European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences 2019; 23: 3121-3128

Benefits and hazards of electromagnetic waves,

telecommunication, physical and biomedical:
a review
S. BATOOL1, A. BIBI2, F. FREZZA1, F. MANGINI3
1
Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications,
Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
2
Department of Biochemical Sciences, School of Molecular Biology and Medicine,
Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
3
Santa Lucia Foundation, IRCCS Neuroimage Laboratory, Rome, Italy

Abstract. – OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, Positron
is to review the current literature on electromag- Emission Tomography (PET) etc. In a residen-
netic radiation (EMR): physical, biophysical, and tial environment, the diffusion of the induction
telecommunication. The widespread application
of EMR in modern technologies requires tele-
cooktop, hairdryers, cordless phones, modems,
communication and healthcare professionals to routers, appliances, alarm system, etc. increases
possess some knowledge of its physical and bi- the possibility of domestic exposure to magnet-
ological properties. In this review article, we will ic fields. Nevertheless, electromagnetic fields can
discuss biophysical principles of EMR, its inter- also be used for the treatment of different diseas-
actions with living organisms and its application es (e.g., cancer, kidney stones, gallstones, brain,
in clinical practices. We will discuss here ben-
liver etc.)9-13. The practicality of above-described
eficial as well as hazardous effects of EMR. We
will also discuss the safety guidelines. technologies is due to the range of frequencies
decreasing from ultra-high frequencies to extra
Key Words low frequencies available in the electromagnetic
Electromagnetic radiation, Wi-Fi, Mobile phone, spectrum. This EMR spectrum includes ionizing
Microwave, Computer, FM towers, Magnetic reso- and non-ionizing radiations. Figure 1 shows EMR
nance imaging, X-ray computed tomography (CT),
Chemotherapy. spectrum signifying frequency range of Ionizing
and Non-Ionizing radiations.

Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum

(Ionization and Non-Ionization)
The EMR spectrum is widely used in differ-
Introduction ent areas of science and technology. EMR can be
broadly divided into two categories: ionization
Electromagnetic Radiations and non-ionization. Ionizing radiation has high
Radiations consist of both electric and magnet- energy as compare to non-ionizing radiations. The
ic fields. They are coming from natural and man- ionizing radiations have a frequency ranging from
made resources. EMR is present in some scenar- 1 PHz (petahertz) to 10 ZHz (zettahertz), which
io of everyone’s life1. Some of the most common includes X-rays and Gamma rays. The non-ion-
sources of electromagnetic fields that everybody izing radiations have a frequency ranging from 1
experiences are the solar radiation, the electric to 1000’s of THz (terahertz). It consists of Micro-
current that supplies household (Mobile Phone, wave (MW), Infrared (IR), Visible Light (VL) and
Television set, Wi-Fi, Microwave, Computer, Ultra-Violet light (UV) extremely low-frequency
etc.) and antennas for telecommunications2-8. Ar- radiation (ELF). Ionization radiation has the  ca-
tificial resources are used to generate high-level pacity to cause changes in the structure of atoms
electromagnetic radiations which may be typi- or molecules by ionization, so that’s why ionizing
cally found in medical devices such as Magnet- radiation can cause damage to living atoms/mole-
ic Resonance Imaging (MRI), laser lithotripsy, cules and also have the tendency to cause changes
X-ray Computed Tomography (CT), radiation in the structure of DNA in the living organism14.

Corresponding Author: Sidra Batool, MD; e-mail: [email protected] 3121

 S. Batool, A. Bibi, F. Frezza, F. Mangini

Benefits and Hazards of Electromagnetic 1. Text messaging

Radiation in the Field of Physical Health 2. Photography or taking pictures
and in the Telecommunication Sector 3. Making videos, Sending photos via Bluetooth
The telecommunication devices (Mobile 4. Accessing the internet, sending or receiving
Phone, Wi-Fi, Computer, Television, etc.) have emails
proved to be revolutionary effects in terms of 5. Playing video games
communication with anywhere and anytime in 6. Listening music
the whole world, but it is mostly accompanied 7. Recording video
with the EMR hazards. The human body has the 8. Downloading various applications such as
ability to absorb these radiations might be harm- WhatsApp Messenger, WeChat, Viber Mes-
ful and can cause even different disease like can- senger, imo free video calls and chat etc.
cers, mental disorders, neurologic illnesses, fe- 9. Using social networking site like Facebook,
tal abnormalities, cardiovascular diseases etc.15. Twitter, Skype-free IM and video calls etc.
EMR has very beneficial uses of our daily life to 10. Online banking and business management
make it more comfortable and easier. Nowadays, 11. Video call or video chat.
we can talk to anyone on a mobile phone through This work concluded that a mobile phone is
the Internet: it is because of EMR, since these necessary for college students to keep in contact
waves can transmit signals for very long distanc- with their families and friends.
es. So EMR has the key roles in making our lives The main objective of this study is to describe
more comfortable. the answer to the following two questions:
1. May the excessive use of mobile phones in the
Mobile Phones vicinity or near the human body cause many
In the present era, the mobile phone has played harmful diseases?
a vital role in our daily life activities. Recently 2. How can mobile phone subscriber minimize
mobile phone is an integral part of business, com- the risks associated with its exposure?
merce, studies, and society. Mobile phones are This paper will attempt to answer this question,
very useful for quick information exchange and an but conclusions are rarely definitive. The objective
important tool in emergency situations. People use of the present report is to explore the association of
their mobile phones for various purposes such as: using mobile phones with health hazards16-18 such as:

Figure 1. The Electromagnetic Spectrum.

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 Benefits and hazards of electromagnetic waves, telecommunication, physical and biomedical: a review

1. Fatigue oxidative stress parameters in rat kidney28. The

2. Headache exposure of EMR (2.45 GHz) may cause many
3. Dizziness changes in the rat brain and expression of fall in
4. Tension brain antioxidants29. Avendano et al5 reported
5. Sleep disturbance that wireless connected laptop on the lap near
It is the cause of hippocampal lipidome as the testes may have effects on male fertility and
proved by the experiment on a mouse19-21. It dis- increased DNA fragmentation.
turbs our brain and central nervous system, lead-
ing to memory loss22. The excessive use of mobile Microwaves
phones can cause vision and hearing symptoms Our main objective is to investigate the effects
in the population and also leads to an increase in of EMR from microwave ovens to the health of the
social awareness of health associative problems23. people coming across its use. Most of the people
The present review literature was designed to in- believe that microwave ovens may cause diseas-
vestigate whether the symptoms of health diseas- es such as cancer and the food prepared by them
es reported by young people may be linked with becomes harmful. But there is no scientific ex-
the use of mobile phone and to analyze its effects perimental evidence. EMR from microwave oven
on young people health24. In the present paper, we has the capability to penetrate in many things like
have mentioned some precautionary approach- water, ice, smog. It affects the nutrient capability
es to minimize the health risks associated with of vegetables making them unhealthy for human
mobile phone exposure. Our suggestions are to use, such as it destroys the anti-cancer ability of
minimize the time per day spent on mobile phone different vegetables like garlic as demonstrated in
calls, refrain the use of the mobile phone when several studies to describe the effects of micro-
its signal coverage is weak, and avoid the use of wave oven heating destroyed garlic anti-carcino-
mobile phone close to our body25. genesis property, which is related with active allyl
sulfur compounds30. The long terms exposure of
Wi-Fi low-frequency EMR from home appliances can
The present report investigated the effects cause health problem such as14:
of EMR induced by Wi-Fi have many benefits 1. Hyperactivity
and adverse effects. Wi-Fi LANs allow fast net- 2. Sleep disorder
work information, also beneficial in reducing 3. Emotional instability
the cost for wiring installation and to give in-
dustrial subscribers more flexibility anywhere TV, Cell Phone and FM Towers
at any place, whenever they want to do work. In the recent past, long-term exposure of
Home subscribers also want to abstain install- EMR from Cell phone towers, TV and FM tow-
ing wiring process. Wireless Internet routers or ers have caused serious health problems31. Hock-
Wi-Fi modems use possibly dangerous electro- ing et al32 in Australia reported that the incidence
magnetic radiation to send their signals to your of leukemia, tumors, and cancer was more in the
computer through walls. If you have a wireless people residing near to TV, cell phone and FM
Internet router set up in your home or office, you towers, while those who were residing far away
will be exposure to EMR. Wireless access to from the towers found fewer chances of diseas-
the Internet is now commonly used in schools/ es in them. But he found that the children were
colleges. Many schools/colleges provide laptop getting many severe effects of leukemia, tumors
to each student with Wi-Fi connection, which diseases rather than adults living in the same ar-
is utilized for training and educational pur- eas. Cooper et al33 collected cancer data from the
pose26. In the literature, many experiments on years 1987-1994 which were investigated from
rats by using Wi-Fi signal are reported. The the West Midlands Cancer Intelligence Unit da-
main objective of these experiments is to iden- tabase (Birmingham, England). They studied all
tify the changes in the rat after the exposure types of cancer; for each of them, 10 bands of
of EMR with different frequency ranges. The males, females and adults were selected. A num-
effects of long-term exposure to Wi-Fi type ber of leukemia cases were calculated for all of
radio frequency (RF) signals (2.40  GHz), two these members on the basis of sex, social issues.
hours per day during one month at a specific This research gives evidence from stone’s test
absorption rate (SAR) of 1.60 W/kg may cause showing more risk of leukemia in females/chil-
Alzheimer’s disease27. It may also cause some dren as compared to males.

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 S. Batool, A. Bibi, F. Frezza, F. Mangini

It is reported in the literature that people living number of migratory birds like sparrows, pigeons
near antennas were suffering from a high risk of are destroyed due to the interference from mobile
diseases such as34: phone masts. Many species of birds die each year
1. Cardiovascular problems from the overlapping with TV, cell phone and FM
2. Skin diseases towers all over the world during migration. For
3. Irritability navigation, mostly birds might be likely adopting
4. Visual disruptions earth’s magnetic field. Microwaves from commu-
5. Hearing problems nication resources could be seriously disorienting
6. Depression and these are the main cause of accidents occur-
Dianah et al35 in Kaula Nerus described the en- ring to birds during night-time. Dongre and Ver-
hancement of rapid growing telecommunication ma39 have investigated the remarkable decline of
technology by installing many TV, cell phone and house sparrow in London: a 75% fall since 1994.
FM towers as a first step to help in the advance-
ment of growing global technologies. The EMR Effect on Mammals and Amphibians
exposure level was investigated using spectrum Burchard et al40 reported that the grazing of
analyzer through a Circular Patch (CP) antenna. cows near to the TV, cell phone and FM towers
They used a spatial model to evaluate their data having overall general health problems like de-
and results and stated that this model can help in fective embryos, birth deformities, and behav-
exploring the clear vision of EMR health risks. ioral problems, meanwhile grazing of cows away
The EMR effects on human body cells act by re- from the towers have improved health. More-
moving calcium ions. Calcium ions leakage from over, exposure of EMR to dairy cows can cause
brain cells and other parts of the body can cause the changing composition of milk, leading to a
pain and other diseases in the human body36. decrease in the production of milk and fertility
problems. Similarly, long-term effects of EMR
EMR Effect on Biotic Systems can also cause reproductive and developmental
EMR from TV, cell phone and FM towers problems of domestic animals like dogs, cats, rab-
affects the biotic system such as animals, birds, bits, etc. In the recent research conducted on bats
plant, etc. EMR effects are relatively larger in fly- colonies near the towers, they found conflicting
ing birds, sparrows, pigeons and bees in compar- behavioral changes in bats41. EMR from towers
ison with humans. The reason is that the overall is a possible source of declining some amphibian
body structure of bird is small having less weight. populations. In a study conducted on amphibians
They get heated up very frequent and these radi- they have found morphological abnormalities, in-
ations can cause adverse effects on their naviga- crease in the heart rate, changes in blood count,
tional system. Some effects are given in the next allergies, etc42. Researchers also described the
section. positive effects of EMR on mammals, like Cec-
coni et al43 that suggested how low power EMR
Effect on Honey Bees exposure may be used to improve the mammali-
Taye et al37 reported the adverse effects of EMR an female reproductive system by controlling the
on honey bee colonies near to the cell phone tow- follicles growth rate to proceed a developmental
ers. In the US, the increasing influence of EMR stage that is an important pre-requisite for repro-
pollution associated with the sudden loss of bees ductive achievement.
was observed a few years back. This type of hon-
ey bee’s loss is known as colony collapse disorder Effect on Plants
(CCD), where bees cannot detect the right way to Studies have shown the effects of cell phone
find the hive due to the consistent EMR pollution. EMR on growth and synthetically changes in
CCD has spread in many developing countries plants. Alattar et al44 reported characteristics of
like England, Spain Germany and Italy38. seeds by exposing radiation from Wi-Fi router.
The experiment was accomplished by test seed-
Effect on Birds ing for four weeks. Finally, the research conclud-
When migratory birds come in direct contact ed that these radiations may cause many chang-
with EMR from TV, cell phone and FM towers, es in the weight and growth of plants, thickness
they become entirely confused and disoriented level of the stem, etc. The progressive decline of
from their right path and undetermined naviga- trees near to cell phone tower has also been re-
tional abilities. The sense of direction of a large ported. EMR can produce heat. Due to this heat,

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 Benefits and hazards of electromagnetic waves, telecommunication, physical and biomedical: a review

the micro-organisms present in the upper surface eficial to the destruction of cancer cells53. During
of earth soil would be killed45. In the literature the treatment of cancer patients, internal organs
review, there are many advantages of EMR in are visualized deeply by using (X-rays and gam-
the agriculture sector such that the use of EMR ma rays)54. Frequent use of these radiation thera-
on rice plant in a microgravity environment can pies can also cause harmful effects on the human
enhance the growth of plant rather the normal body. Long-term use of these examinations and
growth46. Pietruszewski et al47 described the tool treatment are associated with cancer risk in clin-
of EMR stimulation on seed may increase the ical practice. Peters at al55 described the chemo-
plant growth. therapy radiation treatment of women at high risk
of recurrence cervical cancer after a few years.
Safety Guidelines in
Telecommunication Sectors Disease Diagnoses
From a scientific point of view, long-term ef- with Imaging Techniques
fects of EMR from telecommunication towers EMR is used in imaging studies like radiog-
might be harmful to the human, birds, animal, raphy, angiography, and computer tomography
and ecosystem. To reduce the long-term effects scanning. Wernick et al56 reported that multiple
of EMR, some recommendations are suggested, image radiography technique is used for more
such as: network operators must be instructed to accurate images of a biological specimen. In the
apply reduced cumulative power density near to present study concluded that angiography showed
residential areas, school, hospital, office build- the clear vision of the blood vessels and the other
ings, and visiting places. People should have organs of the body especially with the heart cham-
knowledge of long-term effects of EMR hazards, ber, arteries, narrow veins, etc. X-ray computed
so that they may have network issues (especially tomography (CT) was the first modern imaging
all those people, who are living far away from the technology, introduced in 1972. It is used for im-
cell tower) due to lower transmitted power, but it aging of the whole body in 5 to 20 minutes with
is for their overall health favor. Thus, the solution a sub-millimeter isotropic resolution57-59. Phase
is to install several numbers of cell-phone, TV contrast X-ray imaging is a remarkable technique
and FM towers with lower transmitted power. In for analyzing deep structure inside biological soft
this way, the power efficiency of the tower will be tissues. It is used for observing the three-dimen-
reduced. So that health heating effect will also be sional structure of infected tissues56. Synchrotron
reduced48-50. radiation micro-tomography is used for the anal-
ysis of the composition and deep structure of all
Benefits and Hazards of EMR: types of materials and biological specimens60.
Physical and Bio-Physical Cancer Magnetic resonance image (MRI) is a wonderful
Treatment Techniques technique for taking detailed pictures inside the
EMR associated with the study of nano- human body. It is used to diagnose different dis-
technology, searching natural phenomena and eases and injuries inside the human body such as
its applications. Further progress of this area of brain injury, spinal cord injury, and blood vessel
expertise strongly affects both biomedical engi- damage, cancer cells, heart diseases, and blocked
neering and medicine. Magnetic nanoparticles blood vessel. An electromagnetic actuator was
are the most popular topics in life sciences and designed for magnetic resonance electrography
healthcare. Magnetic hyperthermia treatment is (MRE). The actuator is unique since it is sim-
used to explore the highly effective carcinogenic ple, portable, and capable of brain, abdomen, and
cell destructions. Moreover, magnetic hyperther- phantom images. The relatively easy setup proce-
mia, which is based on magnetic nanoparticle to dure and simple design indicated that the actuator
remotely, generates heat when EMR is applied. system had the potential to be applied in many
This hyperthermia heating technique is used for different clinical studies61,62.
the treatment of cancer51. Recently, a significant All these techniques are associated with dam-
progress has been made in the field of cancer ages to chemical bonds between living tissues.
treatment technique by using EMR. Treatment Long-term use of X-rays CT scan can also modify
methods are based on radiation therapy, hormonal genetic properties in a living organism and cause
therapy, chemotherapy and immunotherapy52. UV variation leading to cancer63. EMR exposure to
radiations from the sun are harmful to our nor- high-frequency waves like X-rays, Gamma rays,
mal skin cells as well as these radiations are ben- ultraviolet rays, etc. from above-mentioned tech-

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 S. Batool, A. Bibi, F. Frezza, F. Mangini

niques is a source of serious biological changes and Conclusions

harmful effects in a living organism. Anjum et al64
reported that exposure to dental X-rays may be as- The health problems due to long-term effects
sociated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer. of EMR from telecommunication and biomedical
devices have been addressed among the people
Urinary, Kidney and Gall Stones all over the world. The organizations like World
Treatment Techniques Health Organization (WHO), Federal Commu-
In the current research resulted that EMR-gen- nication Commission (FCC), and International
erated extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy has Commission on Non-Ionization Radiation Pro-
found many applications in clinical biology. It tection (ICNIRP) have recommended some safety
has replaced the surgical treatment of renal and guidelines for the protection of all living beings.
ureteral stones. Moreover, lithotripter combined In the present review, we have examined several
with radiological and endo-surgical techniques research papers, on living beings like rats, cows,
has been used for the treatment of complex plants and humans etc. By experimental strat-
stones in the upper urinary tract, complex kidney egies it was identified that long-term effects of
stones and gallstones65. EMR can also be applied EMR can possibly cause different diseases in a
for modern technologies such as electrohydraulic living being. Even if all those people are attentive
lithotripsy and laser lithotripsy. Laser lithotripsy to the long-term effects of EMR hazard, they may
is a popular method of fragmentation in urinary not have the other option to move away from it,
stones. Laser lithotripsy may also be used for if the cell phone, TV and FM tower are installed
the optimize fragmentation of harder gallstones. near their houses, schools, public transports, and
This treatment is used for patients having a stone hospitals etc. But the matter is controversial.
size of 30 mm or less and having symptoms of Meanwhile, EMR has many advantages in bio-
the disease66. Multiple lithotripsy examinations medical and telecommunication technologies. So,
do not show a high risk, however high dose of it is impossible for us to stop using these radia-
radiations may also cause damages in our human tions. However, researchers will try to find out the
organs67. In the present era, we have to minimize possible solutions, which may be expensive. But
the effects of these radiations by using safety aids we will easily reduce the health risk in all living
like wearing safety dresses and other safety ob- being like humans, animals, and birds.
jects. So that, we can save our environment and
living beings. Use of these radiations for benefi-
cial purposes can make this world like a paradise. Conflict of Interests
In the next section, we will briefly discuss safety The authors declare no conflict of interest
guidelines.

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