Note: This study found no significant biological effects under its experimental conditions. We include all studies for scientific completeness.
Weak Broadband Electromagnetic Fields are More Disruptive to Magnetic Compass Orientation in a Night-Migratory Songbird (Erithacus rubecula) than Strong Narrow-Band Fields.
Schwarze S, Schneider NL, Reichl T, Dreyer D, Lefeldt N, Engels S, Baker N, Hore PJ, Mouritsen H. · 2016
View Original AbstractWeak broadband EMF fields disrupted bird navigation more than strong single-frequency fields, suggesting our complex electromagnetic environment poses unique biological risks.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied how electromagnetic fields affect the magnetic compass navigation system in European robins, which these birds use during nighttime migration. They found that weak broadband electromagnetic fields (covering frequencies from 2 kHz to 9 MHz) completely disrupted the birds' ability to navigate using Earth's magnetic field, while stronger narrow-band fields at specific frequencies had no effect. This suggests that the complex mix of frequencies in our modern electromagnetic environment may be more harmful to biological systems than previously thought.
Study Details
Magnetic compass orientation in night-migratory songbirds is embedded in the visual system and seems to be based on a light-dependent radical pair mechanism. Recent findings suggest that both broadband electromagnetic fields ranging from ~2 kHz to ~9 MHz and narrow-band fields at the so-called Larmor frequency for a free electron in the Earth's magnetic field can disrupt this mechanism. However, due to local magnetic fields generated by nuclear spins, effects specific to the Larmor frequency are difficult to understand considering that the primary sensory molecule should be organic and probably a protein. We therefore constructed a purpose-built laboratory and tested the orientation capabilities of European robins in an electromagnetically silent environment, under the specific influence of four different oscillating narrow-band electromagnetic fields, at the Larmor frequency, double the Larmor frequency, 1.315 MHz or 50 Hz, and in the presence of broadband electromagnetic noise covering the range from ~2 kHz to ~9 MHz.
Our results indicated that the magnetic compass orientation of European robins could not be disrupte...
Show BibTeX
@article{s_2016_weak_broadband_electromagnetic_fields_3386,
author = {Schwarze S and Schneider NL and Reichl T and Dreyer D and Lefeldt N and Engels S and Baker N and Hore PJ and Mouritsen H. },
title = {Weak Broadband Electromagnetic Fields are More Disruptive to Magnetic Compass Orientation in a Night-Migratory Songbird (Erithacus rubecula) than Strong Narrow-Band Fields.},
year = {2016},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27047356/},
}