Radio Frequency Exposures

[circular]

I got interested in this topic while researching bluetooth fitness devices. I'm hoping to decide whether I think bluetooth, wireless, cellular and other RF exposures, or the accumulation of them, is a health concern or not. Like so many topics, you can read points of view from both sides.

At first I was concerned there may be a health issue with wearing a bluetooth device 24/7, which led me to think maybe I need to leave my phone in airplane mode much more often, occasionally checking to see if there's anything that's come through there I need to know about. I began wondering whether sitting at my laptop near my wireless router is a bad idea. Then there's how far to stand from the microwave, or whether to use one at all. I still wonder, but at least from a cursory look around the internet, I think these household technologies are relatively low enough in the RF power that perhaps they aren't a concern. The exception for me at the moment is my cell phone, which I plan to leave in airplane mode much more often. That's not because I've found good reason to, but because it appears to be the strongest of the devices I use, other than maybe TV which I seldom have on.

I haven't gotten into ionizing vs non-ionizing yet. Some claim that the official limits are too high and based only on shock and thermal effects, not claimed non-thermal effects of RV.

Here's the WHO statement on this: http://www.who.int/peh-emf/publications/facts/fs304/en/

Here's a 2013 review of Wi-Fi and health … needs more research no surprise.

Health Phys. 2013 Dec;105(6):561-75. doi: 10.1097/HP.0b013e31829b49bb.
Wi-Fi and health: review of current status of research.
Foster KR1, Moulder JE.
Author information
Abstract
This review summarizes the current state of research on possible health effects of Wi-Fi (a commercial name for IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless networking). In response to public concerns about health effects of Wi-Fi and wireless networks and calls by government agencies for research on possible health and safety issues with the technology, a considerable amount of technology-specific research has been completed. A series of high quality engineering studies have provided a good, but not complete, understanding of the levels of radiofrequency (RF) exposure to individuals from Wi-Fi. The limited number of technology-specific bioeffects studies done to date are very mixed in terms of quality and outcome. Unequivocally, the RF exposures from Wi-Fi and wireless networks are far below U.S. and international exposure limits for RF energy. While several studies report biological effects due to Wi-Fi-type exposures, technical limitations prevent drawing conclusions from them about possible health risks of the technology. The review concludes with suggestions for future research on the topic.
PMID: 24162060 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

I find this chart so interesting https://goo.gl/zjB05i

I'm interested in others' thoughts.

[apod]

This was an interesting article: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 9X14000583

The risk to children and adolescent from exposure to microwave radiating devices is considerable. Adults have a smaller but very real risk, as well.

At work, I sit a few feet away from loud corporate level microwave transmitters with extended signal range (you can pick up the 2.4ghz wifi signal from a block away, through the walls.) I also sleep next to one of these things, so I'm pretty much under constant low-medium level exposure there. I've been thinking about trying to get those further away or maybe on some timer that unplugs it at night. On a similar topic, I'm also curious about potential beneficial EMF exposure and "earthing" / "grounding", and whether that's all pseudoscience or if there's anything to it.

[circular]

Glad someone else is curious about this. I wonder if the EMF is ionized, versus the non-ionized of the radio frequencies? I don't know much about that variable, but some think it plays a role, perhaps like getting in ionizing air at the beach. Certainly heavy doses of nature is a good antidote psychologically if not also physically.

I also just came across this article with some warnings expressed:

"… one of the effects of daylong, very low intensity exposure to microwave radiation from Wi-Fi is that it 'opens the blood brain barrier. So if you have any toxins in your blood system, those toxins can now penetrate your brain tissue with very, very low exposure to microwave radiation.'

"Even Bluetooth, where the SAR is low, 'could be problematic leaving [the device] near the head, because of the blood brain barrier phenomenon,' Moskowitz said.

"But the risk of RF radiation is insignificant when a wearable can help a person in dire need of medical care, said David O. Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany (N.Y.)."

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2014/10/20/ ... lth-risks/

Here is a study talking about how they use radio frequency to open the BBB to help get drugs into the brain for treating brain tumors. This strikes me as potentially very worrisome for us:

http://www.dovepress.com/drug-delivery- ... ticle-DDDT

"Electrohyperthermia

"Electrohyperthermia is an advanced hyperthermia technique that is considered to be selective because of the higher conductivity and higher permittivity of the extracellular matrix in the tumor tissue.65 Hyperthermia from electromagnetic waves generated by radiofrequency or microwaves has been reported to increase the permeability of the BBB in vivo.66

"Nowadays, radiofrequency is frequently used in oncology as a treatment for glioma, either alone or in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Gong et al67 reported a higher uptake of adriamycin in isotransplanted C6 glioma rats treated with radiofrequency-induced hyperthermia. Furthermore, other investigators have reported that a high concentration of drug can be achieved using local radiofrequency hyperthermia chemotherapy.68"

"in vivo" citation 66 is a rat study where male, but not female, BBBs were affected by 900-1800 MHz (which would include cordless phones) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19811403

Gotta move on but I think this warrants more digging. How much do they use in the cancer treatments to help open the BBB? How open does it need to be to get the medicines through? ...

[circular]

Wow, great link about children. Just read it after posting about the BBB stuff I found. I'm trying to understand why they're referring to microwave frequencies (e.g. with cell phones) when other materials reference radio frequencies. I'm guessing microwave frequencies are a subset of radio frequencies.

[Julie G]

I'm also very curious about this, Circ. It's hard to sort out what's real science and what's pseudo-science . FWIW, my functional physician is VERY concerned about this and believes it's real.

We've recently purchased Pong cases for our i-Phones and i-Pads that are supposed to greatly reduce radiation exposure. My husband (airline pilot) used to regularly have his hotel key "erased" if he accidentally put it in the same pocket with his phone. That doesn't happen any more. The cases are doing something.

Apod, that whole "grounding" thing intrigues me too. I'd like to learn more about both.

[ApropoE4]

There is a solution that is both practical and inexpensive:

https://www.google.com/search?q=tinfoil ... CAYQ_AUoAQ

More seriously, we have 20 years of data. There is a study well-quoted by the nutter media that claimed OR of 3 for gliomas, but the incidence of gliomas observed has either stayed unchanged (Scandinavia) or went up by just 25% (representing an additional case per 100,000 or so). Since the sample size is in the billions, and there has been no other effect observed, it's safe to say that non-ionizing radiation at non-tissue-heating levels is almost entirely harmless.

[apod]

Here's an interesting article from "Behavioural brain research" in 2013: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23195115 They took 3xTg-AD rats that were destined to develop Alzheimer's-like cognitive impairment, then exposed them to WIFI type radiofrequency (RF) signals at 2.4ghz. "Our data demonstrate for the first time that RF improves cognitive behavior of 3xTg-AD mice. We conclude that RF exposure may represent an effective memory-enhancing approach in Alzheimer's disease."

Or, on the other hand, a couple other interesting articles from the last few years.

Military Medical Research: 2015 - As the fourth largest source of pollution after air, water and noise, MW radiation induces many biological effects. The brain is one of the most sensitive target organs for microwave radiation, where mitochondrial injury occurs earlier and more severely than in other organs. The damaging effects of MW radiation on the brain include brain dysfunction and brain structural damage. An epidemiological survey found that MW radiation caused human fatigue, headache, excitement, dreams, memory loss and other symptoms of neurasthenia. In addition, there were impaired learning and memory abilities in rats after MW radiation, as determined by the Morris water maze. MW radiation may also lead to neuronal shrinkage, nuclear condensation, mitochondrial swelling, an expanded endoplasmic reticulum, alterations to the synaptic gaps and widened vascular endothelial connections, where mitochondrial injury occurred earlier and more severely. http://www.mmrjournal.org/content/2/1/4

International journal of toxicology: 2015 - The results showed declined cognitive function, elevated HSP70 level, and DNA damage in the brain of microwave-exposed animals. The results indicated that, chronic low-intensity microwave exposure in the frequency range of 900 to 2450 MHz may cause hazardous effects on the brain. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25749756

International journal of radiation biology: 2015 - Long-term exposure of 2.4 GHz RF may lead to adverse effects such as neurodegenerative diseases originated from the alteration of some miRNA expression and more studies should be devoted to the effects of RF radiation on miRNA expression levels. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25775055

International journal of radiation biology: 2015 - Significant decreases in the activities of SOD were observed in the liver of guinea pigs after radiofrequency radiation exposure. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25249432

International journal of environmental research and public health: 2015 - The overall results indicate that there may be adverse effects of RF exposure on antioxidant function, in terms of both the daily antioxidative levels, as well as the circadian rhythmicity. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25685954

International journal of radiation biology: 2014 - It may be concluded that low level EMF at 2.45 GHz MWR increases the DNA damage in both brain tissues and plasma. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24844368

Indian journal of ophthalmology: 2014 - Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in Wi-Fi group than in cage and sham control groups http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3955064/

Toxicology mechanisms and methods: 2014 - The results indicate that exposure to Radio frequency wave in the test group decreased antioxidant enzymes activity and increased MDA compared with the control groups. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24730455

Toxicology international: 2013 - In the present study, we demonstrated DNA damaging effects of low level microwave radiation in brain. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23833433)

Journal of pediatric urology: 2013 - Wi-Fi Internet access devices using 802.11.g wireless standards were used as radiofrequency wave sources. "We observed significant increases in serum 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine levels and 8-hydroxyguanosine staining in the testes of the experimental group indicating DNA damage due to exposure (p < 0.05). We also found decreased levels of catalase and glutathione peroxidase activity in the experimental group" http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22465825

Applied biochemistry and biotechnology: 2013 - In addition to a significant increase in ROS, hemoglobin (p<0.001), RBC and WBC counts (p<0.001), N/L ratio (p<0.01), DNA damage (p<0.001) in brain cells, and plasma estradiol concentration (p<0.05), a significant decrease was observed in NO level (p<0.05) and antioxidant enzyme activities of 2.45 GHz low-level microwave-exposed mice. "MW radiation-induced oxidative stress by increasing ROS production in the body may lead to DNA strand breakage in the brain cells"

Biological trace element research: 2013 - In conclusion, Wi-Fi- and mobile phone-induced EMR caused oxidative damage by increasing the extent of lipid peroxidation and the iron level, while decreasing total antioxidant status, copper, and GSH values. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24101576

Environmental toxicology and pharmacology: 2013 - The exposure of rats to RF (2.45 GHz, 1h/day during 21 consecutive days) induced a diabetes-like status. Moreover, RF decreased the activities of glutathione peroxidase, catalase and the superoxide dismutase and groups thiol amount, respectively in liver and kidneys. Indeed, exposure to RF increased the malondialdehyde concentration respectively in liver and kidneys. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23994945

[circular]

Where can I order my Pong hat!?

[apod]

Where can I order my Pong hat!?

Don't forget the space blanket. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdaQbdgbrr0

[circular]

I suspect animal therapy, which I just started a thread on viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1455, has effects similar to grounding. To me nature itself it grounding. Grounding can be done with shoes on too. Barefoot is good but not necessary. I use grounding in my mediations indoors, outdoors, in the car, shoes on, shoes off …

Dr. Weil chimes in on forest therapy. I hope they do more expanded studies to see if there are specific biochemical differences between forest, ocean, desert … therapies. I'm with Dr. Weil, it's nature pure and simple that's therapeutic and grounding, but the specific biochemical changes noted are interesting, like lower cortisol…

Oh, and many people are in nature physically but their consciousness stays in their head. I think the interaction with nature probably provides the most benefit, but that can be using movement or consciousness or both. My gut feeling.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401159/I ... -Real.html