Bioeffects induced by exposure to microwaves are mitigated by superposition of ELF noise.
Litovitz, TA, Penafiel, LM, Farrel, JM, Krause, D, Meister, R, Mullins, JM · 1997
View Original AbstractAdding electromagnetic 'noise' completely blocked cellular damage from cell phone radiation, suggesting protective technologies may be possible.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed cells to microwave radiation from cell phones and found it increased activity of an enzyme called ornithine decarboxylase, which is linked to cell growth and potentially cancer. However, when they added low-frequency electromagnetic 'noise' during the exposure, it completely blocked these cellular effects. This suggests that certain types of electromagnetic interference might actually protect cells from microwave damage.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something remarkable about how electromagnetic fields interact with living cells. The research demonstrates that cellular responses to microwave radiation aren't inevitable - they can be completely prevented by adding specific types of electromagnetic noise. The exposure levels used (2.5 W/kg SAR) are comparable to what your head absorbs during a typical cell phone call, making these findings directly relevant to everyday device use. What makes this research particularly significant is that it challenges the simple narrative that all EMF exposure is uniformly harmful. Instead, it suggests the biological effects depend heavily on the specific characteristics of the electromagnetic signal, including its modulation patterns and frequency components. This opens the door to potential protective technologies that could reduce biological impacts without eliminating the wireless signals we rely on.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- ≥ 0.002, ≥ 0.005 mG
- Source/Device
- 60 Hz or a 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 8 hours
Exposure Context
This study used ≥ 0.002, ≥ 0.005 mG for magnetic fields:
- 100x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 20x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
In the present study, we explore the possibility that similar inhibition techniques can be used to suppress the microwave response.
We concurrently exposed L929 cells to 60 Hz AM microwave fields or a 50 Hz burst-modulated DAMPS (Di...
In both cases, the ODC enhancement was found to decrease exponentially as a function of the noise ro...
These results suggest a possible practical means to inhibit biological effects from exposure to both ELF and microwave fields.
Show BibTeX
@article{litovitz_1997_bioeffects_induced_by_exposure_1156,
author = {Litovitz and TA and Penafiel and LM and Farrel and JM and Krause and D and Meister and R and Mullins and JM},
title = {Bioeffects induced by exposure to microwaves are mitigated by superposition of ELF noise.},
year = {1997},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9261539/},
}