Effects of microwave Radiation On The Human Body

I am going to research the effects of microwave radiation on the human body mainly from mobile phones. I am going to collect a wide range of information from a number of reliable and different sources.

To research the effects of microwave radiation on the human body I am going to look at five different sources.

Firstly I am going to look at the Internet to find two sources of information one from a scientific organisation and one from a mobile phone manufacturer. Because the Internet has a lot of unreliable information I am going to run an advanced search from the Google search engine. This will mean my sources are not useless thoughts of random people.

Secondly I am going to find two sources of information in different encyclopaedias. I shall look at two different encyclopaedias and select relevant information to my research.

Thirdly for my last source I am going to look at a textbook that is written for school use, so the information shall be relevant and non-biased.

For all my research I must be selective and only pick out relevant facts for my research. Some of my research may be bias so I shall state whether it is and the reason why it may be bias. My research must be modern as mobile phones are only a modern invention and the research into microwaves is mainly recent.

I know that microwaves are ideally suited for use in communication, they are able to rapidly transport signals containing large amounts of information.

Microwaves cause water molecules to absorb energy from the microwaves and therefore start a molecular motion hence heating.

My Research

Research piece 1

Mobile phones emit Radio waves, a type of non-ionising radiation that has different effects. Non-ionising radiation still causes problems. Exposure to high levels can result in an increase to your temperature; this makes your heart work harder and can result in headaches, and Sickness.
Mobile phones emit low levels of these radio waves. But some people say that even levels below that which causes heating effects, they can cause 'non-thermal' effects such as tumours, headaches and memory loss. Power watch - an organisation that gives advice on electromagnetic fields - is in no doubt: 'anyone who uses a mobile phone extensively runs a risk of adverse health effects. We estimate that 10 per cent of the population may be at risk of milder effects, such as headaches and loss of concentration.'

(Suntec Corporation UK)

Research piece 2

Life-energy field breakdown: Persons near microwaves in operation experience a breakdown of their life-energy fields that increases exposure.
Cellular energy decreases: The cellular-voltage parallels of individuals using the apparatus degenerate relative to the length of - especially in their blood and lymphatic serums.
Destabilised metabolism: The external-energy activated potentials of food utilisation are both destabilised and degenerated.
Cell damage: Internal cellular-membrane potentials during catabolic processes into the blood serum from the digestive process degenerate and destabilise.
Brain circuitry destruction: Electrical impulses in the junction potentials ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

(Suntec Corporation UK)

Research piece 2

Life-energy field breakdown: Persons near microwaves in operation experience a breakdown of their life-energy fields that increases exposure.
Cellular energy decreases: The cellular-voltage parallels of individuals using the apparatus degenerate relative to the length of - especially in their blood and lymphatic serums.
Destabilised metabolism: The external-energy activated potentials of food utilisation are both destabilised and degenerated.
Cell damage: Internal cellular-membrane potentials during catabolic processes into the blood serum from the digestive process degenerate and destabilise.
Brain circuitry destruction: Electrical impulses in the junction potentials of the cerebrum degenerate and break down.
Nervous system: Nerve/electrical circuits degenerate and break down while energy-field symmetry is lost in the neuro-plexuses (nerve centres) in both the front and rear of the central and autonomic nervous systems.
Loss of bioelectric strength: The bioelectric strengths within the ascending reticular activating system (the system which controls the function of waking consciousness) go out of balance and lose their proper circuiting.
Loss of vital energies: Humans, animals and plants located within a 500-metre radius of the equipment in operation suffer a long-term, cumulative loss of vital energies.
Nervous and lymphatic systems damage: Long-lasting residual magnetic "deposits" become located throughout the nervous system and lymphatic system.
Hormone imbalances: The production of hormones and the maintenance of hormonal balance in both males and females becomes destabilised and interrupted.
Brainwave disruptions: Levels of disturbance in alpha-, delta- and theta wave signal patterns are markedly higher than normal.
Psychological disorders: Because of the disarranged brain waves, negative psychological effects also result. These include loss of memory and ability to concentrate, suppressed emotional threshold, deceleration of intellective processes and interruptive sleep episodes in a statistically higher percentage of individuals
Subjected to continual range-emission field effects of microwave apparatus, from either cooking apparatus or transmission stations

(National Radiological Protection Board)

Research piece 3

RF is one form of a naturally occurring energy called Electromagnetic Radiation, which exists across a range of different 'frequencies' that together constitute the electromagnetic spectrum.

At one end of the spectrum are the low frequencies used by television and radio broadcasters and at the other end are the very high frequencies of ultraviolet light, x-rays and gamma-rays. In the middle are the frequencies used by mobile telephony and satellite providers as well as infrared and visible light.
Crucially the spectrum is clearly divided into 'ionising' and 'non-ionising' radiation. Only very high frequency ionising radiation (which is x-rays and gamma rays and not cellular frequencies) has sufficient energy to break chemical bonds and affect the DNA in living cells.

Thermal & non-thermal effects of RF

Thermal effects refer to the heating effect of non-ionising radiation, which occurs whenever a body absorbs radio energy. It is well established that the body can naturally cope with any mild temperature rises without any ill effects, but heating above a certain temperature can cause adverse effects.
Therefore the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) has established stringent guidelines (with multiple safety factors to account for population variances such as age, size and general fitness) to regulate emissions from all radio emitting devices, including those from mobile handsets and base stations. These guidelines ensure that no device can have power levels that could produce harmful thermal effects.

Very often other scientists do not obtain the same results when they attempt to replicate the experiments. As such there still remains no substantiated evidence of any harmful, non-thermal, effects arising from the absorption of RF.

This publication of unverified material has caused some confusion and fear amongst the general public as to the safety of RF technology.
Nevertheless, bodies such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP or Stewart Group) have considered the results of these experiments, along with the vast body of verified work, and have made their expert recommendations accordingly (see below). The ICNIRP guidelines offer protection again all identified hazards resulting from exposure to RF with very large safety margins.

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Research piece 4

Health effects

RF fields penetrate exposed tissues to depths that depend on the frequency - up to a centimetre at the frequencies used by mobile phones. RF energy is absorbed in the body and produces heat, but the body's normal thermoregulatory processes carry this heat away. All established health effects of RF exposure are clearly related to heating. While RF energy can interact with body tissues at levels too low to cause any significant heating, no study has shown adverse health effects at exposure levels below international guideline limits.

WHO has identified research needs to make better health risk assessment and promoted the research to funding agencies. Briefly, at present time this research indicates:

Cancer: Current scientific evidence indicates that exposure to RF fields, such as those emitted by mobile phones and their base stations, is unlikely to induce or promote cancers. Several studies of animals exposed to RF fields similar to those emitted by mobile phones found no evidence that RF causes or promotes brain cancer. While one 1997 study found that RF fields increased the rate at which genetically engineered mice developed lymphoma, the health implications of this result is unclear. Several studies are underway to confirm this finding and determine any relevance of these results to cancer in human beings. Three recent epidemiological studies found no convincing evidence of increase in risk of cancer or any other disease with use of mobile phones.
Other health risks: Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. These effects are small and have no apparent health significance. More studies are in progress to try to confirm these findings.
Electromagnetic Interference: When mobile phones are used close to some medical devices (including pacemakers, inplantable defibrillators, and certain hearing aids) there is the possibility of causing interference. There is also the potential of interference between mobile phones and aircraft electronics.

(World Health Organisation)

Analysing and Considering Evidence.

I have collected my research from another different sources being very selective with the research I used. I can see that my information from the world health organisation and The National Radiological Protection Board is likely to be un-bias and very useful. My research from Suntec and Orange may be bias because they want to attract people to still buying their products while stating the bare minimum they can about the health defects that may occur.

My research from The World Health Organisation, Orange and The National Radiological Protection Board all agree that there are thermal aspects to the exposure to RF and microwaves. This heating would therefore eventually end in the drying out human tissue and cells.

All the research states so far that there is limited research undertake up to this point about the effects of microwaves on the human body. This is especially well stated by the orange part of my research.

The National Radiological Protection Board and The world health organisation both agree that there are resulting changes to reaction speed, brain activity and maybe even psychological effects because of the exposure to Rf and Microwaves.

Evaluation

If I was to improve my research techniques I would collect a wider range of research from lots of different sources using modern and less modern research. I would look a number of different sources of exposure to RF and Microwaves like mobile phone masts and handsets. I would also look at different levels of exposure and the effects on different parts of the body e.g. the brain, heart and other soft tissues. I could be more selective with the parts of research I chose and the sources of this research that they came from.

I could look to see if the pros weighed out the cons to using mobile phones. I could look at the different harms resulting to the use of mobile phones.

Because of the insufficient research into the effects of RF and Microwaves and the probable bias of my research I do not feel I can draw a conclusion from the evidence in my research.