Whenever a new form of technology emerges, it is not uncommon for it to be greeted with suspicion, and even panic , by some sectors of society. We have seen it with the appearance of 5G , previously with 4G, with 3G, and even before that, with the appearance of the global system for mobile communications, or GSM. Certain groups have extended that fear to other forms of radio wave emission such as Wi-Fi or the microwave we use to heat food.
In all this sea of fears and waves, a few years ago, and from time to time they return to the media, serious warnings about the damage that mobile telephony can cause —which is why demonstrations were organized outside schools— and even the testimonies of people who, suffering from a series of very real symptoms, claim to suffer from electromagnetic hypersensitivity .
non-ionizing radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is transmitted in the form of waves that travel at the speed of light . When looking at the spectrum we find different types of radiation, depending on the length of those waves. Longer waves (low frequencies) carry less energy, while those with a shorter length (high frequencies) carry more energy.
Among the longest waves are radio waves , followed by microwaves and infrared radiation . Above it, more energetic than any of them, is visible light , beyond that, ultraviolet radiation (A, B, and C), X- rays , and gamma radiation.
These latter forms are dangerous due to their ability to affect the molecular and atomic structure and alter it, producing ions. Hence the name ionizing radiation .
However, from ultraviolet A radiation (closest to visible light, also called UVA), the radiation does not have enough energy to alter molecular structure, and the most it can do is heat matter. We call it non-ionizing radiation .
In the most energetic cases of non-ionizing radiation, such as UVA rays, the heat can cause health problems. Infrared radiation is also known to transport heat; in fact, every body emits this type of radiation, to a greater or lesser intensity depending on its temperature.
However, that is all the effect that has been verified in non-ionizing radiation: its ability to provide heat . Since mobile telephony uses wavelengths between radio waves and microwaves, and also uses extraordinarily low intensities, the thermal effect is minimal. In fact, the infrared radiation that the battery emits when it heats up carries much more energy than the waves that the device uses to communicate.
Of course, that intensity is another variable to take into account . Although they have the same wavelength, the light of a pocket flashlight does not cause the same effect as that of the spotlights at a concert. Even with low-frequency radiation, a very high intensity could cause damage. To do this, the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) establishes safety limits based on the available scientific evidence.
The intensity values observed in mobile telephony are between ten thousand and one hundred thousand times below the limits set by the ICNIRP. As if on a highway with a speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour we were traveling at between one and ten meters per hour. The daily radiation we receive from a mobile phone to our ear has been compared to the radiation we receive from a 100-watt light bulb placed two kilometers away.
electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Despite not having a physical basis —not only are there no proven effects at that level of intensity, but we also don’t have the receptors that allow us to perceive it—, some people suffer from a series of very real symptoms, which they claim are due to exposure to mobile phone radiation. They usually report exhaustion, headache or difficulty concentrating.
And since science doesn’t know everything, it’s still wise to explore all possibilities.
Multiple investigations have been carried out looking for the origin of electromagnetic hypersensitivity . The most recently published was carried out by a team led by Professor Po-Chang Huang, from the National Cheng Kung University, in Taiwan. In this investigation, they carried out an analysis with a group of patients with electromagnetic hypersensitivity and a group of healthy people as a control.
The participants were exposed in a controlled manner to an environment in which periods of emission of electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones alternated randomly with periods without emissions. The conditions were double- blind , that is, neither the participant nor the researchers were informed when there were electromagnetic emissions and when there were not.
During the test, the patients had to report their symptoms at each moment, including when they perceived radiation and when they did not . In addition, different parameters were monitored, such as blood pressure and heart rate.
The results expected by patients who really had sensitivity to this type of radiation would be a symptomatic response when the radiation was activated, as well as a positive detection on their part.
However, both the group of patients with electromagnetic hypersensitivity and the control group had the same result: no participant could correctly identify the presence or absence of mobile radiation in the controlled environment, and in no case were there changes in physiological parameters.
On the other hand, thinking about it coldly, a person who has this problem should suffer the same from the radiation emitted by television, radio – FM waves are generally the most intense – or even by high-voltage cables. In fact, there is a source of electromagnetic radiation that is much more powerful and energetic than any of the previous ones, and that would mask any effect produced by them: the sun .
a nocebo problem
Everything indicates that the cause of these problems is not the radiation of mobile phones . However, the symptoms are very real . In 2015, an investigation by a team led by Dr. Jarry Prosius, from the Vrije University Medical Center, Amsterdam, produced very interesting results. In their study, they compiled the self-perceived health status of a group of participants and compared it with the distance they lived from a high-voltage power line. They found that, indeed, the closer they lived, the more health problems they suffered.
What the participants did not know was that the line was down.
The conclusions of this type of study show that the symptomatology, which is very real, does not originate from low-frequency electromagnetic radiation as patients believe, but from a false perception of risk .
It is a nocebo effect —the opposite of the placebo effect—, in which the belief of being at risk generates an expectation of negative effects, which, by suggestion, become real but non-specific symptoms.
This article has been reviewed by Professor Alberto Nájera, a physicist at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Castilla – La Mancha.
REFERENCES:
Huang, P.-C. et al. 2022. Physiological changes and symptoms associated with short-term exposure to electromagnetic fields: a randomized crossover provocation study. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source, 21(1), 31. DOI: 10.1186/s12940-022-00843-1
Porsius, J. T. et al. 2015. Symptom reporting after the introduction of a new high-voltage power line: A prospective field study. Environmental Research, 138, 112-117. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2015.02.009
Ramirez-Vazquez, R. et al. 2019. Characterisation of personal exposure to environmental radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in Albacete (Spain) and assessment of risk perception. Environmental Research, 172, 109-116. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.015
Rubin, G. J. et al. 2005. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: a systematic review of provocation studies. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67(2), 224-232. DOI: 10.1097/01.psy.0000155664.13300.64
