Effects of mobile phone electromagnetic field: behavioral and neurophysiological measurements

Siirretty Doriast

The effect of jewellery and the human hand on SAR and antenna performance

This thesis investigates the effect of the human hand and metallic jewellery items worn on the human head and hand on SAR and on the antenna radiation patterns at 900 and 1900 MHz. The field excitation is provided by means of a A./4 monopole antenna on top of a metal box to emulate a simple handset. A planar inverted 'F' antenna (PIFA) is also used for comparison with the monopole. This thesis presents a detailed parametric study utilizing computer simulations via the Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) method and measurements from the DASY 4 SAR measurement system. Two different head and hand geometries are considered. Firstly a homogenous spherical head and block-hand were used in the simpler simulation, while the more realistic head and hand models were employed for the detailed study. The hand models include fingers which allow the metallic jewellery rings to be examined. The human hand has a significant effect on Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) and on the antenna pattern due to energy absorption and possible reflection at the hand dielectric boundary. In addition, the effects of different sizes, orientation, and distance of the metallic loop-like jewellery items relative to the antenna have been investigated. The metallic rings worn on the hand tend to reduce the SAR and could also alter the antenna radiation performance. The wrist worn bangle has very little effect on the results at the frequencies tested due to its position that is relatively far away from the handset antenna. The earrings could significantly influence the SAR and the radiation patterns, but the effects varied depending on the earring's diameter, its position relative to the head, the frequency and the type of antenna in use. The effect of the combination of the hand, the earring and the finger ring only show minor difference on the SAR values and on the antenna radiation patterns. Measurements of the effects of the hand and metallic jewellery items on SAR were performed inside a Standard anthropomorphic model (SAM) head phantom. A novel liquid hand phantom with realistic fingers has been manufactured, which allow the effect of metallic ring to be further investigated. Measurement results support the simulation results

Wireless Signals and Male Fertility

Rapid advances in wireless technology have increased the number of users of mobile devices. As of 2011, the number of cell phone subscribers have reached 5.3 billion worldwide. Mobile devices have saturated our environment with radio frequency (RF) signals. This situation has created public concern over the effect of such signals on human health. This dissertation focuses on the correlation of RF signals emitted by cell phones with male infertility. A thorough discussion is provided on the effects of RF signals on the development of central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm, the design of these mobile devices, the range of the RF frequencies they emit, the power with which they operate, their specific absorption rate (SAR), the distance between the user and the device while in use, how and where the devices are used, the duration of usage, and the accumulated exposure associated with the use of multiple RF devices. The results of our reviews and experimental in vitro studies show a significant correlation between the usage of mobile phones and human semen parameters, with a decrease in motility and viability, and an increase in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) score. However, in daily usage, a cell phone kept in proximity to the groin is separated from the testes by multiple layers of tissue. To explore this effect, a computational model of scrotal tissues was designed. Our results show that during in vitro experimentation, an effect equivalent to real-life conditions can be obtained by placing the cell phone a few centimeters farther away from the semen sample. The results of our study can be used to calculate the equivalent distance between a radiation source and a semen sample, and to set up in vitro experiments that mimic real-life condition

Wireless Signals and Male Fertility

Rapid advances in wireless technology have increased the number of users of mobile devices. As of 2011, the number of cell phone subscribers have reached 5.3 billion worldwide. Mobile devices have saturated our environment with radio frequency (RF) signals. This situation has created public concern over the effect of such signals on human health. This dissertation focuses on the correlation of RF signals emitted by cell phones with male infertility. A thorough discussion is provided on the effects of RF signals on the development of central nervous system (CNS) neoplasm, the design of these mobile devices, the range of the RF frequencies they emit, the power with which they operate, their specific absorption rate (SAR), the distance between the user and the device while in use, how and where the devices are used, the duration of usage, and the accumulated exposure associated with the use of multiple RF devices. The results of our reviews and experimental in vitro studies show a significant correlation between the usage of mobile phones and human semen parameters, with a decrease in motility and viability, and an increase in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) score. However, in daily usage, a cell phone kept in proximity to the groin is separated from the testes by multiple layers of tissue. To explore this effect, a computational model of scrotal tissues was designed. Our results show that during in vitro experimentation, an effect equivalent to real-life conditions can be obtained by placing the cell phone a few centimeters farther away from the semen sample. The results of our study can be used to calculate the equivalent distance between a radiation source and a semen sample, and to set up in vitro experiments that mimic real-life condition

Model za predviđanje bioloških efekata zračenja mobilnih telefona: numerički rezultati apsorbirane energije povezani s realnom strukturom dobivenom metodom MRI

The nature of an electromagnetic field is not the same outside and inside a biological subject. Numerical bioelectromagnetic simulation methods for penetrating electromagnetic fields facilitate the calculation of field components in biological entities. Calculating energy absorbed from known sources, such as mobile phones when placed near the head, is a prerequisite for studying the biological influence of an electromagnetic field. Such research requires approximate anatomical models which are used to calculate the field components and absorbed energy. In order to explore the biological effects in organs and tissues, it is necessary to establish a relationship between an analogous anatomical model and the real structure. We propose a new approach in exploring biological effects through combining two different techniques: 1) numerical electromagnetic simulation, which is used to calculate the field components in a similar anatomical model and 2) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), which is used to accurately locate sites with increased absorption. By overlapping images obtained by both methods, we can precisely locate the spots with maximum absorption effects. This way, we can detect the site where the most pronounced biological effects are to be expected. This novel approach successfully overcomes the standard limitations of working with analogous anatomical models.Numeričke bioelektromagnetne simulacijske metode prodrlih elektromagnetnih polja koriste se za izračunavanje komponenata polja u biološkim jedinkama. Elektromagnetno polje nije jednako izvan i unutar biološkog subjekta. Izračunavanje energije apsorbirane iz poznatog izvora, kao što su mobilni telefoni u području glave, preduvjet je za ispitivanje biološkog utjecaja elektromagnetnog polja. Pri ovim istraživanjima koriste se približni anatomski modeli i na osnovi njih se izračunavaju komponente polja i apsorbirana energija. Nužno je uspostaviti vezu između odgovarajućih približnih anatomskih modela s realnom strukturom, kako bi se mogli istraživati biološki efekti u dijelovima organa i tkiva. Zbog toga se u ovom radu predlaže novi pristup istraživanju bioloških efekata. U osnovi metode je kombinacija dviju različitih tehnika: 1) numeričke elektromagnetne simulacije kojom se izračunavaju komponente polja u približnom anatomskom modelu i 2) MRI metoda (Magnetic resonance imaging) kojom se precizno lociraju mjesta s povišenom apsorpcijom. Kombiniranje se postiže preklapanjem slika dobivenih jednom i drugom metodom, čime se utvrđuje precizna lokacija mjesta s maksimalnim efektima apsorpcije. Na taj način mogu se pronaći mjesta na kojima bi trebao biti najizraženiji biološki učinak. Novi pristup uspješno prevladava ograničenja koja su postojala pri radu s približnim anatomskim modelima

The Largest Unethical Medical Experiment in Human History

This monograph describes the largest unethical medical experiment in human history: the implementation and operation of non-ionizing non-visible EMF radiation (hereafter called wireless radiation) infrastructure for communications, surveillance, weaponry, and other applications. It is unethical because it violates the key ethical medical experiment requirement for “informed consent” by the overwhelming majority of the participants. The monograph provides background on unethical medical research/experimentation, and frames the implementation of wireless radiation within that context. The monograph then identifies a wide spectrum of adverse effects of wireless radiation as reported in the premier biomedical literature for over seven decades. Even though many of these reported adverse effects are extremely severe, the true extent of their severity has been grossly underestimated. Most of the reported laboratory experiments that produced these effects are not reflective of the real-life environment in which wireless radiation operates. Many experiments do not include pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal, and most do not account for synergistic effects of other toxic stimuli acting in concert with the wireless radiation. These two additions greatly exacerbate the severity of the adverse effects from wireless radiation, and their neglect in current (and past) experimentation results in substantial under-estimation of the breadth and severity of adverse effects to be expected in a real-life situation. This lack of credible safety testing, combined with depriving the public of the opportunity to provide informed consent, contextualizes the wireless radiation infrastructure operation as an unethical medical experiment

A model for calculating EM field in layered medium with application to biological implants

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Modern wireless telecommunication devices (GSM Mobile system) (cellular telephones and wireless modems on laptop computers) have the potential to interfere with implantable medical devices/prostheses and cause possible malfunction. An implant of resonant dimensions within a homogeneous dielectric lossy sphere can enhance local values of SAR (the specific absorption rate). Also antenna radiation pattern and other characteristics are significantly altered by the presence of the composite dielectric entities such as the human body. Besides, the current safety limits do not take into account the possible effect of hot spots arising from metallic implants resonant at mobile phone frequencies. Although considerable attention has been given to study and measurement of scattering from a dielectric sphere, no rigorous treatment using electromagnetic theory has been given to the implanted dielectric spherical head/cylindrical body. This thesis aims to deal with the scattering of a plane electromagnetic wave from a perfectly conducting or dielectric spherical/cylindrical implant of electrically small radius (of resonant length), embedded eccentrically into a dielectric spherical head model. The method of dyadic Green's function (DGF) for spherical vector wave functions is used. Analytical expressions for the scattered fields of both cylindrical and spherical implants as well as layered spherical head and cylindrical torso models are obtained separately in different chapters. The whole structure is assumed to be uniform along the propagation direction. To further check the accuracy of the proposed solution, the numerical results from the analytical expressions computed for the problem of implanted head/body are compared with the numerical results from the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method using the EMU-FDTD Electromagnetic simulator. Good agreement is observed between the numerical results based on the proposed method and the FDTD numerical technique. This research presents a new approach, away from simulation work, to the study of exact computation of EM fields in biological systems. Its salient characteristics are its simplicity, the saving in memory and CPU computational time and speed.Cochlear UK Limited and EPSR

Effect of electromagnetic fields induced by mobile devices in the human brain

The aim of this thesis is to understand if the devices that produces electromagnetic fields could be a risk for the brain. This work will simulate different scenarios where mobile devices could cause injuries on brain tissues. Numerous articles and works were performed in the past about this subject, however a consensus seems hard to exist. The present master thesis will simulate a variety of scenarios with a brand new realistic simulation computer program named as Sim4life. Sim4Life is a innovative computational life sciences platform that integrate computable human phantoms to analyze biological real-world phenomena

Microwave dosimetry in biological exposure studies and in practical safety evaluations

This thesis considers the risk evaluation of microwaves from two important points of view. First, the methodology of the exposure studies elucidating the health effects of mobile phones is considered starting from the general aspects of designing setups and proceeding to the assessment of the exposure level (dosimetry) and practical execution of the experiments. Second, the exposure assessment in practical safety evaluations of fixed radio transmitters, such as mobile phone base stations, is studied. The dosimetry and the exposure setup design are critical for the success of exposure studies since the biological results are worthless if the used exposure level is not known. Furthermore, the experiments with test animals or human volunteers are always very challenging in practice. This work aimed to design, implement and analyse setups for four separate biological experiments. The first experiment related to a novel study of the effects of mobile phone (GSM) radiation in human skin in vivo. In the second experiment the brain functions of domestic pigs exposed to high level GSM type radiation were studied. The third setup was used for long term exposure of over 200 unrestrained rats. The rat setup was further utilised in another experiment searching the effects of microwave radiation on central nervous system of juvenile rats. The dosimetric analysis was performed by means of numerical simulations in all cases. The simulations were validated by measurements and the uncertainty of achieved results was analysed. The functionality of the setups was proven in practice; all experiments were successfully executed and the results of both methodological and biological studies were reported in peer reviewed journals. The need for microwave safety evaluations has increased quickly during the last decade. The number of base station (BS) antennas has increased rapidly and they are often placed on roof tops etc. where various professionals have to work. Hence, efficient methods for assessing the compliance with exposure limits are needed. The scope of the work, presented in this thesis, was to study the near field exposure caused by real commercial BS models. Experimental measurements were utilised to achieve a set of specific absorption rate (SAR) and electric field data in the near field of six commonly used antenna models. Moreover, one of the antennas was studied in more detail by numerical simulations. The results were further analysed to compare the different methods for checking the compliance of an antenna installation with the exposure limits and to find out how significant the local exposure is as compared to the whole body average at different distances. These results provide useful information for the future revisions of the exposure limits and related measurement standards