Health and Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields

W. Bennett, Jr

1994

viii +189 pages

In this book a distinguished physicist evaluates the properties of low-frequency electromagnetic fields and their interactions with the human body and concludes that the health risks from these interactions have been vastly overstated. Bennett reviews the epidemiological evidence for a link between low-frequency electromagneic fields and cancer. He then reviews the basic properties of these fields, outlining the simple methods for calculating and measuring them and illustrating his discussion with original data on the electromagnetic fields produced by common sources. He considers the specific ways by which electric and magnetic fields couple to the body; compares these fields with others of much greater magnitude that must exist inside the body because of thermodynamic processes; and analyzes several resonance mechanisms that have been proposed to explain unusual sensitivity of biological tissue to low-frequency oscillation fields. A glossary and numerous tables and figures accompany the text.

Contents

The Nature of Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Fields: Frequency Spectrum of Electromagnetic Sources; Field Equations and Boundary Conditions
Sources of Low-Frequency Fields: Magnetic Fields; Electric Fields
Natural Sources ot Exposure: The Earth's Magnetic Field; The Earth's Electric Field; Methods of Field Measurement
The Coupling of Electromagnetic Fields to the Body: Interaction of Fields with the Human Body and Biological Materials; Basic Properties of Dielectrics; Permittivity and Conductivity of Biological Materials; The Coupling of Low-Frequency Electric Fields to Conducting Dielectrics; Distortion of the External Electric Field Due to Coupling; The Coupling of Low-Frequency Magnetic Fields to the Body; Electric Fields from the Lorentz Force; Electric Fields from the Faraday Effect; The Coupling of Internal Electric Fields to the Cell Membrane
Natural Sources of Noise: Thermal Noise in the Cell Membrane; Membrane Noise for Long Cylindrical Cells; Large Aggregates of Cells
Observed Interactions with Electromagnetic Fields: Magnetite and Magnetic Fields; Field Effects on the Pineal Gland; Rectification and Nonlinear Processes; Healing Bone Fractures by the Faraday Effect; Resonances and Window Effects; The Lednev Model
Questions for Future Research