Biological effects of electromagnetic fields and radiation

A large number of experiments have investigated the biological effects of exposure to low intensity electromagnetic fields and radiations. Much of this research has used rodents or other mammals, although advances in cellular and molecular biology have resulted in the increasing use of cell cultures. Relatively few studies have used human volunteers. Many biological endpoints have been examined using various frequencies and a mixture of field strengths. However, neither a consistent nor a coherent strategy has been adopted, which has resulted in an extensive and diverse literature that is largely phenomenological in nature. Inconsistent, and contradictory effects have been reported, and few attempts made to replicate important or controversial studies. Overall, very few biological effects of exposure have been established, and no adverse health effects have been confirmed. The biological effects of electromagnetic fields and radiations are discussed under two separate sections, as their interactions with biological tissues differ in different regions of the spectrum. The first section relates to exposure to time-varying fields with frequencies less than 100 kHz, and the second section considers exposure to fields of frequencies greater than 100 kHz