Published since 2024 (Volume 3)

Study snapshot

Abstract

Published since 2024 (Volume 3) Joel M. Moskowitz, Ph.D. School of Public Health University of California, Berkeley Electromagnetic Radiation Safety March 6, 2025 Edition Links hereby incorporated by reference. Research of the Biomedical Effects of Electromagnetic Field in Russia over 130 Years: Main Stages of Advances in Scientific Knowledge Grigoriev OA, Ushakov IB, Alexseeva, VA. Research of the Biomedical Effects of Electromagnetic Field in Russia over 130 Years: Main Stages of Advances in Scientific Knowledge. Biology Bulletin, 2024, 51(12):1- 13. doi: 10.1134/S1062359024701784. Abstract We have analyzed the key stages of advances in the scientific history of research into the biomedical effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) in Russia over 130 years and proved the continuity of this scientific knowledge and its passage from one generation of scientists to the next due to scientific schools, systematic research, and national scientific coordination. The article focuses mainly on the period in which planned EMF health research was formed, the basic methodological principles were founded, and scientific principles were established for understanding the nature of the biological effects of EMF and their impact on health. The basic concepts on the part of Russian scientists about the mechanism underlying the biological effects of EMF and principles of their hygienic regulation are summarized. Excerpts The data of radiobiological studies using complex irradiation modes suggest that microwave EMF with average EFD values ≤ 500 μW/cm2 (in continuous mode or in pulses) should be considered as a stimulus to the central nervous system. Therefore, it is fair to apply the laws of physiology on biological strength, adaptive response, and ways to enhance the biological significance of a weak stimulus [67, 68].... According to current data, the Federal Statistics Agency Rosstat has recorded an increase in morbidity over 25 years for predicted disease groups in the population of adolescents aged 15–17 (malignant tumors, diseases of the nervous system, immunodefiency-related disorders, and diseases of the auditory and visual organs). Data from basic research, as well as assessment of the possible contribution of EMF from cellular communications to the increase in morbidity, performed by the IARC methodology, show that the dependence of increased morbidity on the effect of EMF indeed exists and is not a random coincidence. However, it is difficult to directly determine risk due to the uncertainty of dosimetry data, the absence of modern comparison groups, and incomplete concept of acceptable risk for mass cellular technology [70].... Conclusion This review of the history of research of electro- magnetic biology, radiobiology, and hygiene of non- ionizing radiation in Russia cannot be considered exhaustive: the material accumulated over more than a century is vast. It does not include issues of applied research addressed by researchers of the biomedical effects of electromagnetism during that time: physiotherapy and clinical diagnostics, agriculture, including pest control and stimulation of plant growth; the influence on ecological systems, mitogenetic radiation, and the body’s own EMF; solar–terrestrial electromagnetic coupling and problems of electromagnetic communication in nature; and anthropogenic electromagnetic pollution on the global natural background. Continuity is evident in the evolution of scientific thought: analysis of the publications shows that many fundamental provisions on the biomedical effects of electromagnetism and their medical and environmental consequences were formulated before the 1960s, then confirmed in experiments, supplemented, and refined under different irradiation conditions in all frequency ranges from a constant EMF to EHF and modulated EMF. The fundamental results of planned research, which made it possible to predict effects, and the integration of electromagnetic topics into the system of radiobiology and hygiene made it possible to create a scientific theory and methodology for standardizing EMF in the 1970s–1980s. The continuity of knowledge is the main feature that indicates the continuous and consistent development of the scientific school in electromagnetic biology, radiobiology, and hygiene of nonionizing radiation from the first researchers in the Russian Empire to our contemporaries, scientists of the Russian Federation, over the past 130 years. In our opinion, when discussing the problems of EMF biomedical effects, it is necessary to take into account that the discussion about the nature of electromagnetism, its physical basis, and the existence of “ether” or an equivalent physical concept has never ceased. The relativity of ideas about the nature of the electromagnetic factor allows for the relativity of knowledge about its interaction with living objects, especially since knowledge about the living cannot be considered complete either. The scientific school of research into the biomedical effects of electromagnetism has been going on in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation for 130 years and has deep roots in national science. The number of individual publications on the subject of radiobiology and hygiene of nonionizing radiation in Russian has long exceeded 10 000, and the words of Prof. B.I. Davydov are currently becoming even more relevant: “a periodic systematization of the accumulated material, establishment of a unified terminology, and standardization of research methods and analysis of the resulting data are required.”

Main findings

The article reviews 130 years of Russian research on biomedical effects of EMF and summarizes methodological and hygienic-regulation principles developed over time. Excerpted statements suggest microwave EMF with average EFD ≤ 500 μW/cm2 may act as a stimulus to the central nervous system, and that an association between increased morbidity in certain adolescent disease groups and EMF from cellular communications was found using an IARC-methodology assessment, though direct risk estimation is described as difficult due to dosimetry uncertainty and lack of modern comparison groups.

Outcomes measured

• Biomedical/health effects of EMF (historical overview)
• Central nervous system stimulation (microwave EMF at specified power density)
• Adolescent morbidity trends (malignant tumors, nervous system diseases, immunodeficiency-related disorders, auditory and visual organ diseases)

Limitations

• Not exhaustive; many applied research areas are explicitly not included
• Difficulty directly determining risk attributed to uncertainty of dosimetry data
• Absence of modern comparison groups (as stated)
• Incomplete concept of acceptable risk for mass cellular technology (as stated)