The Genetic effects of Power-Frequency Fields

The following section on the genetic effects of power-frequency electromagnatic fields is an excerpt from Chapter 8, Man Made Electromagnetic Radiation Fields, of the book "Cross Currents: the Perils of Electrical Pollution" by Robert O. Becker.

The Genetic effects of Power-Frequency Fields

A possible explanation for the production of genetic effects by microwaves is that the wavelengths of the microwave radiation may be small enough to have a resonant effect on the DNA molecule or the chromosomes.  Orthodox scientists did not believe that this could possibly occur at ELF wavelengths, so they felt that power-frequency fields from high-voltage transmission lines simply could not produce genetic effects.  Once again, however, biology has prove that these scientists were missing something.

In 1983, Dr. S. Nordstrom and his colleagues at the University of Umea, Sweden, reported that men who worked in high-voltage electric switchyards fathered a significantly greater number of congenitally malformed children than would be expected.   The following year, Dr. I. Nordenson, a colleague of Nordstrom’s, examined the chromosomal pattern of the white cells (lymphocytes) in the peripheral blood of similar workers, and found a significant increase in chromosomal abnormalities over normal.  The exposure to the electric-power frequency fields (50 Hz in Europe) produced abnormalities in chromosomes of the sperm of the switchyard workers, which resulted in birth defects in their children.  This circumstance is identical to that reported by Dr. Manikowska-Czerska for laboratory rats exposed to microwave fields.

Since 1983, Dr. Reba Goodman of Columbia University has been studying ELF-chromosomal effects in both human and insect cells in culture.  Her reports indicate a complex picture of many different effects.  Some are quite overt, while others have been revealed only through new, sophisticate techniques.  In Dr. Goodman’s most recent report presented at the 1988 meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society, she indicated that the effects appeared to be different for different frequencies, and that they also differed depending upon the type of cell exposed.

More work needs to be done to sort out the effects and the responsible physical factors.  However, there is no doubt that both microwave and ELF frequencies have the capability to influence genetic material during the process of cell division. There is even some indication that DC fields can influence mitosis and chromosomal patterns.  This evidence is presented in a later chapter, along with the latest theory for the physical link between ELF electromagnetic fields and the
genetic apparatus.