Biological Correlates of Electromagnetic Field Exposure

摘要

The advancement in technology has led to an increasing use of electricity and electrical devices carrying the levels of electromagnetic fields in the environment much above the naturally occurring limits. In turn the nonionizing electromagnetic field interactions with biological systems have become important for it gives rise to a variety of phenomena which at times seem to be beyond the purview of the known laws of physics. The probable reasons are that there are so many uncontrollable parameters that need to be accounted for. The effects are broadly divided into two parts: thermal and non thermal. The dividing line between the two, though marked is now being questioned for its validity. On the top of this no such line is drawn for modulated fields and extremely low frequency fields, where the bulk of data are now emerging. This paper deals with such issues and outlines the probable causes and effects. The interactions of EMF with the living cells are considered as stochastic resonances, cooperative effects, non-equilibrium thermodynamic process and non-linear interactions. Also available criteria for safe exposure limits of electromagnetic field to humans is also discussed.