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Comment: A biological guide for electromagnetic safety: the stress response
Author(s) -
Blank Martin,
Goodman Reba
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
bioelectromagnetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.435
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-186X
pISSN - 0197-8462
DOI - 10.1002/bem.20061
Subject(s) - bioelectromagnetics , electromagnetic field , specific absorption rate , radio frequency , fight or flight response , mechanism (biology) , stress (linguistics) , extremely low frequency , biophysics , biochemical engineering , physics , biology , biological system , computer science , genetics , telecommunications , engineering , antenna (radio) , gene , linguistics , philosophy , quantum mechanics
Questions of safety of electromagnetic (EM) fields should be based on relevant biological properties, i.e., specific cellular reactions to potentially harmful stimuli. The stress response is a well documented protective reaction of plant and animal cells to a variety of environmental threats, and it is stimulated by both extremely low frequency (ELF) and radio frequency (RF) EM fields. It involves activation of DNA to initiate synthesis of stress proteins. Thermal and non‐thermal stimuli affect different segments of DNA and utilize different biochemical pathways. However, both ELF and RF stimulate the same non‐thermal pathway. Since the same biochemical reactions are stimulated in different frequency ranges with very different specific absorption rates (SARs), SAR level is not a valid basis for safety standards. Studies of EM field interactions with DNA and with model systems provide insight into a plausible mechanism that can be effective in ELF and RF ranges. Bioelectromagnetics 25:642–646, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.