Electromagnetic Fields and Health
Technology has become a major part of human life. Bringing new problems to our lives, developing technology makes human life easier and more comfortable. Moreover, it suggests solutions for the problems it causes. However, some problems stay as controversial issues for a long time, as the solutions cannot be found immediately. One of these controversial topics regarding health care is electromagnetic fields (EMFs). There are many scientific studies about EMFs to investigate its effects on human health. Many people believe that electromagnetic fields can cause some kinds of cancer. For example, many people today claim that the EMFs between cell-phones and base-stations may lead to hazardous health problems. Furthermore, scientists mostly have theories about how EMFs can cause some reactions in the human body leading to cancer. On the other hand, there is little evidence that there is a relationship between EMFs and human health. Therefore, using scientific evidence this paper will prove that electromagnetic fields do not cause or increase the risk of brain, breast and childhood cancer.
In the experiments claiming that EMFs and cancer are interrelated, scientists found that experimental results are changeable about the relationship of EMFs and cancer cases. Moreover, most of the articles supporting the idea that EMFs cause cancer do not depend on scientific and academic evidence since they are mostly commentaries and news articles. Especially, experiments on brain and breast cancers concerning about the relationship with EMFs do not show any relationships (Aldrich, Andrews, Liboff, 2001; Kheifets, Matkin, 1997). Although for some people EMFs are surely one of the causes of childhood cancer, most experiments do not show any relationship between EMFs and cancer cases. On the other hand, there are some experiments which conclude a casual relationship between cancer and EMFs, but the evidence is not sufficient (Jamieson and Wartenberg, 2001). Moreover, Anderson (1997) states that some experiments suggest a relationship between EMFs and cancer. However, as the experimental results and experimental conditions are varied, the results are inconclusive (Anderson, 1997; Kheifets and Matkin, 1999; Jamieson and Wartenberg, 2001). Therefore, scientists do not conclude that EMFs causes cancer.
The rising incidence of brain cancer in the last few decades led some scientists to think that there must be some reasons for this occurrence. Aldrich, Andrews and Liboff (2001) state that there are many environmental and occupational causes in addition to age, gender, and smoking. They suggest that people working in chemical and nuclear areas, petroleum industries and especially electrical sectors are under higher risk of brain cancer. Therefore, they carried out some experiments on the relationship of EMFs and brain cancer. There seems to be some evidence to suggest a role for EMFs in brain cancers, but the data is not consistent in that it prevents deducing information about its role (Aldrich, Andrews, and Liboff, 2001). Another point is that scientific laws, theories and rules mostly depend on cases taking place continuously or on large scale, as UKCSI (1999) article indicated. Therefore, conclusions about rare events should not be claimed as absolute results. Additionally, brain cancer is a rare case which prevents continuity of experimental results and thus leads to inconsistency.
On the other hand, breast cancer cases are not as rare as brain cancers, so experimental results on the relationship of breast cancer and electromagnetic fields can lead to some consistent results. For example, suggesting that exposure to EMF may increase the risk of breast cancer, Kheifets and Matkin (1999) examine the breast cancer-EMF relations under different conditions. Their theory was “exposure to EMF may suppress melatonin and reduced melatonin may increase the risk of breast cancer” (Kheifets and Matkin, 1999). Firstly, investigations of the relationship between proximity to power lines and breast cancer do not prove that they are linked, as people are worried about. Secondly, there seems to be no evidence that electric blanket use causes breast cancer or increases breast cancer risk. Thirdly, there is little evidence that there is a relation between breast cancer and employment in electrical occupations. Moreover, there is no evidence about the effects of the actual dosage of EMFs, as the experiments varied so much; therefore, the results are inconclusive (Kheifets and Matkin, 1999). Looking at the series of conclusions of a large scaled experiment above, the experiment gives confidence to rely on the results. Although Kheifets and Matkin found that low exposures to EMFs do not cause breast cancer they do not conclude the issue in this way, as the data is not consistent about the amount of the exposure.
Children, being weak both physically and biochemically, are more open to health problems than adults. Therefore, childhood cancer has been the most important topic related to EMFs in the last couple of decades, according to the UK Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS) (1999). There is no evidence to suggest that low EMF exposures increase the risk of any kind of childhood cancer. However, there is some doubt that the same conclusion is acceptable for higher EMF exposures (UKCCS, 1999). For example, experimenting on brain cancer-EMFs relations, Aldrich, Andrews and Liboff (2001) state that there is no doubt that EMFs are one of the causes of childhood brain cancer. However, their experiments were on brain cancer, so they do not show scientific evidence about childhood cancer. Moreover, Jamieson and Wartenberg (2001) state that EMFs are related to the occurrence of childhood cancers because there are some experimental results in a conclusion that the increasing dosage of EMF exposure increases the numbers of deaths from cancer. On the other hand, scientists cannot deduce a causal relationship as most of the experiment results are inconsistent (Jamieson and Wartenberg, 2001). Taking all these experimental data into account, one cannot conclude that electromagnetic fields cause childhood cancer.
In conclusion, most of the scientific data supports the result that electromagnetic fields do not cause cancer. Scientists are nearly sure that low dosages of electromagnetic fields do not cause cancer, but they cannot conclude a precise relationship for high dosages because the experiments are not varied so much in higher dosages. Moreover, the dosage one is exposed to electromagnetic fields varies from others even in the same regions as those people’s uses of electronic devices differ from each other. These big differences between individuals made scientists study on the issue harder because they cannot generalize scientific results. On the other hand, as most of the experiments in low exposures to electromagnetic fields are consistent, scientists support that EMFs do not cause or increase the risk of cancer. Finally, if the concerns were somehow right in any case, at least some governments would be caring about the issue, maybe by setting precautions.
Bibliography:
Aldrich, T.E., Andrews, K.W., and Liboff, A.R. (2001). Brain Cancer Risk and Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs): Assessing the Geomagnetic Component. Archives of Environmental Health, 56 (4). Retrieved April 15, 2002 from Ebsco database on the World Wide Web:
Anderson, L.E. (1998). Extremely Low Frequency Fields and Cancer: Laboratory Studies. International Journal of Toxicology, 17 (3). Retrieved April 15, 2002 from Ebsco database on the World Wide Web:
Jamieson, D. and Wartenberg, D. (2001). The Precautionary Principle and Electric and Magnetic Fields. American Journal of Public Health, 91 (9). Retrieved April 16, 2002 from Ebsco database on the World Wide Web:
Kheifets, K.I. and Matkin, C. C. (1999). Industrialization, Electromagnetic fields and Breast Cancer. Environmental Health Perspectives Supplements, 107 (1). Retrieved April 16, 2002 from Ebsco database on the World Wide Web:
UK Childhood Study Investigators (UKCSI) (1999). Exposure to Power-frequency Magnetic Fields and The Risk of Childhood Cancer. Lancet, 354 (9194). Retrieved April 16, 2002 from Ebsco database on the World Wide Web:
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