What are we talking about?
This is a topic that has been talked about for a long time, both in the scientific and popular fields. Often controversial, sometimes opposed by the greats of telephony and industry, full of distorted and scientifically "incorrect" information. A battle has begun for some time between independent doctors / researchers on both sides, the telecommunications giants who can afford to subsidize research with pre-established results with millions of euros in turnover! In the middle ground? Indeed, people have come up with a new and justified terminology to identify the thousands of people who have already understood that something is not working in all this technology: electro-sensitive devices .
In Sweden, Prof. Olle Johanson, who has been studying this phenomenon for over 20 years, has been taken into consideration at national level, to the point that in this country, exposure levels are the lowest in Europe, indeed in the world! In Italy the protection of civil rights is left as usual in the hands of groups of people who together form associations, such as the one coordinated by Sergio Crippa in Lombardy "Italian Association of Electrosensitives". On the national territory, dozens and dozens of antennas pop up every day, ecological monsters that have a dual function; ruin the landscape and undermine people's health.
But let's go in order and try to figure it out.
Power lines, radio links, cell phones and thermal effects
Man and the environment represent an interactive system based on an unstable equilibrium. The environment can alter the psychophysical state of man and the main causes of such disorders can be of natural or artificial origin.
Natural origin : underground waterways, moving aquifers, swamps, artesian wells, oil deposits, gas pockets, underground cavities and tunnels, some minerals, radon gas and its decays, modifications of terrestrial magnetic fields and all that involves an increase in natural radioactivity.
Artificial origin : canalization of water and gas, electrical pollution, high and low frequencies, any electrical and electronic material, microwaves, pollution and chemical-physical emanations.
Particular attention has been paid to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and to the possible damage that they are able to induce in humans. Let's see the difference.
Ionizing radiation : gamma rays emitted by radioactive materials, cosmic rays and X-rays (radiographs) are able to break the bonds between molecules with degenerative consequences on the whole organism.
Non-ionizing radiation : it is any type of electromagnetic radiation that does not have enough energy to break molecular or atomic bonds. In turn, they are subdivided into HIGH FREQUENCY (radio and television systems, radio bridges, Radio Base Stations for mobile phones, cell phones, etc.) and LOW FREQUENCY (power lines).
Non-ionizing radiation has sufficient energy only to excite the movement of an electron to a higher energy state, producing heat. Nevertheless different biological effects are observed for different types of non-ionizing radiation, since the biological effect depends very much on their frequency, so that even for this type of waves it is customary to adopt a further differentiation. The main biological effect of low-frequency fields (power lines) is to produce within our bodies (for the so-called induction) electric currents that can overlap with natural currents, giving life, especially in the presence of high field strengths, to nervous and muscular overexcitations (irritative action on the central nervous system). There is also talk of a possible correlation between low-frequency fields and some cases of childhood leukemia arising in children living near high-voltage lines. At high frequencies, especially in the presence of high field strengths, the so-called thermal effects predominate, namely the heating of body tissues due to the absorption of radiation.
In the presence of high absorption rates, the less vascularized organs are particularly at risk, ie those with poor blood circulation and therefore a slower thermal decongestion, such as the eyes or testicles. They heat up faster and are therefore more exposed to risk than other areas of the body. In some studies a negative effect of cellular radiofrequencies on the brain (heating) has been hypothesized, in particular for children (International Expert Group on Mobile Phones - IEGMP - Stewart report). However, other research on this problem could not support the hypothesis of a possible health risk.
From thermal effects to athermal ones
The athermic effects, always due to the high frequencies, are long-lasting exposures of low intensity (mobile phone always in the pocket). Scientific research has not yet shed full light on the real consequences that these athermic effects may have on human health. In some cases, only experimental data is available (ie obtained with in vitro or animal tests). In others, the results obtained appear to be contradictory. From the various studies performed the following effects emerge:
Alterations of the enzymatic activity of ornithinadecarboxylase (an enzyme that, when active, is associated with the onset of tumors)
Change in the calcium content of cells (ion transport in and out of cells)
Alterations of cell membrane proteins and modification of ion transport across the membrane itself (an essential phenomenon for brain cells).
All these effects can result in more or less manifest alterations of the cellular function, with consequences on human health that still need to be deepened and verified. Currently, similarly to other agents whose biological effects are still partly unknown, the researches are trying to clarify some aspects considered particularly critical: the possible relationship between the high frequency fields or those with very low frequency and some types of tumors, the disorders of reproductive function, some congenital malformations, epilepsy, headaches and other neurophysiological disorders (such as amnesia or depression), disorders of the immune system, degeneration of ocular tissue, increased risk of the onset of negative effects in some subjects like children, pregnant women or the elderly. Until now, the effects on health produced by the athermal effects of high-frequency or very low-frequency radiation cannot yet be assessed, nor can absolute legal limits be established.
