More research needed into health effects of electromagnetic fields, say experts

Further research is needed to determine the impact of electromagnetic fields on health, particularly in the long term, according to the latest Opinion published by the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR).

Electromagnetic fields come from a range of devices, including power lines, electrical appliances, mobile phones, video displays and certain diagnostic instrumentation. Exposure to strong fields can have health effects; at frequencies below 100kHz, this happens through the stimulation of nerve and muscle cells due to induced currents, while for higher frequencies tissue heating is the main mechanism.

Guidelines from the International Commission on Non Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) set out exposure limits which are designed to protect the general public from these effects, and these have been incorporated into European legislation. However, little is known about the health risks associated with long term exposure to low exposure levels. This latest opinion follows an earlier opinion on the same subject from 2001.

A lot of research has been carried out since then on Radio Frequency (RF) fields, which come from mobile phones. "The balance of epidemiologic evidence indicates that mobile phone use of less than 10 years does not pose any increased risk of brain tumour or acoustic neuroma," the authors write. There is little evidence of an increased risk for brain tumours in long term users, although there are indications of an association with long-term use and acoustic neuroma.

The authors recommend a long-term cohort study to find out more about the long term effects of mobile phone use, as well as a study using personal dosimeters to accurately assess individual exposure to RF fields.

Children may be more sensitive to RF fields as their brains are still developing. However, no studies on children are available, and so research into the matter is urgently needed, according to the report.

Sources of Intermediate Frequency (IF) fields include anti-theft devices in shops and card readers. There is very little data on these fields. "Proper evaluation and assessment of possible health effects from long term exposure to IF fields are important because human exposure to such fields is increasing due to new and emerging technologies," the committee states.

Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) Fields come from power lines, domestic appliances and electric engines in cars and trains. Here the SCENIHR confirms that ELF magnetic fields could be a carcinogen, based on their association with childhood leukaemia. However, they note that research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this association.

For other diseases, they note that an association between ELF fields and breast cancer and cardiovascular disease is 'unlikely', while the link between neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumours remains 'uncertain'.

Finally the group considers static fields, which come from video displays as well as medical technologies such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) equipment. Here again, a major lack of data is identified and the committee recommends a cohort study on personnel dealing with such equipment as well as studies on carcinogenicity, genotoxicity and developmental and neurobehavioural effects.

Some of the knowledge gaps identified will be filled by EU-funded projects on the subject, as well as data from national research initiatives and the World Health Organisation's International EMF project which was set up in 1996. Meanwhile the European Commission will take the SCENIHR's recommendations into account in work planned under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

For further information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_risk/
committees/04_scenihr/04_scenihr_en.htm

Copyright ©European Communities, 2007
Neither the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, nor any person acting on its behalf, is responsible for the use, which might be made of the attached information. The attached information is drawn from the Community R&D Information Service (CORDIS). The CORDIS services are carried on the CORDIS Host in Luxembourg - http://cordis.europa.eu. Access to CORDIS is currently available free-of-charge.

Most Popular Now

Integrating Care Records is Good. Using …

Opinion Article by Dr Paul Deffley, Chief Medical Officer, Alcidion. A single patient record already exists in the NHS. Or at least, that’s a perception shared by many. A survey of...

Should AI Chatbots Replace Your Therapis…

The new study exposes the dangerous flaws in using artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for mental health support. For the first time, the researchers evaluated these AI systems against clinical standards...

AI could Help Pathologists Match Cancer …

A new study by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and collaborators, suggests that artificial intelligence (AI) could significantly improve how...

AI Detects Early Signs of Osteoporosis f…

Investigators have developed an artificial intelligence-assisted diagnostic system that can estimate bone mineral density in both the lumbar spine and the femur of the upper leg, based on X-ray images...

AI Model Converts Hospital Records into …

UCLA researchers have developed an AI system that turns fragmented electronic health records (EHR) normally in tables into readable narratives, allowing artificial intelligence to make sense of complex patient histories...

AI Sharpens Pathologists' Interpret…

Pathologists' examinations of tissue samples from skin cancer tumours improved when they were assisted by an AI tool. The assessments became more consistent and patients' prognoses were described more accurately...

AI Tool Detects Surgical Site Infections…

A team of Mayo Clinic researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can detect surgical site infections (SSIs) with high accuracy from patient-submitted postoperative wound photos, potentially transforming...

Forging a Novel Therapeutic Path for Pat…

Rett syndrome is a devastating rare genetic childhood disorder primarily affecting girls. Merely 1 out of 10,000 girls are born with it and much fewer boys. It is caused by...

Mayo Clinic's AI Tool Identifies 9 …

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single...

AI Detects Fatty Liver Disease with Ches…

Fatty liver disease, caused by the accumulation of fat in the liver, is estimated to affect one in four people worldwide. If left untreated, it can lead to serious complications...

AI Matches Doctors in Mapping Lung Tumor…

In radiation therapy, precision can save lives. Oncologists must carefully map the size and location of a tumor before delivering high-dose radiation to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue...

Meet Your Digital Twin

Before an important meeting or when a big decision needs to be made, we often mentally run through various scenarios before settling on the best course of action. But when...