was fifty percent higher in people who reported using cell phones for six years or more, moreover, that relationship between the amount of cell phone use and this tumor appeared to follow a dose-response curve.

The risk of rare neuro epithelial tumors on the outside of the brain was more than doubled, a statistically significant risk increase, in cell phone users as compared to people who did not use cell phones. There appeared to be some correlation between brain tumors occurring on the right side of the head and the use of the phone on the right side of the head. Laboratory studies looking at the ability of radiation from a phone's antenna to cause functional genetic damage were definitely positive, and were following a dose-response relationship. The cell phone transmits a microwave signal from an antenna to a base station or tower, often miles away. The farther from the tower, or if the phone is inside a building or a car, the more power this phone is told by the tower to send out to make or keep the connection.

Depending on how close the cell phone antenna is, as much as 60 percent of the microwave radiation is absorbed by and actually penetrates the area around the head, some reaching an inch to an and a half into the brain. The $200-billion-a-year cell phone industry maintains the devices are safe. The question of cell phone safety recently led Metrocall of Alexandria, Va., the nation's third-largest pager company and a major seller of AT&T cellular phones to warn its sales staff that parents buying for a child or young adult should consider a pager instead of a cell phone due to potential health risks.

Liability and Possible Claims

The industry has largely put forth studies that looked at the effects of radio waves outside the cellular frequency, or at exposure levels that are different from those experienced by cellular phone users. The industry hasn't told the public the full story about how there has been very little research on biological effects at low-level exposures, similar to those of handheld phones. Very limited information has been available to the public about the risks of cell phones or various electromagnetic fields outside of some obscure research and academic circles. The fact is that increasing evidence has been mounting and the true risks of these energy fields are becoming well known. The possibility of another tobacco-type of health scandal was perhaps in the offing when a closed Congressional hearing was held to develop regulations and recommend further studies of electromagnetic field (EMF) health effects.

They suggested moderation in phone use until more is known, while an FDA paper, dated Feb. 4, 1992, suggested: those who spend long periods of time on their hand-held cellular phones could consider holding lengthy conversations on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held cellular models for shorter conversations. Many studies have been sponsored by industry, academic institutions, and government laboratories and by military research organizations into the effects of low levels of electromagnetic radiation. The constant problem in the debate of risks is the limited knowledge about very specific fields, interacting with our bodies, having significant health effects. These effects vary throughout populations with some effected to a greater degree than others. This is related to our physical and biochemical differences. The research that is being conducted by the industry is ignoring much of what has already appeared in the literature regarding risk factors.

The FDA concluded in a February 8, 2000 report that; There is currently insufficient scientific basis for concluding that wireless communication technologies are safe or that they pose a risk to millions of users. A significant research effort, including well-planned animal experiments, is needed to provide the basis to assess the risk to human health of wireless communications devices. The FDA began a three to five year study to look at some of these effects. This came at the conclusion of the industry sponsored study which, along with other recent studies, show increasing risk to human health related to cell phone emissions. Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, P.L. 101-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996). Section 704 of the act amends the Communications Act by providing federal preemption of state and local regulation of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of RF environmental effects. In other words states and local communities may not adopt more stringent protections if the federal regulatory authorities fail to protect the public. This limitation on the rights of states or local governments essentially leaves any risk assessment and solution to the federal level regulatory authorities. The FDA approach and the reluctance of the United States government to move on this issue is directly related to lobby efforts, public relations gimmicks and the manipulation of the facts behind what is a major concern to many. Other governments are taking a different approach.

The risks associated with cell phones are being considered too risky even by the biggest risk takers in the insurance industry. Concern about the safety of mobile phones has prompted a leading Lloyd's underwriter to refuse to insure phone manufacturers against the risk of damage to users' health. Fears that mobile phones will be linked to illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's have prompted John Fenn, of underwriting group Stirling, to refuse to cover manufacturers against the risk of being sued if mobiles turn out to cause long-term damage. Risk management and the kinds of legal concerns arising out of the tobacco lawsuit has turned insurers of product liability claims on their heads. A number of employers expect their employees to carry out their duties and responsibilities using mobile phones for hours at a time. It could well turn out to be a non-safe system of work for which substantial damages may be awarded as a result of adverse health conditions. A number of cases have already been settled out of Court but again subject to confidentiality clauses. Companies recognizing potential third party litigation have also been attempting to reduce their risk. Employers who require cell phone use in the course of employee work are putting forward reasonable technological advances, which could decrease risk. The risk of future litigation increases if the precaution is not taken to provide a safe workplace. The removal of the cell phone from the head is helpful to reducing exposure to the head but it can still expose the body to the effects of its radiation.

Base-stations or cell phone towers also pose risks. The installation of base stations for mobile telephone systems has been delayed or has met opposition from the public because of concerns that the RF emissions from these base stations might cause cancer in children. In the United States, for example, 85% of the total number of base stations needed have yet to be constructed. The significant increase in these systems and their interactions with other energy fields in our homes, cars and work places will in fact be significantly increasing health risks. International organizations are also looking at the risks because of increasing public concern, scientific evidence and industry concerns. In May 1996, in response to growing public health concerns in many member states over possible health effects from exposure to an ever-increasing number and diversity of EMF sources, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched an international project to assess health and environmental effects of exposure to electric and magnetic fields, which became known as the International EMF Project. Other studies are already producing the evidence of biological effects. The research continues and the health effects mount. With over 1.3 billion people projected to be using these devices in the year 2005 the risks must be understood and addressed.

The FDA advises persons concerned about exposure to cell phone radiation to take some simple steps to avoid exposure. Those persons who spend long periods of time on their hand-held mobile phones could consider holding lengthy conversations on conventional phones and reserving the hand-held models for shorter conversations. People who must conduct extended conversations in their cars every day could switch to a type of mobile phone that places more distance between their bodies and the source of RF, since the exposure level drops off dramatically with distance. How cell phones might effect our health is compelling people to take heed of the warnings and find ways to reduce exposure without giving up the device. Some have resorted to earpieces and belt level phones. This may in fact prove to be even worse than head exposure because of the way in which the phone then operates. More power is required and exposure to softer tissue allows more energy to transfer into the body. Cars and other vehicles screen the microwave emissions from the mobile phone when in use and so act as a Faraday cage. GSM phones compensate for this by increasing the power output resulting in greater microwave absorption in the user.

Cell Phones Making Honeybees Disappear

A small study from Landau University in Germany suggests that the navigational capabilities of honeybees may be adversely affected by radiation from GSM cell phones. The findings could provide an answer to the mystery of disappearing bee colonies across the Western world. Scientists are having a difficult time explaining the rapid decline of the honeybee population in the United States and Canada, known as colony collapse disorder, that could affect crops depending on these insects for pollination. Research presented some four years ago speculates the radiation emitted from cellular phones may contribute to the problem. When cellular phones were placed near hives, the radiation generated by them (900-1,800 MHz) was enough to prevent bees from returning to them, according to a study conducted at Landau University.

Scientists believe the radiation produced by cellular phones may be enough to interfere with the way bees “communicate” with their hives. Cellular phones may create a resonance effect that interferes with the movement patterns bees use as a kind of language.

The cell phone study, conducted by Landau’s Jochen Kuhn, was originally presented at a German Informatics and Cybernetics conference back in 2003. It focused on the effects of cell phone radiation on the neurological mechanisms that control learning and memory. Placing handsets near hives, Kuhn observed that GSM cell phone radiation in the frequency range 900 MHz - 1800 MHz caused the bees to avoid the hive. Kuhn speculates that the “waggle” dance that bees perform on the honeycomb to communicate with others could be influenced by the radiation.

Although another study blamed the ongoing spread of genetically modified crops

for the disappearance, cellular phones may also very well be contributing to the problem. This comes as no surprise, considering all the harm mobile phones can do to male sperm, for example, as well as to your head.

Not all scientists agree that the dance is the primary means of communication between bees, but past studies have shown that it can fundamentally affect bee movement patterns. Kuhn suggests that the 200-300 cycles/second oscillations that dancing bees produce through honeycomb may be interrupted by a resonance effect caused by the telephone handsets.

Hands-free Kits

Hands-free kits are also discussed, revealing the hidden risks. It turns out that "hands-free" cell phones may not save you from the Grim Reaper after all. Currently, the cellular industry is encouraging the use of hands-free kits, but cite their only advantage as being to offer greater freedom of use to the user, nothing else. The fact is, they know the real reason users are buying them is because they think these kits protect them from radiation exposure. But, hands-free kits are no guarantee of lowering radiation emissions from mobile phones, and, in some cases, they actually increase it. Recent tests have shown that while direct exposure to the head is reduced by around 70 percent, all that is happening is the radiation is being transferred to another part of the body, which is potentially more vulnerable because it does not have the thickness of the skull to protect itself, such as the waist or chest areas. Earpieces serve as antennae that direct more electromagnetic radiation into the ears. Phone models may differ in the degree to which their internal wires conduct electricity.

Not only are many hands-free devices useless in protecting wireless phone users from radiation that might cause tumors, these products may actually raise the amount of radiation being directed into the head by three times. Using a mobile phone clipped to your waist results in a hotspot of radiation being pumped into the liver and kidneys, prostate, uterus, and ovaries. There is concern that they may intensify radiation exposure to the ear canal. Using a hands-free kit and making a call with a mobile phone clipped to your belt also means the phone will generally be working at a higher power level. That's because it is generally harder to transmit from waist-height than head height. But there's a lot of body tissue in that area which has good conductivity and absorbs radiation more quickly than the head. People think hands-free kits are safer, so tend to spend more time on the phone. Ii works harder to pick up a signal if it is down at waist, where more radiation is absorbed, than at the head.

Non-thermal verses Thermal Effects

The literature is full of published papers showing damage and biological effects at power levels that were set deliberately well below thermal thresholds and therefore by definition could not have been caused by thermal damage. Even if we assume the thermal only argument to be correct, there are circumstances that the group should be aware of, where exposure exceeds even the thermal limits. Mobile users who wear metal-rimmed glasses are intensifying the exposure to their eyes by 20 per cent and into the head by 6.3 per cent. Using a mobile in a vehicle can accelerate radiation levels by up to 10-fold due to resonance effect. These risks associated with remote telephone use cannot be ignored. Intelligence documents show that Western governments have known about Soviet experiments using mobile phone-type radiation to cause brain damage for more than 20 years.

The uncensored documents reveal that Soviet military scientists had successfully used microwaves of the type used by mobile phones to weaken the blood brain barrier. US Army scientists had succeeded in duplicating the Soviet experiments by 1977--eight years before mobile phones became generally available in Britain. This work was done as a result of microwave bombardments of the United States Embassy in Moscow as well as reports about research by the Soviets. At that particular time the safety standards for exposure to radio frequency radiation in the Soviet Union was significantly more stringent than United States standards by almost 1000 times. Russian and other East European countries' exposure standards for radio frequency and microwave radiation are much stricter that in the U.S or Western Europe.

Western standard setting organizations have emphasized protection from RF/MW thermal effects...while Russia's more restrictive standard also reflects a concern over non-thermal effects and subjective symptoms. Biological studies of enzymes and human cells exposed in vitro to radio frequency/microwave fields have shown a number of effects which cannot be explained simply by the heating effects of radiation on which our current standards are based. These include changes in cell membrane permeability to potassium, sodium and calcium; changes in the composition or behavior of blood-forming and immunological cells; alteration of calcium ion exchange in nerve tissue; changes in the firing patterns of neurons; and changes in levels of cancer related enzymes. Very close range exposure to microwaves from a cellular phone base station increases the effect of a chemical mutagen on human blood cells, leading to increased chromosomal aberrations.

Microwave radiation such as that emitted by cell phones can heat objects in its path. The heat generated causes the body to begin to expend energy to cool the area and otherwise return to its state of equilibrium before it was irradiated by the device. One study, by the American Health Foundation, in New York, found that mobile phone users had double the risk of developing a certain type of brain tumor than people who did not use them. A second study found that DNA in human blood cells broke down when exposed to large doses of mobile-phone radiation, possibly laying the genetic groundwork for cancer. Most studies have examined the results of short-term, whole body exposure to RF fields at levels far higher than those normally associated with wireless communications. With the advent of such devices as walkie-talkies and mobile phones, it has become apparent that few studies address the consequences of localized exposures to RF fields to the head.

Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. When mobile phones are used close to some medical devices (including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and certain hearing aids) there is a possibility of causing interference. There is also the potential of interference between mobile phones and aircraft electronics. Interference with electronic circuits is acknowledged, but many vigorously fight discussion of the effects on the more sensitive human body.

Reducing the Risk

As the EMF/EMR health effects issue becomes more widely known, especially in relation to mobile phone use, there is a corresponding increasing number of so called EMF protective devices being advertised in health and alternative magazines as "cure-alls" which apparently claim to provide complete protection from exposure to all forms of man made electromagnetic fields (EMF). There is a wide range of devices being offered that make all kinds of unsubstantiated claims.

1. Reducing use is universally regarded as the best step. Use by children should be eliminated. Indoor use increases exposure significantly because the signal strength requires creating a connection from inside a car or building is much greater. Home portable phones should be replaced with the old style hard-wired phones and cell phone use significantly reduced.

2. If still using a cell phone or portable home phone keep the phone away from the body when in standby mode. When in use hold the phone as far away from the head as possible. Even three or four inches can significantly reduce the exposure because the energy density drops very rapidly with distance from the body. Keep the antenna away from the head and pointing away from the body. Radiation from all sources obeys the inverse square law. That is, the further you are from the source the less intense your exposure to the radiation. In fact, it drops off with the square of your distance from the source. If you are twice as far from a fire you feel 1/4 of the radiant heat, but if you move four times as far away you only feel one-sixteenth of the heat.

3. None of the devices claiming to eliminate all emissions have any science behind them. Researchers were able to find two systems, which are supported by science and United States Patents. One of these devices is being marketed under Cell/Wave Guard. They found that up to 61% of radio frequency emissions could be prevented from entering the body. While this represents a significant reduction it is not known if it is enough to guard against all potential effects. However, it is the best technology easily available today.

Detection Meter

The Cell Sensor measures the ELF 60 cycle fields as well as emissions from cellular phones and can be used to select low emission units. It can also be used to evaluate headsets (some headsets carry a signal like an antenna).

_

With the Cell Sensor, one can walk the house and in 5 minutes find these hot spots that measure over 2 and avoid placing beds and furniture there. Simple to use, the meter shows the hot spots with needle, light and sound! The meter is normally quiet...showing 0 reading. When you walk by a hot spot, the needle goes up over 2, the light glows, the sound beeps! Without the meter, it is impossible to know where the hot spots are! A hot spot could be created by sleeping with a TV on the other side of the wall, or by faulty wiring, typical after renovation projects, or by proximity to visible or hidden underground powerlines!

_

While the reason for the creation of hot spots can be simple or complex, avoiding the hot spots is always very simple. Most hot spots are small, so moving a bed or furniture just a couple of feet usually does the trick! Most hot spots are dealt with that way, just avoid placing furniture there by moving it a little bit! Simply plug the included probe into the meter, turn it on, place the setting on H for high sensitivity, and the meter needle now is reading 0 to 5 in its display. Readings over 2 are high. Those are the hot spots to avoid. In this same way the meter shows safe distances from appliances such as TVs and microwaves!

Physical Effects

Our ability to generate the entire spectrum of electromagnetic fields is a double-edged sword. With no understanding of the relationship of these fields to living organisms, we have produced a global environmental alteration that has profound implications for human health. This has exposed all living organisms, from microorganisms to humans to novel energetic fields that never before existed. Complex electronic-resonance effects operate at the level of individual ions or molecules and can occur even in the absence of cells. If a charged particle or ion is exposed to a steady magnetic field, it will begin to go into a circular, or orbital motion at right angles to the applied magnetic field. The speed with which it orbits will be determined by the ratio between the charge and the mass of the particle and by the strength of the magnetic field. While the effects of complex electronic-resonance phenomena at the level of ions and molecules are significant, the resultant change in the function or structure of cells is far more important. The effects of field exposure at the level of the total organism are the sum of the effects at the molecular level, the cellular level, and the level of the specific organs designed to be sensitive to the Earth's normal EMF environment. Field effects on entire functioning organisms are, therefore, a cascade of changes that finally result in many different structural, functional, and behavioral alterations, such as the new diseases that are emerging today. All abnormal, man-made electromagnetic fields, regardless of their frequencies, produce the same biological effects. Some of them are:

Effects on growing cells, such as increases in the rate of cancer-cell division.

Increases in the incidence of certain cancers

Developmental abnormalities in embryos

Alterations in neurochemicals, resulting in behavioral abnormalities such as suicide

Alterations in biological cycles

Stress responses in exposed animals that, if prolonged, lead to declines in immune-system efficiency

Alterations in learning ability

These bioeffects interact to weaken the health status of a human being who is chronically exposed to any abnormal field. The stress effect results in many stress-related diseases. If prolonged, this weakens the immune system, resulting in more inflammatory disease and cancer. The simultaneous effect of enhanced cancer-cell growth and the increase in the malignant changes of these cells leads to more cancer with faster-than normal rates of growth, especially in tissues with continuous rates of cell division. The effect of field exposure on the human fetus is particularly important. Exposure to electromagnetic fields will result in the combined alterations of the speed and timing of fetal cell division, impairment of the genetic apparatus of dividing fetal cells, and the production of chromosomal abnormalities in the germ cells of the parents, all contribute to imbalance of normal development. Research has found a mechanism by which a very weak electrical signal can trigger a series of reactions that promote cancer by leading to unregulated cell growth.

The cell membrane has a huge electrical gradient across it. A very, very weak signal at some point along the membrane can trigger a tremendous increase in the amount of energy released at the surface of the cell, he says. The result could be a disruption in communication within and between cells causing them to begin growing out of control. This means that EMFs so weak that they were long believed not to have any physiological significance undoubtedly can influence the behavior of cells through this amplification of energy mechanism. The cell membranes can detect a signal so weak that it would compare to your taking a 1.5 volt flashlight battery, putting a wire from one end of it in the Pacific Ocean at San Diego and putting a wire from the other end in Puget Sound to make a circuit including the ocean. Over that 1,200 mile wire, you'd get about one ten-millionth of a volt per centimeter. This is a very powerful mechanism for amplifying energy at the cell level. Exposure of human T-cell lymphocytes in culture to a low-strength 60-Hz electric field for forty-eight hours significantly reduces their cytotoxic ability against foreign cells.

New Kind of Illness

Reports from cities throughout the world indicate a new kind of illness that coincides in every case with the activation of a Personal Communication Services network. The symptoms are striking: pressure behind the eyes; dry, puffy lips; swollen thyroid; sudden rise in pulse rate and blood pressure; pressure or pain in the chest; insomnia; dizziness; headache; nausea; loss of appetite; coughing or wheezing; sinus problems; testicular or pelvic pain; muscle spasms; tremors; irritability; memory loss; pain in the legs or the soles of the feet; pains that move around the body; varying degrees of dehydration; and occasionally fever, rash or nosebleeds. The illness appears to be confined to geographical areas served by new PCS and other digital systems. Despite well-documented exposes, the industry continues to deny that this radiation has any effect on life forms. Much as the asbestos and tobacco industries have done, the telecommunications industry has suppressed damaging evidence about its technology since at least 1927, it was discovered that red blood cells exposed to radio frequency waves (at levels far less powerful than permitted today) are forced to line up in chains resembling strings of pearls. A small group of scientists control the setting of health hazard standards, controlling what research bearing on that standard gets funded or published, while providing testimony for various companies and government agencies to the effect that substantial microwave energy exposure is safe. This small group of scientists is made up of engineers and veterinarians, not doctors, biologists, or epidemiologists. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) was and still is setting microwave exposure standards. It is a private organization funded and controlled by industry.

Avoiding Exposure

AC Electric Fields

Electric fields are not very strong in most parts of a house. High electric-field areas are found near TVs, computer monitors (including laptops), fluorescent lights, light dimmer controls, and improperly grounded equipment. field strength drops off rapidly if at least 3 feet away. Electric fields are high near high-voltage power lines.

Polarization and Grounding

In household wiring, the wall outlet usually has a slot for a large prong and one for a small prong. This type of outlet is called polarized. The small slot is electrically hot; in a typical 115 volt system it oscillates 60 times a second between about +170 volts and -170 volts, compared to ground. To get a shock, it is necessary to touch this "hot" slot (or to touch something electrically connected to it), while also touching something that connects to ground. things that are connected to ground include the larger neutral slot, the round grounding slot in a 3-prong wall outlet, plumbing pipes, and any metal that is part of a sink or bathtub. Besides being a shock hazard, an improperly grounded appliance produces AC electric fields, which creates currents in your body by proximity, even if you are not touching the appliance. You can sometmes detect improper grounding by lightly sliding a fingertip across the surface using very little pressure. You will usually feel a weak vibration if the surface is "hot." You can also use an AC voltmeter (connected between a known ground and the appliance case) or an AC electric field meter to determine if the case is hot.

Shielding Electric Fields

Shielding strong electrical fields can be done by using any type of conductive sheet material, such as aluminum window screen, in front of an indoor appliance. The shield should be connected to electrical ground for maximum efficiency.

AC Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields are much more common in the home than are electric fields. They don't represent a shock hazard, but, like electric fields, they produce current in the body. Any wire that carries an AC electrical current produces magnetic fields.

Magnetic Field Sources

The main sources of AC magnetic fields in a home are transformers, motorized equipment, sloppy wiring inside the house walls, excess current carried by plumbing, and power lines or underground power cables. Running cars have a strong AC magnetic field especially nearest the front floorboard, even theough the system is classified as DC. Commercial aircraft also have a strong field inside. The fields in cars and aircraft oscillate faster than the 60 times per second typical of household AC power. Wall outlets generally produce no magnetic fields. Any piece of electronic equipment that plugs into the wall, such as a clock radio or answering machine, will have a transformer.

Transformers and Motors

This transformer either plugs directly into the wall (AC adapter), or is built inside the equipment. The magnetic field is strong up to three feet from this transformer, whenever the power cord or AC adapter is plugged in. This field exists even if the appliance is not turned on, or even if the adapter is not connected. If an electronic device uses an AC adapter, to avoid high field you should stay three feet away from the adapter, but you need not avoid the electronic device itself. However, if the device has an internal AC adapter and a plain power cord, stay three feet away from the device itself, whenever the cord is plugged in. Microwave ovens also have a large transformer built in, but they emit a magnetic field only while cooking. Ordinary incandescent light bulbs (and electric blankets made since 1992) produce very little magnetic field. However, high-intensity halogen desk and floor lamps have a large 12-volt transformer built into their bases and usually produce a strong field up to three feet away. Fluorescent lights use a smaller transformer and usually have little magnetic field past three feet so they are not a field source unless the light is used in close quarters. Motorized equipment also produces strong magnetic fields. Generally speaking, the higher the power, the stronger the field. The field is low when you're at least three feet away from vacuum cleaners, motorized alarm clocks, and electric can openers, six feet from washing machines and furnace motors; and 18 inches form electric razors, hairdryers, and battery-powered motorized equipment.

Non-Localized Magnetic Fields

Non-localized magnetic fields are harder to avoid than the limited fields from appliances. Occasionally a nearby power line will produce this type of field. More often, household plumbing, carrying current, causes it. This situation is more likely to occur when the cold water pipe enters the opposite side of the building from the power line connection. Safety codes require that the indoor plumbing be connected to the neutral wire of the power line. This can result in current flow. A plumber can reduce magnetic fields which result from this situation by installing a non-conductive coupling on the cold water pipe just ouside the building. Non-localized fields due to household wiring are usually highest in the room next to where the power line connects or where there is a circuit breaker panel.

Detecting Magnetic Fields

A reliable way to detect the presence of strong fields is by holding a small magnet. When held lightly, it can be felt to vibrate when held in a 500 milligauss or higher field. Transformers and motors produce this much field a few inches away. A TV or computer monitor will start to jiggle or lose sharpness in a 30 milligauss or higher field, so this can be a more sensitive indicator of strong fields. A better indicator is a large coil of wire connected to an AC voltmeter. For the highest degree of accuracy, use an AC gaussmeter, specifically designed to detect and quantify magnetic fields.

Shielding Magnetic Fields

Shielding magnetic fields is more difficult than shielding electric fields. Sheets of galvanized mild steel work fairly well and are available in any hardware store. Use a sheet that is thin enough to cut with scissors, and note that two thin layers shield more than one thicker layer. Shielding should be placed so it is between you and the high-field source. Simply staying away from high-field areas is easier and more convenient.

Microwaves and Radiowaves

The strongest source of microwaves in a home is a microwave oven with a damaged door seal, or a cellular telephone. The new 2.2 gigahertz cordless phones also emit microwaves in the house. You should periodically check the microwave oven door to make sure it is not dented and that it latches shut fully parallel to the oven body. Correctly functioning microwave ovens emit somewhat less microwave power. Cellular phones and other radio sources sometimes produce interference, which can cause sensitive equipment, such as computers, to malfunction.

Shielding and Detecting Microwaves

Ordinary screen-door aluminum wire mesh (not plastic) can shield computers, etc. quite well if the screen is placed between the radio source and the computer. The screen should be electrically connected to ground. The more of the computer's area that's covered, the better the shielding. Also, the use of a power-conditioning outlet strip (specifying reduced electromagnetic interference) is recommended to avoid radio waves being picked up from the power line by the computer.