Are the electromagnetic fields a danger to the public health?
| Author | C. G. Matei - R. A. Adam |
| Position | Department of Private Law, <I>Transilvania</I> University of Braşov. |
| Pages | 217-222 |
Page 217
In the medical sense, the environment includes the surroundings, conditions or influences that affect an organism.
Along these lines, in 2001 the environment was defined for the International Epidemiological Association as -all that which is external to the human host. It can be divided into physical, biological, social, cultural, etc, any or all of which can influence health status of populations‖ [2].
According to this definition, the environment would include anything that is not genetic, although it could. It is argued that even genes are influenced by the environment in the short or long term. Included environmental factors which can have an impact on our health are the modifiable parts of: pollution of air, water, or soil with chemical or biological agents; UV and ionizing radiation; noise, electromagnetic fields; occupational risks; built environments, including housing, land use patterns, roads; agricultural methods, irrigation schemes; man-made climate change, ecosystem change; behaviour related to the availability of safe water and sanitation facilities, such as washing hands and contaminating the food with unsafe water or unclean hands. Electromagnetic fields are created by differences in voltage; the higher the voltage, the stronger will be the resultant field.
Magnetic fields are created when electric current flows; the greater the current, the stronger the magnetic filed.Page 218
An electric field will exit even there is no current flowing. If current does flow, the strength of the magnetic field will vary with power consumption but the electric field strength will be constant [5].
Electromagnetic fields are present everywhere in our environment but are invisible to the human eye. Electric fields are produced by the local build-up of electric charges in the atmosphere associated with thunderstorms.
The earth's magnetic field causes a compass needle to orient in a North-South direction and is used by birds and fish navigation. Besides natural sources the electromagnetic spectrum also includes fields generated by human-made sources: X-rays are employed to diagnose a broken limb after a sport accident.
The electricity that comes out of every power socket has associated low frequency electromagnetic fields. And various kinds of higher frequency radio waves are used to transmit information - whether via TV antennas, radio stations or mobile phone base stations [6].
Wavelength and frequency determine an important characteristic of electromagnetic fields: Electromagnetic waves are carried by particles called quanta.
Some electromagnetic waves carry so much energy per quantum that they have the ability to break bonds between molecules. In the electromagnetic spectrum, gamma rays given off by radioactive materials, cosmic-rays and X- rays carry this property and are called -ionizing radiation‖. Fields whose quanta are insufficient to break molecular bonds are called -non-ionizing radiation‖.
Man-made sources of electromagnetic fields that form a major part of industrialized life - electricity, microwaves and radiofrequency fields - are found at the relatively wavelength and low frequency end of the electromagnetic spectrum and their quanta are unable to break chemical bonds.
After summarizing this information, especially addressed to the ones that are not familiar with scientific professional knowledge and experience, we intend to give a more important relevance to scientific analysis and their results, taking in view that more and more people have started to be interested in this field of study.
Biological effects are measurable responses to a stimulus or to a change in the environment.
These changes are not necessarily harmful to your...
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