Part 1: How Electricity Affects Biology

During the past century, electricity has become the driving force of civilization, yet much mystery still surrounds this primal energy. We don't really know to what extent biological processes are affected by the electromagnetic fields that emanate from everything electrical.

As the new century promises to revolutionize our knowledge of the human brain, a crucial question begs to be answered: "What long-term effects does man-made electricity have on this extraordinarily complex and sensitive creation?"

This comprehensive report begins with an exploration into how electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are known to interact with the brain. Evidence is reviewed showing that EMFs can increase free radicals, activate the stress response, and alter enzyme reactions. Important new findings about the electrical nature of the brain are also presented. Continuing reports will look at ways cognitive function can be influenced by the radiofrequency radiation used in wireless communication.

By bringing together diverse pieces of the puzzle, these reports hope to provide a better understanding of EMF bioeffects and underscore the importance of protecting our most precious asset, the brain.

Cellular Safety

Current safety guidelines for cell phones are intended to protect the human body only from excessive heating caused by absorption of energy - a known danger linked to the intensity of radiofrequency microwaves. But intensity and temperature are not the only considerations.

Living cells also respond in non-thermal ways to the low frequency magnetic fields produced by cell phones. Consequently, bioeffects can occur at intensities well below the established safety threshold.

A growing body of scientific evidence points to the need for more caution in the use of cell phones and in the placement of transmission towers - until we know the full effects of wireless radiation on the brain.

Electromagnetic Fields and Free Radicals

The mechanism by which an external electromagnetic field interacts with an internal biological process is thought to be through the action of free radicals. These are highly reactive atoms whose unpaired electrons initiate chemical chain reactions that damage cells.

At its most fundamental level, biology is physics. During all biochemical reactions, bonds between atoms are constantly breaking and reforming. The atoms in a chemical bond share a pair of electrons whose opposite spins create a magnetic attraction. When a chemical bond breaks, each atom reclaims its electron and briefly becomes a free radical - until it pairs up with another atomic partner whose electron has an opposite spin.

The magnetic field component of an external EMF can delay this "recombination rate" of free radical pairs. In other words, magnetic fields cause radicals to stay free longer. Although measured in nanoseconds, this extra time gives them the potential to do more damage.

Research has shown that magnetic fields increase the average concentration of free radicals, lengthen their lifetime, and enhance the probability of radical reactions with cellular components. [Scaiano, Photochem Photobiol 1994 Jun;59(6):585-89 and Brocklehurst, Int J Radiat Biol 1996 Jan;69(1):3-24]

Although free radicals are a normal part of metabolism and play a vital role in many biochemical processes, the body must keep them under control. An increase in free radicals can affect various cellular and physiological processes, including gene expression, release of calcium from intracellular storage sites, cell growth, and cell death. The actual effects, however, can vary from individual to individual and may depend on one's nutritional status and the availability of dietary antioxidants.

An Oxidant Waiting to Happen

Because free radicals cause oxidation reactions which damage cells, the body removes them with anti-oxidants, molecules that readily donate their electrons to neutralize free radicals. These include potent antioxidant enzymes manufactured in the body, as well as vital antioxidants obtained from food. (Click here for more details about the neuroprotective role of antioxidants.)

A recently completed major study involving 3,385 Japanese-American men reinforces the value of antioxidants for the brain. Elderly men who took both vitamin C and E supplements had an 88% reduction in the frequency of vascular dementia, compared with men who did not take the supplements. The protective effect was substantially greater in men who reported long-term use of both vitamins. Furthermore, they actually showed improvements in cognitive function. [Masaki, Neurology 2000;54:1265-72]

EMFs and DNA

Several studies by Henry Lai and Narendra Singh at the University of Washington's Bioelectromagnetics Research Laboratory have shed new light on the biological effects of electromagnetic fields. DNA damage (single- and double-strand breaks) was observed in the brain cells of rats exposed for two hours to a 60 Hz (cycles per second) magnetic field - the kind generated by household electric currents. This same type of DNA damage also occurred after a two-hour exposure to radiofrequency microwaves at power levels considered safe.

The researchers then found that this EMF-induced DNA damage could be blocked by treating the rats with antioxidants, including melatonin, immediately before and after exposure. Melatonin is a hormone secreted from the brain's pineal gland. As a potent antioxidant, it effectively eliminates free radicals inside cells - suggesting that free radicals may play a role in the genetic damage caused by magnetic fields. [Lai, J Pineal Res 1997 Apr;22(3):152-62 and Singh, Bioelectromagnetics 1997;18:446-54]

The effect of radiofrequency radiation on DNA could conceivably be more significant on neurons than on other cell types, because these nerve cells have a low capability for DNA repair, says Dr. Lai. "Since nerve cells do not divide and are not likely to become cancerous, more likely consequences of DNA damage in nerve cells are changes in functions and cell death, which could either lead to or accelerate the development of neurodegenerative diseases." (Glial cells, however, can become cancerous. These more numerous brain cells are the ones that protect and support neurons.)

Dr. Lai cautions against applying the existing research results to evaluate the possible health effects of normal cell phone usage. While it is difficult to deny that radiofrequency at low intensity can affect the nervous system, he says "the available data suggest a complex reaction involving many parameters of exposure." More research is needed, but since not much is known on the biological effects of cell phones, "prudent usage should be taken as a logical guideline." [Mobile Phones and Health, Symposium, October 1998, University of Vienna, Austria]

Melatonin Matters

The chemical neurotransmitter dopamine is uniquely vulnerable to free radical damage. Many researchers believe that some diseases of aging - most notably, Parkinson's disease - are associated with the loss of dopamine-using neurons. Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D., showed in animal experiments that melatonin was effective in blocking the oxidative damage to these brain cells. Her results indicated "melatonin possesses the remarkable ability to rescue dopamine neurons from cell death in several experimental paradigms associated with oxidative stress." [Iacovitti, Brain Res 1997 Sep 12;768(1-2):317-26]

Past research has demonstrated a correlation between EMFs and decreased levels of melatonin in the body, but results have been inconsistent. Numerous factors are involved, including one's natural melatonin levels and the length of exposure. A recent study suggests there may be a "cumulative effect of magnetic field exposure on the stability of individual melatonin measurements over time." [Graham, J Pineal Res 2000 Jan;28(1):1-8]

EMFs are characterized by many variables, such as the orientation of the magnetic field and its polarity. In a study of electric utility workers, Dr. Jim Burch of Colorado State University has shown that certain EMF environments have a greater effect on melatonin levels. The key difference may be the polarization of the magnetic field. Burch's preliminary results agree with a series of animal studies by Dr. Masamichi Kato in Japan. [Burch, J Occup Environ Med 2000 Feb;42(2):136-42 and Kato, Neurosci Lett 1994 Jan 17;166(1):59-62]

DNA Conducts Electricity

Swiss scientists at the University of Basel reported in March 1999 that DNA conducts electricity as well as a good semiconductor. A few months later, a research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology actually observed the complicated process by which an electrical charge moves through DNA.

"It's not at all like a conductor or a wire," said lead author Dr. Gary B. Schuster. He compared the charge transport mechanism to the movement of a Slinky, the large spring used as a toy. When an electrical charge is injected into DNA, the DNA responds by changing its structure to accommodate and distribute the charge over several of its structural base pairs. This creates a local distortion that, just like the compression in a Slinky, can move in the DNA.

The charge transfer stops when it encounters a specific pairing of two chemical bases (guanine), where it then oxidizes the guanine and causes strand breaks that can lead to genetic mutations. [Schuster, Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999 Jul 20;96(15):8353-58]

Normally, DNA is capable of efficiently repairing itself. Through a homeostatic mechanism, cells maintain a delicate balance between spontaneous and induced DNA damage. By causing an increase in free radicals, however, EMFs may be altering this balance.

Errors in Cell Division May Be the Key to Aging

A new study published in the March 31, 2000 edition of Science indicates that the source of many, if not all illnesses of aging, may be due to gradual genetic changes. Lead researcher Danith Ly, Ph.D., theorized that genes go awry because they are damaged by free radicals.

"This study suggests that aging is really a disease of quality control. In this case the manufactured product is a new cell," says co-author Richard A. Lerner, M.D., president of The Scripps Research Institute. While the research is not conclusive, Lerner says the process begins slowly in middle age and gradually accelerates as we get older. In tissues throughout the body, an increase in cell division errors leads to altered gene expression which causes the loss of tissue function - culminating in the diseases and conditions associated with human aging.

In 1999, Swedish researchers exposed mice to EMFs generated by actual outdoor electric transmission power lines (220 kV). After 32 days of exposure, a highly significant change was observed in the animals' brain cells. The researchers said their "data indicate that transmission lines of this type may induce genotoxic effects in mice, seen as changes in the DNA migration." [Svedenstal, In Vivo 1999 Nov-Dec;13(6):507-13]

Stay Cool

The Scripps study also revealed links to specific age-related diseases. In neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, there was evidence for the overexpression of a protein (crystallin) associated with heat shock.

Keeping brain cells from overheating is one of the bloodstream's functions. Blood not only delivers oxygen, glucose, and nutrients, and removes toxins; it also cools the brain. An efficient cerebral vascular system enabled the evolution of intelligence, and healthy blood vessels continue to be necessary for proper cognitive function - and for protection against neurodegenerative diseases - especially since both "epidemiologic and pathologic observations suggest that vascular factors may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease." [Di Iorio, Aging (Milano) 1999 Dec;11(6):345-52]

Last summer's Midwest heat wave revealed another piece to the neurological health puzzle. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that psychiatric medicines could make the mentally ill especially vulnerable to death from intense summer heat. This is because antidepressants that target the brain can interfere with the body's thermoregulatory system.

Heat Stress from EMFs

To protect body tissue from being overheated, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has set the maximum allowed "specific absorption rate" (SAR) from cell phones at 1.6 W/Kg (watts per kilogram). This is partial-body exposure, as averaged over one gram of tissue. The whole-body threshold is 0.08 W/Kg.

This thermal threshold is itself problematical, because it is based on the body's ability to maintain homeostasis during heating from the radiofrequency radiation. But even if the body's thermoregulatory mechanism succeeds in distributing the heat and maintaining the temperature at the pre-irradiation value, a certain stress still develops.

A pioneer in the bioeffects of electromagnetic fields, Dr. Robert O. Becker, emphasizes the role of EMFs in producing stress. In his landmark 1990 book, Cross Currents: The Perils of Electropollution; The Promise of Electromedicine, he points out that exposure to any abnormal electromagnetic field produces a stress response. After prolonged exposure, the body's stress response system can be exhausted and the immune system compromised. In such a state, animals and humans could become more susceptible to cancer and infectious diseases.

Dr. Becker refers to experiments conducted in the early 1980s by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine. Test animals were continuously exposed for long periods to microwaves at a power density twenty times lower than the safe thermal level. They developed a fourfold increase in cancers of the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands - the primary organs through which the body mediates stress. [Scientific American, Sep. 1986]

The cellular stress response is a protective mechanism that enables cells to survive. It is activated by a wide variety of environmental stimuli, such as high temperature, oxygen starvation, and heavy metals, as well as EMFs. Cells essentially perceive man-made electromagnetic fields as potentially harmful.

Thermal vs. Non-Thermal Stress Response

Ongoing research by Columbia University scientists Reba Goodman and Martin Blank has focused on how EMFs cause stress in cells. They found that the "cellular response to low frequency magnetic fields is activated by unusually weak stimuli, and involves pathways only partially associated with heat shock stress." [Goodman, J Cell Biochem 1999 Dec 1;75(3):369-74]

To provide a more realistic basis for new cell phone safety standards, Goodman and Blank have recently focused on the bioeffects of radiofrequency radiation. They discovered remarkable similarities in the biological responses to both the low and the high frequency fields emanating from cell phones. What's more, preliminary results showed that "the energy required to induce stress proteins with low frequency EM fields is 14 orders of magnitude lower than required by temperature increase."

Not only did they find it possible to differentiate between thermal and non-thermal stress, but the stress proteins induced by low frequency served as "biomarkers" to monitor the early stages of the cellular stress reaction to EMFs - prior to activation by increased temperature. They believe this will make it is possible to establish a lower, more accurate safety threshold for cell phones and towers.

Electromagnetic Fields and Enzymes

Another pathway by which living organisms are influenced by radiofrequency radiation in a non-thermal way may be through an alteration in the activity of important enzymes. A well-studied example is ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), an enzyme involved in the regulation of cell growth. High ODC activity is characteristic of the unregulated growth of tumor cells, and ODC activity has been shown to be sensitive to both extremely low frequency magnetic fields and to radiofrequency fields. [Byus, Carcinogenesis 1987 Oct;8(10):1385-89 and Pieper, Cancer Res 1988 Aug 1;48(15):4222-26]

Enzymes are crucial because they act as catalysts to accelerate hundreds of thousands of metabolic reactions that would otherwise take place far too slowly to sustain life. Enzyme reaction rate is therefore a key factor in biochemical processes.

Scientists are learning more and more about intracellular communication pathways. Signals originating at the cell membrane initiate a production sequence of enzyme "cascades" within the cell. These signaling pathways are proving to be sensitive to weak EMFs. [Engstrom, Bioelectromagnetics 1999 Oct;20(7):423-30 and Adey, J Cell Biochem 1993 Apr;51(4):410-16]

In his summary of "Cell and Molecular Biology Associated with Radiation Fields of Mobile Telephones," longtime EMF researcher Dr. W. Ross Adey at the Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, writes: "Microwave bioeffects at the cellular level support concepts of athermal responses not mediated by tissue heating. . . Cell membranes have been identified as the site of transduction of many of these responses, with initiation of enzyme cascades that chemically couple cell surface radiofrequency signals to intracellular systems, including some that reach cell nuclei and regulate processes of cell growth and division."

Programmed-Cell-Death

Dr. Adey also points to evidence that suggests these same enzyme cascades have probable continuing roles in programmed-cell-death (apoptosis), in the promotional phase of tumor formation, and in the pathophysiology of certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

In the process of programmed-cell-death, enzymes called "caspases" are unleashed to destroy cells that are abnormal or are no longer needed. In Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), scientists believe the process of caspase-mediated apoptosis is misdirected and begins to destroy neurons. [Friedlander, Science 2000 Apr 14;288(5464):335-39]

Enzymes and Free Radicals

Reduced activity of a key mitochondrial enzyme complex has been observed in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscientists at Cornell University think a reduction in alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex (KGDHC) may be responsible for the decreases in brain metabolism characteristic of many neurodegenerative disorders. Their research suggests "KGDHC participates in a deleterious cascade of events related to oxidative stress that are critical in selective neuronal loss in neurodegenerative diseases." [Gibson, Ann N Y Acad Sci 1999;893:79-94 and Sheu, Neurochem Int 2000 Feb;36(2):97-112]

Much of this intracellular signaling is mediated by free radicals. Like so many processes, enzyme kinetics is also affected by radical pair recombination rates. Research conducted at Stanford University's Department of Radiation Oncology suggests that although a magnetic field may induce only a very small change in radical pair recombination rate, "the effect on the enzyme reaction rate is considerably larger, for example, by a factor of 1 to 100." [Eichwald, Biophys J 1996 Aug;71(2):623-31]

Related research by chemists at the University of Utah found that a decrease in the activity of a vitamin B12-dependent enzyme was likely caused by an applied magnetic field that changed the behavior of free radical pairs. [Grissom, Science 1994 Feb 18;263(5149):958-60 and Taoka, Bioelectromagnetics 1997;18(7):506-13]

Inhibitory Neurons Use Electrical Connections

Until very recently it was thought neurons could communicate only with chemical neurotransmitters that travel across the gaps (synapses) between neurons. In 1999, Brown University researchers discovered a network of inhibitory neurons able to communicate directly with one another through electrical connections - a previously unknown type of brain circuitry.

According to neuroscience professor Barry Connors, electrical synapses may allow these neurons to generate activity over a large area of the brain. They may be acting as the brain's "pacemaker" by creating some of the brain's rhythmic electrical activity, which can be measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG).

Inhibitory neurons, or I-neurons, prevent the brain from quickly spinning out of control into hyperexcited states. Their malfunction is involved in autism and ADHD, as well as in memory disorders, neural trauma, and addictions. They also play a role in a wide range of psychiatric conditions, such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and schizophrenia.

This electric neural network is especially suited to regulating higher brain functions, explains Connors. "Most of the time it is not doing anything, but it becomes active when the brain's activity increases to a high level. . . and may act like the governor on the engine of the cortex, keeping excitability from running away and becoming an epileptic seizure." [Nature 1999 Nov 4;402(6757):75-9]

Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science recently discovered that I-neurons are far more diverse than previously thought and have an extremely sophisticated system of controlling other neurons. They build complex synaptic connections onto thousands of neighboring neurons. These synapses then act as fast-switching "if-then" filtering gates that allow inhibition to be selectively applied - at the exact millisecond and to the right degree. This allows a small group of I-neurons to simultaneously give personal attention to the activity of each of the neurons to which they are connected. [Markram, Science 2000 Jan 14;287(5451):273-78]

Electrical Rhythms in the Thalamus

Another newly recognized electrical aspect of the brain involves the thalamus, a crucial region that helps filter sensory information from the environment. As a communication hub, the thalamus plays a central role in the brain's ability to perceive, interpret, and respond.

Dr. Rodolfo Llinas, a professor of physiology at New York University School of Medicine, has demonstrated that the frequency of brain's electrical system is slower in the thalamus during sleep and much higher when a person is awake. He observed that patients suffering from Parkinson's disease had low frequency oscillations in their brain patterns when awake, instead of the usual high frequency ones. Part of the thalamus' intricate network seemed to be still asleep, causing havoc in the brain's perception of the internal and external environments.

At the October 1999 Society for Neuroscience meeting, Llinas suggested that these abnormal rhythms may be a common thread underlying Parkinson's disease, depression, epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, chronic pain, and tinnitis. [Llinas, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1999 Dec 21;96(26):15222-27]

Since neurons are sensitive to less than a millionth of a volt per centimeter, much more research needs to be done into the effect that external EMFs have on the electrical activity of I-neurons and on the thalamus.

The Electromagnetic Environment Ain't What She Used to Be From fertilization to final heartbeat, we are electrical beings. Death is even defined as the end of electrical activity in the brain. We have evolved within a narrow range of physical parameters (temperature, pressure, gravity), but more than any other aspect of nature we have changed the electromagnetic spectrum - immersing ourselves in a sea of man-made EMFs that only a century ago were unknown to life.

Only now are we beginning to realize how a small increase in global temperature can have complex consequences. We know even less about the true repercussions of the unnatural electromagnetic radiation we are creating. This revolutionary modification of a fundamental aspect of life is untested for long-term safety. Furthermore, epidemiological effects of EMFs are difficult to measure, because few control groups exist.

Despite industry assurances of safety, an increasing number of scientists and citizens are insisting on caution - the precautionary principal of prudent avoidance - until we know much more about the bioeffects of EMFs, especially those associated with cell phones and transmission towers.

New Cell Phone Legislation

"It is inappropriate that critical health and safety studies lag behind the vast expansion of cellular telephone marketing." This is the rationale for a new consumer-oriented cellular telephone bill introduced by California Senator Tom Hayden in February 2000.

"We think this bill makes a lot of sense," says the executive director of the National Brain Tumor Foundation. "It's just a precautionary measure."

Opposing the bill is the Cellular Carriers Association of California. It says the industry was "continuing to look at everything possible to make sure the service was safe."

Louis Slesin, editor of Microwave News, disagrees, noting that spending on safety research has been ridiculously small. "After all, when a device is pumping radiofrequency/microwave energy into a complex electrical system like the brain, it would seem natural to ask if it changes the way that system works. Instead, no cognitive studies of mobile phones were done until the last couple of years, and none has ever been done in the United States."

In April, the California bill passed initial hearings before two Senate committees. Language was rejected, however, which would have required retailers to warn customers about the potential health risks of cell phones and to offer accessories that reduce exposure to emissions.

Most important, the bill will require the State Department of Health Services to "review existing surveys and research concerning the health effects of cellular telephones and adopt regulations or undertake additional research." SB 1699, the first such legislation in the United States, also states:

"Recent studies suggest the possibility of links between cellular telephone use and human health impacts such as brain tumors, memory loss, and genetic mutations.

"A study funded by the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association concluded that cellular telephone service users are at risk of acoustic neuroma, a benign tumor of the auditory nerve, and increased risk of neuroepithelial tumors on the outside of the brain. The same study found a positive correlation between the amount of cellular telephone service use and tumor development.

"The federal Food and Drug Administration in October 1999 concluded: 'Available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile telephones are absolutely safe or unsafe.'"

Scotland Cautions Siting of Transmission Towers The Scottish Parliament's Transport and the Environment Committee has been reviewing research into the health effects associated with wireless radiation. They listened to the concerns of communities and individuals across Scotland, as well as reviewed testimonies submitted from other parts of England and the world.

In March 2000, the committee recommended that all telecommunication towers, including cell phone transmission towers, should be required to apply for planning permissions, and local authorities should adopt a precautionary approach:

"Based on the evidence received, the Committee considers that there is reasonable doubt about the health risks and recommends that health should be viewed as a material planning consideration and a precautionary approach should be adopted at a national level allowing for local flexibility. The Committee considers that areas such as schools, nurseries, hospitals, and residential areas may be considered sensitive for environmental health reasons."

The Story Continues The next installment of The Cell Phone Chronicles will look at how EMFs affect neurotransmitters and the blood-brain barrier. Also, "resonance" will be discussed. This fascinating phenomenon involves Earth's natural geomagnetic field and may account for some of the cognitive bioeffects observed with cell phone usage, as well as why many EMF experiments have been difficult to reproduce.

Finally, the most contentious issue will be examined: the safety of long-term, low-dose irradiation from broadcast and cell phone transmission towers. People throughout the world are expressing their opposition to the presence of these techno-monuments in their neighborhood. Often it's simply because the towers are ugly and their flashing red lights are annoying. But that's just the tip of the iceberg - what we can see.

Unfortunately, our five senses cannot perceive the bulk of the iceberg - the invisible waves radiating from transmission towers. Our exquisitely sensitive brains can, though, and are capable of responding to wireless radiation in subtle yet significant ways.