Bioelectromagnetics

Presented By Geetanjali Puri

Bioelectromagnetics is the study of how electromagnetic fields interact with and influence biological processes

Bioelectromagnetics
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Bioelectromagnetics is not to be confused with bioelectromagnetism, which deals with the ability of living cells, tissues or organisms to produce electrical fields.

Bioelectromagnetism
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The mechanism of animal migration and navigation using the geomagnetic field Studying the potential effects of manmade sources of electromagnetic fields, such as those produced by the power distribution system and mobile phones

Common areas of investigation

EM radiation can cause two major potential hazards viz. Electrical and Biological. Additionally, induced electric current caused by radiation can generate sparks and create a fire or explosive hazard.

Electromagnetic radiation and health

The oscillating electric and magnetic fields in electromagnetic radiation will induce an electric current in any conductor through which it passes. Strong radiation can induce current capable of delivering an electric shock to persons or animals. It can also overload and destroy electrical equipment

Electrical hazards
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Dielectric Heating. For example, touching or standing around an antenna while a highpower transmitter is in operation can cause severe burns. These are exactly the kind of burns that would be caused inside a microwave oven. This heating effect varies with the power and the frequency of the electromagnetic energy. A measure of the heating effect is the specific absorption rate or SAR, which has units of watts per kilogram (W/kg).

Biological hazards
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Biological effects of radiation on living cells may result in a variety of outcomes, including: Cells experience DNA damage and are unable to repair the damage. These cells may go through the process of programmed cell death DNA change that is passed on to subsequent cell divisions. This change may contribute to the formation of a cancer.

Biological Effects
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Effects on behavior have been reported from exposure to magnetic fields A strong changing magnetic field can induce electrical currents in conductive tissue These currents will depolarize neurons in a selected part of the brain, leading to changes in the patterns of neural activation. Essentially, the effect is to change the information content in the neurons. There is no structural or heating effect that may damage the tissue

Behavioral effects
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The effect mobile phone radiation has on human health is the subject of recent interest and study. Mobile phones use electromagnetic radiation in the microwave range, and researchers. believe this may be either harmful or beneficial to human health. A large body of research exists, both epidemiological and experimental, in nonhuman animals and in humans.

Mobile phone radiation and health

Many scientific studies have investigated possible health effects of mobile phone radiations. These studies are occasionally reviewed by some scientific committees to assess overall risks. A recent assessment was published in 2007 by the European Commission Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR). It concludes that the three lines of evidence, viz. animal, in vitro, and epidemiological studies, indicate that "exposure to RF fields is unlikely to lead to an increase in cancer in humans."

Effects of mobile phone radiation

The following studies of long time exposure and their conclusion have been published : A Swedish study (2005) : "the data do not support the hypothesis that mobile phone use is related to an increased risk of glioma or meningioma. A British study (2005: "The study suggests that there is no substantial risk of acoustic neuroma in the first decade after starting mobile phone use. However, an increase in risk after longer term use.The possible risk in the most heavily exposed part of the brain with long-term use

Effects of mobile phone radiation

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Other studies on cancer and mobile phones are: The INTERPHONE study group from Japan published the results of a study of brain tumour risk and mobile phone use. In 2007, Dr. Lennart Hardell, from rebro University in Sweden, reviewed published epidemiological papers (2 cohort studies and 16 case-control studies) and found that Cell phone users had an increased risk of malignant gliomas. Tumors are more likely to occur on the side of the head that the cell handset is used. One hour of cell phone use per day significantly increases tumor risk after ten years or more.

Effects of mobile phone radiation

In the case of a person using a cell phone, most of the heating effect will occur at the surface of the head, causing its temperature to increase by a fraction of a degree. the level of temperature increase is an order of magnitude less than that obtained during the exposure of the head to direct sunlight. The brain's blood circulation is capable of disposing of excess heat by increasing local blood flow. However, the cornea of the eye does not have this temperature regulation mechanism and exposure of 23 hours' duration has been reported to produce cataracts in rabbits' eyes at SAR values from 100140W/kg, which produced temperatures of 41C.

Thermal effects caused by mobile phone radiation

A 2002 survey study by Santini et al. in France found a variety of self-reported symptoms for people who reported that they were living within 300 metres (984 ft) of GSM cell towers in rural areas, or within 100 m (328 ft) of base stations in urban areas. Fatigue, headache, sleep disruption and loss of memory were among the symptoms reported. Similar results have been obtained with GSM cell towers in Spain,Egypt,Poland and Austria

Health hazards of base stations

In order to protect the population living around base stations and users of mobile handsets, governments and regulatory bodies adopt safety standards, which translate to limits on exposure levels below a certain value. There are many proposed national and international standards, but that of the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is the most respected one, and has been adopted so far by more than 80 countries. For radio stations, ICNIRP proposes two safety levels: one for occupational exposure, another one for the general population.

Safety standards and licensing

Mobile telephone service providers are, in many regions, required to obtain construction licenses, provide certification of antenna emission levels and assure compliance to ICNIRP standards and/or to other environmental legislation. Many governmental bodies also require that competing telecommunication companies try to achieve sharing of towers so as to decrease environmental and cosmetic impact. The safety standards in the U.S. are set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC has based its standards primarily on those standards established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), specifically Subcommittee 4 of the "International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety".

Safety standards and licensing

The rate at which radiation is absorbed by the human body is measured by the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), and its maximum levels for modern handsets have been set by governmental regulating agencies in many countries. In the USA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set a SAR limit of 1.6 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 1 gram of tissue, for the head. In Europe, the limit is 2 W/kg, averaged over a volume of 10 grams of tissue. SAR values are heavily dependent on the size of the averaging volume.

Safety standards and licensing

Minimization of cell phone usage The adoption of cell phones and microcells the wider use of hands-free and earphone technologies to decrease the radiation to the head ,such as Bluetooth headsets the adoption of maximal standards of exposure RF field intensity and distance of base stations antennas from human habitations. Keep the mobile phone away from the body. Do not use telephone in a car without an external antenna Several nations have advised moderate use of mobile phones for children.

Precaution
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The preponderance of evidence suggests that the low-power, low-frequency, electromagnetic radiation associated with household current does not constitute a short or long term health hazard, some research has implicated exposure in a number of adverse health effects. These include, but are not limited to, leukemia, neurodegenerative diseases and clinical depression. The World Health Organization has acknowledged that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are influencing the environment (but not people)

Health effects of electric power transmission

Bioelectromagnetics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Wiley-Liss that specializes in articles about the biological effects from and applications of electromagnetic fields in biology and medicine. It is the official journal of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, the European Bioelectromagnetics Association, and the Society for Physical Regulation in Biology and Medicine.

Reference
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