Summary of Electromagnetic Fields
June 1999
  • How do they affect us?
  • What can be done about it?

Dr. Thomas Magnussen, EMX Corporation

In response to a growing body of scientific evidence, the existence of health and biological effects associated with exposures to EMFs is becoming more widely known and accepted. More and more scientists now believe that the existence of significant non-thermal effects induced by low-level non-ionizing EMF are a reality.

For example, on Wednesday, July 24, 1998, a 28 member panel convened by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) decided that extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields should be regarded as possible carcinogens.

The final vote of the panel was 19 to 9 in favor of categorizing ELF EMFs, such as those from power lines and electrical appliances, as possible carcinogens. The vote followed one year of study including three major, multi-day symposia and a final 10 day intensive meeting of scientists to review and debate the scientific and medical literature.

In October 1998 at the University of Vienna Workshop on Possible Biological and Health Effects of Radio Frequency (RF/MW) Electromagnetic Fields, the following resolution was made by the participating scientists (the "Vienna Resolution"):

"The participants agreed that biological effects from low-intensity exposures are scientifically established. However, the current state of scientific consensus is inadequate to derive reliable exposure standards. The existing evidence demands an increase in the research efforts on possible health impact and on adequate exposure and dose assessment."

In conclusion, scientists working in the field of "bioelectromagnetics" are now convinced that man-made EMFs disturb biological processes (induce biological effects). Some of the biological effects seen in the laboratories are similar to biochemical mechanisms believed to be responsible for neurological effects like short term memory loss, whereas others are believed to be involved in the development of serious disorders like cancer, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

There is no definitive conclusion whether this may lead to these serious diseases, and research will not be able to provide unequivocal answers until the causes of these diseases have been identified completely. Should we know one day what role low-level non-ionizing EMFs play in cancer, it will only be because we will also know what causes cancer. Until such time, science will have no choice but to continue advancing, studying and rejecting new hypotheses until finally, from many individual findings, a conclusive overall picture of cancer and other diseases emerges.

However, the conclusion mentioned above, formulated by the 28 person scientific work group under NIEHS stating that EMFs should be regarded as possible carcinogens, is a warning; already, a substantial body of scientific evidence do point to a relation between EMFs and cancer. Below is shown a summary of scientific findings on EMF-induced biological effects related to the cascade of events believed to be significant in the development of cancer:
Dr. Neil Cherry of Lincoln University, New Zealand, in a recent report concluded:

"Scientific studies at the cellular level, whole animal level and involving human populations, show compelling and comprehensive evidence that RF/MW exposure down to very low levels, levels which are a minute fraction of present "safety standards", result in altered brain function, sleep disruption, depression, chronic fatigue, headache, impaired memory and learning, adverse reproductive outcomes including miscarriage, still birth, cot death, prematurely and birth deformities. Many other adverse health effects have been found, predominantly cancer of many organs, especially brain cancer, leukemia, breast cancer and testicular cancer. Studies have also found that RF/MW exposed parents have more children with CNS cancers and other health defects. These effects are consistent with genetic damage caused by RF/MW. Many scientific studies have found chromosome aberrations and DNA damage with RF/MW exposure, the first being published in 1959. Two primary biological mechanisms are linked to these effects, calcium ion efflux and melatonin reduction. With melatonin reduction, there is a rise in serotonin which is associated with awakeness, alertness, anxiety, anger, rage and violence depending on the serotonin level, the person and the circumstances.

Hence, there is a strong evidence that ELF and RF/MW is associated with accelerated aging (enhanced cell death and cancer) and moods, depression, suicide, anger, rage and violence, primarily through alteration of cellular calcium ions and the melatonin/serotonin balance."

Cell phones emit both microwave radiation (MW) from the antenna and extremely low frequency (ELF) fields from the body of the phone. Both types of emissions have been consistently and repetitively shown to induce significant biological effects.

Below is shown a summary of the biological effects which have been found in peer-reviewed and published scientific studies. It is also shown how these biological effects may lead to physiological conditions and potential disease. This summary is not exhaustive, and much more research will be needed in the future to expand and refine the picture.
Summary of scientific findings:
II. Biochemical/biological/physiological events
A scientific solution to the EMF problem
The EMF Bioprotection™ technology is a scientifically developed solution to the EMF problem. The technology is peer-reviewed and published in a series of publications, and its ability to neutralize biological effects induced by EMF-exposures has been tested and confirmed by five laboratories in North America and Europe independently.

The technology was developed in a large, still on-going research project at the Catholic University of America (CUA), Department of Physics in Washington, D.C. The research project was initiated in 1986 and funded in its first five years by the U.S. Army, Walter Reed Army Institute Department of Microwave Engineering.

The background for the project was worries in the U.S. Army about the biological effects and potential health consequences to personnel exposed to EMFs. Since World War II, the U.S. Army has been the world’s largest user of electrical, electronic, and telecommunication equipment and was the first to recognize effects induced by EMFs on military personnel (radar operators on WW II battleships).

The EMF Bioprotection™ technology is patented in the U.S.A., and applications have been branched out in the rest of the world. The patent application for the technology is endorsed by the U.S. Army; the U.S. government owns all non-commercial rights to the technology, whereas non-commercial rights belong to the company EMX Corporation which will shortly be introducing products in the marketplace providing protection for consumers worried about potential health effects of EMF exposures.

The EMF Bioprotection™ technology is designed to prevent non-thermal biological effects of EMF exposures. When the biological effects are prevented, there can not possibly be any health effects associated with these biological effects. The EMF Bioprotection™ technology consists of a device which emits a random EMF "noise" field, superimposed on the EMF which cause biological disturbances.

The technology is believed to work by blocking the EMF-induced physical-chemical interactions around cell membrane receptors, probably by preventing cooperative sensing from happening. In this way, the cascade of biochemical events which would result inside the cell as a function of membrane receptors sensing the constant, oscillating EMF, is prevented from being triggered. The EMF Bioprotection™ technology re-establishes the situation around the cell as if it was non-exposed. This is illustrated in the figure below:
The efficacy of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology in preventing EMFs from causing biological effects has been tested at five different laboratories independently on numerous biological systems and markers; in all tests, EMF-induced biological effects were effectively eliminated, and it has also been tested that the bioprotection noise field does not in itself induce any biological effects, which is logical, as it simulates natural fields.

Laboratories that have tested the efficacy of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology:

  1. Department of Physics, and Department of Biology and Institute for Biomolecular studies, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Att.: Dr. T.A. Litovitz.
  2. Department of Anatomy, The University of Western Ontario, and Departments of Biochemistry, Victoria Hospital, London, Ontario, Canada. Att.: Dr. A.H. Martin.
  3. Department of Pathology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York. Att.: Dr. R. Goodman.
  4. Institute of Communication Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark, and Institute of Medical Biochemistry, University of Aarhus, Denmark. Att.: Dr. S. Kwee.
  5. Bioelectromagnetics Research laboratory, Center for Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle. Att.: Dr. Henry Lai.

The test studies of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology are summarized below, organized according to biological effects and potential health conditions induced by EMFs. Specific biological effects that have been eliminated in the laboratories are "flagged".

The research conducted provide ample support for the hypothesis that the superimposed EMF noise field functions by preventing the fundamental sensoring mechanisms situated in the receptors of the cell from reacting to the constantly oscillating EMF stimulus. This blocks the triggering effect in the cascade of events leading to significant biological effects and potentially adverse health effects.
EMX Corporation has developed a microchip-based implementation of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology. This platform allows easy integration of bioprotection in a wide variety of systems, products and devices emitting bioeffecting EMFs.

The first products to be installed with the EMF Bioprotection™ microchip are mobile phone batteries. EMX Corporation has entered into a cooperation agreement with Alexander Technologies of USA to supply bioprotected batteries for mobile phones.

A mobile phone user who is concerned about the biological effects induced by the emissions of his phone can purchase a bioprotected battery. The installed microchip will emit a a random noise field which blocks the non-thermal biological effects induced by the cell phone EMF. The biological effects shown to be eliminated by the EMF Bioprotection™ technology are marked with the EMF Bioprotection™ logo.

As it appears from this overview, the EMF Bioprotection™ technology has proven its ability to eliminate a broad variety of EMF induced biological effects, along any of four critical pathways of biological events:
  • Gene expression is the fundamental starting point of all metabolic processes in the cell, if you fiddle with that, anything can happen. Gene expression changes caused by external factors can be very adverse, triggering unpredictable cascades of undesirable biological events leading to such different conditions as cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, brain and heart functional impairment, blood disorders, allergies and asthma, mood and behavioral disorders, sleep disturbances, headaches, fatigue, circadian rhythm disorders, etc. It has been demonstrated that the EMF Bioprotection™ technology eliminates EMF-induced gene expression changes related to cancer and biological stress.
  • There is epidemiological as well as laboratory evidence that EMFs change the function of the heart and induce stress which may lead to down-regulation of critical defense and repair mechanisms. This has been shown to adversely affect the mortality rate related to infarctions. It has been shown on live chicken embryos that the EMF Bioprotection™ technology eliminates the EMF-induced impairment of heart defense and repair mechanisms.
  • There is laboratory evidence that EMFs significantly change the activity of important enzymes related to growth and development of nerve and brain tissue and cancer cells, causing changes in metabolism and cell proliferation which may lead to cancer or fetal abnormalities. The EMF Bioprotection™ technology has been shown to eliminate such effects in cells and chicken embryos. The EMF-induced changes in cell metabolism may lead to changes in the production and secretion of critical endocrine and brain hormones and neural substances (neurotransmitters), which are vital to the proper functioning of brain, nerves and organs, and important to the body’s defense against cancer. EMF Bioprotection™ technology has been shown to eliminate EMF-induced changes in the production of such substances, and to normalize EMF-induced changes in brain function of rats.
  • There is laboratory evidence of EMF-induced stress in cells, organs and animals. This is expressed as a change in cell metabolism triggering production of stress proteins, the universal response of a cell exposed to a potentially adverse insult. Stress in short periods is actually beneficial to the organism; however, if the stressful condition persists, such as in the chronic or repetitive exposure to electromagnetic fields, the mechanism of down-regulation comes into play. This may lead to situations where the cells are not prepared for life-threatening stressors such as chemical toxins, bacterial or viral attack, ionizing radiation, anoxia, etc. The consequence of such situations may be excessive cell death, leading to degeneration of tissue in the brain or nerves (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s). The EMF Bioprotection™ technology has been shown to eliminate EMF-induced stress responses.

Providing products with the EMF Bioprotection™ technology

The development and testing of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology has been going on since 1986 by the team of around 15 scientists at CUA. The testings will continue, and more laboratories will be involved in this work in addition to the five laboratories already involved.

The development and testing was initiated and funded in the first five years by the U.S. Army. In 1991, a research and development company called EMX Corporation was founded to continue the funding of the research, and to develop a technological platform for providing protection to consumers with the EMF Bioprotection™ technology.

EMX Corporation with offices in London, New York and San Jose has developed and tested a microchip-based implementation of the EMF Bioprotection™ technology. This will allow manufacturers and distributors of electric, electronic and telecommunication systems, devices and appliances to offer their customers protection against biological effects induced by the EMFs emitted from their products.

EMX Corporation will work with these companies to help them practically and cost-efficiently to integrate EMF Bioprotection™ technology in their products.

The first product incorporating EMF Bioprotection™ is aimed at the mobile phone market. EMX Corporation has entered into an agreement with a large mobile phone battery manufacturer, incorporating EMF Bioprotection™ in their product line. These products are offered existing users of mobile phones. To obtain protection, users of mobile phones just have to buy a new battery for their phone with the EMF Bioprotection™ technology incorporated.

EMX Corporation will be working together with other companies, providing bioprotection to users of hair dryers, electric hand tools, vacuum cleaners, computers, microwave ovens, etc.
  

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