NON-THERMIC EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL FIELDS ON COLLOIDS
Wilhelm Krasny-Ergen · 1936
Scientists recognized non-thermal electromagnetic field effects on living systems as early as 1936, decades before wireless technology.
Plain English Summary
This 1936 study by W. Krasny-Ergen examined how alternating electrical fields affect colloids (tiny particles suspended in liquid) through non-thermal mechanisms. The research focused on biological effects that occur without heating, specifically studying how electrical vibrations and induction powers influence microorganisms. This represents early scientific recognition that electromagnetic fields can produce biological effects beyond simple heating.
Why This Matters
This research stands as a remarkable piece of scientific history - published in 1936, it demonstrates that concerns about non-thermal electromagnetic field effects aren't new or driven by modern technology fears. Krasny-Ergen was investigating the same fundamental question we grapple with today: can electromagnetic fields affect living systems through mechanisms other than heating? The focus on colloids and microorganisms was particularly prescient, as we now understand that cellular membranes and intracellular structures behave as biological colloids that can be influenced by electromagnetic fields. What makes this study especially significant is its timing - decades before the proliferation of wireless technology, scientists were already documenting that electrical fields could produce measurable biological effects without thermal mechanisms. This challenges the industry narrative that non-thermal effects are a recent, unsubstantiated concern.
Figures from the Original Paper
Diagram extracted from the original research document.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
To investigate the behavior of colloids in an electrical alternating field and the effect of ponderomotoric powers ("induction powers") which dominate between the dipoles and multipoles which induce the field in the dispersed particles.
Theoretical deliberations were made concerning the behavior of colloids in an electrical alternating...
The study found that under conditions the fields work very differently, according to whether it is a...
The study concluded that the effects of induction powers are not the only specific effects occurring in the high frequency field, and that one can explain all the symptoms not explainable by heat effects by induction powers. For a complete explanation of all effects by high frequency waves one certainly will have to consider a series of other effects. The field, primarily produced, for example: where one connects an alternating potential to the plates of a condenser, usually is a pure linear field. However, if one introduces into such a field any type of body, which does not take up the entire space within that field, a rotating field may develop spontaneously. The frequencies at which spontaneous rotating fields develop lie in the area of short- and ultrashort waves, where in connection with Paetzold's investigations selective warm-up was often observed. It can be assumed, that the effects, different with short and ultrashort waves than with longer waves, and the effects proceeding differently within the short- and ultrashort wave bands, are at least in part, such effects as the above mentioned ones, which occur differently in the rotating field than in the linear field.
Show BibTeX
@article{non_thermic_effects_of_electrical_fields_on_colloids_g6009,
author = {Wilhelm Krasny-Ergen},
title = {NON-THERMIC EFFECTS OF ELECTRICAL FIELDS ON COLLOIDS},
year = {1936},
}