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| Understanding EMF Radiation |
Everyone understands that for mobile phones to work, EMF (Electromagnetic Field) radiation will be emitted. This is a fact of physics. Thereafter, the affects that EMF has on the body is a combination of both physics and biology.
On this page, we try to give a brief understanding of the complex world of EMF with links to more information where appropriate. Having a basic understanding of both physics and biology will be a real bonus in your understanding, but please do not get put off reading these pages if you lack this knowledge. The whole subject is fascinating and within just a few minutes of reading, you will have a much better idea of the dilemmas facing the mobile phone industry, the regulators and especially yourself, having to choose a new more ‘Healthy’ mobile phone.
Why can’t we have a mobile phone that does not emit any EMF?
Very simply, mobile phones have to emit EMF radiation to work. From the mobile antennae and base stations, through to the handset you are using, EMF radiations of various frequencies are being emitted.
Each mobile handset will have a different range of emitted EMFs, in various ranges of the frequency spectrum, each designed to have a different technical function.
The Frequency Spectrum – back to school!
Take a look at the electromagnetic wave spectrum, (the band width headings) and see what you recognise. Most people will have heard of VHF (radios), Microwaves (ovens), Infrared (heat lamps), the Visible Spectrum (the rainbow of colours), Ultraviolet (Sun Tan!), X-Rays (hospitals).
The difference between these is the ‘wavelength’ and ‘frequency’ of the radiation, rising from left to right. The whole spectrum runs from ELFs (Extremely Low Frequencies) up to Cosmic Rays (EMF radiation from space).
EMF Radiation, the two effects.
EMF Radiation has affect on matter (both inert and organic matter) in the same way, it does not discriminate. EMF has the same affect on an atom of matter whether it is part of your body or a piece of a building.
The two effects are;
- Thermal (a heating effect)
- Athermal (a non-heating effect).
Thermal effects occur only for radiation of microwave frequency and above. When intense enough, this is technically called ‘ionising’ radiation and provokes a removal of an electron to create an ‘ion’ (charged particle). This creates a heating effect. For example, sitting out on a summer’s day the light of the visible and ultraviolet ranges will cause your skin to heat and then burn.
Athermal effects are caused by low intensity radiation across the whole spectrum, where the intensity is not strong enough to create charged particles. However, even though the energy levels are insufficient to create heat, the impacts of athermal radiation are well understood, for example;
- Microwaves – the weak energy in microwaves is absorbed in the surface of matter and the radiation is stopped
- ELFs – the ELFs pass through almost all matter (concrete, wood, most metals, glass, plastic, biological matter etc) without being modified or deviated, i.e. they cannot be blocked.
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Why are EMFs and the Body linked?
Not many people fully appreciate the fact that our bodies are complex electromagnetic machines. Without the physics and resulting biology of electromagnetism, we could not function. Our cells are held together with magnetic forces, described as “ultra-weak” magnetic fields. Science knows from experimenting with magnetic fields on a larger scale that we can alter and deviate fields, so why would we assume external electromagnetic fields have no affect on the body’s ultra-weak fields? Basic physics suggests that interference will occur in the body from external electromagnetic fields.
Here are some frequencies of some bodily functions;
Human Brain – ELF between 0 Hz and 31.7 Hz
Human Heart – ELF about 1 Hz
So what EMFs does a typical mobile phone emit?
As we discussed earlier, mobile phones have to emit EMF radiation to function. Here are some reasons why they have to do this, and the frequency ranges involved;
ELFs (Extremely Low Frequencies)
- 2Hz: to avoid uncomfortable modulation for the ears from the surrounding noise, when speech is absent
- 8.34Hz: emission frequency of the signal related to reception conditions
- 30/40Hz: emissions of various electronic elements and internal oscillators within the cellphone
- 217Hz: modulation of the carrier-frequency namely the microwaves used by GSM/DCS cellular systems.
Microwaves
- 0.9 GHz and 1.8-1.9GHz (Operating Microwave range of Mobile Phones)
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| How ELFs affect the body: Cyclonic Resonance of Human Cells occurs in the 30-50 Hz range. |
How microwaves affect the body: Oscillation Resonance of Human Cells occurs at microwave frequencies |
Can you spot the overlapping frequencies?
Mobile Phone EMF Standards
Do we have problems with the emission standards?
One major area of dispute between the interested parties is on the subject of standards to limit EMF emissions across the spectrum. One thing that is clear is that there are real issues that today are not resolved. But let’s start where there is agreement.
Microwave standards – use SAR to guide you to choose a mobile phone
Microwaves as we have seen above create a heating effect. This is strictly limited by international regulation and is measured by the value called the SAR (specific absorption rate). All phones sold in the EC must have a SAR less than 2.0 (in the USA it is less than 1.6). The SAR is a measure of microwave absorption into the head, so it makes sense to choose a phone with the lowest possible SAR. This is the current advice of the UK Department of Health.
The Healthy Phones website will show you the SAR values of all the phones available.
ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) standards – are they adequate for mobile phones?
Mobile Phones also emit ELFs which is the current major area of debate. Science is showing that ELFs are believed to be “bioactive”, this meaning they are believed to alter the biological state of the body, furthermore believed to have an affect on ions and proteins in the body and a potential for causing change to the body. Computer screens are regulated for ELFs, mobile phones are currently not. This is a clear anomaly in the legislation.
Here is where we hit the problems with the current standards. If you were to buy a new computer monitor, the Health and Safety regulations and international standards MPR2, MPR3, TCO 92-95 limit the amount of low frequency radiation created (ELF (0-3kHz) and VLF (3KHz to 30kHz)) whilst standards for mobile phones do not regulate at all in this area, limiting the regulations just to microwaves and their heating effects.
Surely this is a wide anomaly? How can one regulation state that ELFs should be limited for health reasons where in another regulation they can be ignored?
Additionally, it is suggested from research (BioIniative Report, August 2007, http://www.bioinitiative.org/) that even reducing ELF and VLF to the computer monitor standards (“low radiation standards”) does not yield value for human health, but rather these values are a minimum of theoretical possibility, as opposed to safety and health protection values. The growing dilemma is that ELFs are ‘bioactive’ at any intensity and that we need to try to avoid exposure as much as we can or implement compensating technologies such as CMO.
Where the risks are thought to be - not the microwaves, but the "bioactive" radiation of ELFs.
Studies in Humans and Animals can show harmful effects in organisms exposed to mobile phones, although these devices are in compliance with current standards (albeit the Microwave standard only).
Interestingly, the Department of Health in the UK in their advice literature “Mobile phones and health” states “there is some evidence that changes in brain activity can occur below these guidelines, but it isn’t clear why”.
In Europe, the IARC (International Agency for Research in Cancer) has classified ELF in the category 2B (possible carcinogens), and an agent possibly toxic to human health.
Thus, low intensity EMF radiation, whose biological effects are exclusively athermal (not heating), appears to induce ‘electromagnetic stress’ in biological systems.
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