8,655 Studies Reviewed. 86.9% Found Biological Effects. The Evidence is Clear.
Shield Your Body
Whole Body / GeneralPart of the Glaser Archive

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICATIONS OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY TO THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF MICROWAVES ON BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS

Bioeffects Seen

George Pish, William H. Storey Jr., Frank Truby, William Rollwitz · 1959

Share:

1959 scientists developed specialized methods to study microwave effects on biology, indicating early recognition of measurable biological changes.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

This 1959 technical report investigated using magnetic resonance absorption spectroscopy to study how microwaves affect biological materials. The research explored a novel scientific method for detecting microwave-induced changes in living tissue. This represents early recognition that microwave radiation could measurably alter biological systems.

Why This Matters

This 1959 investigation represents a pivotal moment in EMF research history. Scientists were already developing sophisticated methods to detect how microwave radiation affects biological materials, decades before cell phones and WiFi became ubiquitous. The fact that researchers felt compelled to create new spectroscopic techniques specifically for studying microwave-biology interactions suggests they observed effects that standard methods couldn't capture.

What makes this particularly relevant today is that we're now surrounded by microwave-frequency radiation from countless wireless devices. The same biological materials these researchers studied in 1959 are now exposed 24/7 to similar frequencies from cell towers, WiFi routers, and smartphones. The difference is exposure duration and ubiquity have increased exponentially while our understanding of long-term effects remains limited.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Study Details

The objective of the proposed EPR program, as given in Proposal No. 4-251 and its supplement, is the experimental observation of the effects of microwave irradiation on a few selected biological materials using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) absorption spectroscopy. The experiments will be concerned with observation of the physical and chemical changes occurring in the material when irradiated with microwaves at sufficiently high power levels to cause visible damage. The ultimate objective is that of developing a useful method for the study of microwave effects, rather than the conducting of biological studies using this technique.

EPR methods were used to observe changes induced by microwave radiation upon the eyes of rabbits. EP...

EPR signals obtained from ionizing radiation induced free electrons in the posterior cortex tissue o...

The study demonstrates that EPR methods are applicable to show changes induced by microwave radiation upon the eyes of rabbits. The free radicals induced in lenses exposed to microwave radiation have a longer life than those from normal lenses. NSR techniques show differences in protein structure between normal and cataractous lenses, suggesting that microwave irradiation causes structural changes in lens proteins.

Cite This Study
George Pish, William H. Storey Jr., Frank Truby, William Rollwitz (1959). A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICATIONS OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY TO THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF MICROWAVES ON BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_preliminary_investigation_of_the_applications_of_magnetic_resonance_absorption_g4746,
  author = {George Pish and William H. Storey Jr. and Frank Truby and William Rollwitz},
  title = {A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE APPLICATIONS OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY TO THE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF MICROWAVES ON BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS},
  year = {1959},
  
  
}
No DOI on file for this study.

Quick Questions About This Study

It's a scientific technique that detects molecular changes in living tissue by measuring how biological materials absorb specific electromagnetic frequencies. This method can reveal subtle alterations in cellular structure or function that other tests might miss.
Standard biological testing methods of that era couldn't detect the subtle changes microwaves were causing in living tissue. Researchers needed more sensitive spectroscopic techniques to measure molecular-level alterations in biological materials exposed to microwave radiation.
Modern cell phones, WiFi, and wireless devices operate in similar microwave frequency ranges that these early researchers studied. The biological materials they investigated are the same tissues now exposed daily to wireless radiation from our devices.
It indicates this was exploratory research testing whether magnetic resonance spectroscopy could effectively detect microwave-induced biological changes. The researchers were establishing foundational methods for future studies rather than drawing definitive conclusions about health effects.
It demonstrates that scientists recognized microwave radiation's biological effects decades before widespread wireless technology adoption. This early research established scientific precedent for investigating how electromagnetic fields interact with living tissue at the molecular level.