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The Effects of High Frequencies

A cell phone may have become attached to your hip, but maybe it shouldn't become attached to your head. Though the jury's still out on whether the high-frequency electromagnetic fields emitted by devices like cell phones, computers, GPS devices and other modern equipment are dangerous, a few studies show that ordinary amounts of high frequencies over prolonged periods can change the way a brain behaves.

  1. How Much?

    • According to a 2002 study by professors Uner Tan and Alexander Kramarenko, the average cell phone emits 800 to 2,200 MHz of EMF radiation -- just below the amount radiated by a microwave oven. Though cell phone manufacturers and electric utilities, another distributor of EMF, insist this doesn't pose any health risks, this study found that mice were twice a likely to develop tumors when exposed to 2 1/2 hours of cell phone radiation a day.

    Besides Tumors

    • The 2002 study also found that human subjects exposed to regular cell phone EMF radiation -- 10 adult males and 10 children -- experienced a change revealed by a common brain-scan test, called an electroencephalography. In short, cell phone radiation caused a cycle of slow-wave pulses in the brain every 15 to 20 seconds, with unknown health risks, that even continued to radiate for several seconds after the cell phone was turned off. The only other time these so-called "delta" waves are created, according to the study, is during sleep.

    Other Tests, Effects

    • A test by leading Japanese scientists, published in the American Physiology Association's "Journal of Neurophysiology" in 1999, showed that high frequency radiation, imperceptible to the ear, alters brain activity in numerous still-being-studied ways. Above 20 kHz, the frequency's transmission or "noise" can't be heard, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have an effect on blood flow. Audible sounds, when combined with high-frequency emissions, resulted in what researchers dubbed a "hypersonic effect," which subjects said sounded more pleasing to hear and actually alters subjects mood and heart rate.

    Health Risks Being Studied

    • The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection is a nonprofit on a mission to reveal what's safe and what's not in regard to all types of dangerous radiation. Regarding EMF, the organization used funding from the World Health Organization to study the risks in 2009. It found, in short, no connection between adverse health effects in humans and cell phone use, other than physiological changes brought about by the heat created by the phones. It did note, however, that it is "impossible to disprove" whether higher-level EMF exposure for prolonged periods of time is potentially dangerous.

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