HEATING EFFECT OF VERY HIGH FREQUENCY CONDENSER FIELDS ON ORGANIC FLUIDS AND TISSUES
J. W. Schereschewsky · 1933
This 1933 research established the thermal heating principle that still dominates EMF safety standards today.
Plain English Summary
This 1933 study investigated how very high frequency electromagnetic fields from condenser equipment heated organic fluids and biological tissues. The research examined dielectric heating effects, where electromagnetic energy converts to thermal energy in biological materials. This represents one of the earliest scientific investigations into how radiofrequency fields interact with living tissue.
Why This Matters
This research from 1933 marks a pivotal moment in EMF science - it was among the first studies to systematically examine how radiofrequency fields affect biological materials. The science demonstrates that electromagnetic energy doesn't just pass through living tissue harmlessly; it converts to heat through dielectric heating. What this means for you is that the heating effect identified nearly a century ago remains the foundation of current safety standards, which assume thermal effects are the only health concern. The reality is that modern research has identified numerous non-thermal biological effects at exposure levels far below what causes measurable heating. Yet regulatory agencies still rely primarily on this thermal paradigm established in the 1930s, despite decades of evidence showing biological responses occur without detectable temperature increases.
Figures from the Original Paper
Diagrams extracted from the original research document.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
To investigate the comparative heating effects of high-frequency condenser fields on organic fluids and tissues in a range of frequencies extending from 64,000,000 to 300,000,000 cycles per second, and to determine the dielectric constants of various body tissues in this frequency range.
The Magnetron oscillator was used with a high-vacuum tube (Magnetron FH-11) and associated circuit. ...
All body tissues and fluids showed greater degree of heating in the high-frequency field than did bl...
The heating of biological material in condenser fields is related to both dielectric constant and conductivity. At lower frequencies, maximum heating occurs in solutions of lower concentrations than at higher frequencies. The use of higher frequency ranges would be more nearly approachable for selective heating effects for therapeutic purposes than previously employed frequencies. The high relative heating of lung tissue suggests the possibility of using this range of frequencies as an auxiliary in treating lung conditions characterized by local inflammatory processes such as lobar pneumonia. The dielectric constants of body tissues at high frequencies were found to be approximately equal to that of water, except for kidney fat which showed a higher value.
Show BibTeX
@article{heating_effect_of_very_high_frequency_condenser_fields_on_organic_fluids_and_tis_g6787,
author = {J. W. Schereschewsky},
title = {HEATING EFFECT OF VERY HIGH FREQUENCY CONDENSER FIELDS ON ORGANIC FLUIDS AND TISSUES},
year = {1933},
}