Food collection and response to pheromones in an ant species exposed to electromagnetic radiation
Cammaerts MC, Rachidi Z, Bellens F, De Doncker P · 2013
View Original AbstractEven extremely low-level cell phone radiation completely disrupted ant navigation and colony survival, showing biological effects far below 'safe' exposure limits.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed ant colonies to cell phone-frequency radiation for 180 hours. The ants lost their ability to follow chemical trails, find food, and return to their nests, causing colonies to deteriorate. This shows EMF radiation disrupts navigation systems essential for insect survival.
Why This Matters
This study reveals something profound about how electromagnetic fields disrupt biological navigation systems. The ants were exposed to 900 MHz radiation at extremely low power levels - far below what your cell phone produces when held against your head. Yet even this minimal exposure completely disrupted their ability to follow chemical trails and return home. The science demonstrates that EMF effects aren't just about heating tissue or high-power exposures. These ants rely on finely tuned biological processes for survival, much like the navigation systems in birds, bees, and other wildlife that research shows are increasingly disrupted by our wireless infrastructure. What this means for you is recognition that biological effects occur at exposure levels regulatory agencies dismiss as harmless. While we're not ants, this research adds to mounting evidence that EMF radiation interferes with fundamental biological processes across species.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 0.00016 µW/m²
- Electric Field
- 1 V/m
- Source/Device
- 900 MHz
- Exposure Duration
- 180 hr
Exposure Context
This study used 0.00016 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 16Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 266.7x above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
This study used 1 V/m for electric fields:
- 3.3x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.3 V/m
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
To investigate food collection and response to pheromones in an ant species exposed to electromagnetic radiation.
We used the ant species Myrmica sabuleti as a model to study the impact of electromagnetic waves on ...
Under such an influence, ants followed trails for only short distances, no longer arrived at marked ...
Electromagnetic radiation obviously affects social insects' behavior and physiology
Show BibTeX
@article{mc_2013_food_collection_and_response_76,
author = {Cammaerts MC and Rachidi Z and Bellens F and De Doncker P},
title = {Food collection and response to pheromones in an ant species exposed to electromagnetic radiation},
year = {2013},
doi = {10.3109/15368378.2012.712877},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/15368378.2012.712877},
}