At the Veterinary High School in Hannover, Germany, (Loscher; Mevissen) it has been shown that EMF exposure has the same effect on tumorigenesis (breast cancer) in rats as the known carcinogen chemical DMBA (dimethylbenzanthrazene). Furthermore, they have shown that EMF exposure has the same activity enhancing effect on the cancer-related enzyme ODC (ornithinedecarboxylase) as DMBA.

From numerous studies, some of which are mentioned in this text, it appears that EMF exposure may affect carcinogenesis in several ways, some of them genotoxic, others non-genotoxic [ref. 38]:

• EMF exposure has the ability to reduce secretion of melatonin from the pineal gland; as melatonin is a powerful free radical scavenger in the whole body, the reduced melatonin output may increase the level of genotoxic free radicals to a level where DNA damage significantly increases; this has been shown in several studies;
  
  
• Studies have shown that EMF exposure may interfere with gene repair mechanisms;
  
  
• Failures to repair DNA may lead to chromosomal damage; studies have shown that EMF exposure may change calcium levels in cells which determines whether a cell with chromosomal damage will die by apoptosis (programmed death of damaged cells) or survive and maybe become transformed into a cancer cell;
  
  
• Studies have shown that EMF exposure enhances the activity of genetic material (proto-oncogenes) which may cause cells to transform to cancer cells;
  
  
• Studies have shown that EMF induced intracellular calcium levels may affect intercellular communication mechanisms through gap junctions; this may cause transformed cells to escape being killed by the immune system;
  
  
• Studies have shown that EMF exposure may affect the immune system reducing the body’s cancer surveillance capability and ability to kill transformed cells;
  
  
• Studies have shown that EMF exposure increases the activity of growth enzymes (e.g., ODC) and accelerates cell growth, and more so for growth oriented cells like transformed cells;
  
  This cascade of events may lead to malignant tumor growth, as illustrated below:
  

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