REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Radiation and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1585441
A Comprehensive Mechanism of Biological and Health Effects of Anthropogenic Extremely Low Frequency and Wireless Communication Electromagnetic Fields
Provisionally accepted
- 1Choremeion Research Laboratory, 1st Department of Paediatrics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Athens, Greece
- 2National University of Food Technologies, Kiev, Ukraine
- 34Reproductive Science Group, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia, University of Newcastle, Australia
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Exposure to anthropogenic electromagnetic fields (EMFs), especially those of wireless communications (WC) has increased tremendously. This is an unprecedented phenomenon throughout biological evolution because, all anthropogenic EMFs, being fully polarized, coherent, and, especially WC EMFs, highly variable, differ substantially from the natural EMFs. WC EMFs consist of Microwave (MW) carrier waves, modulated, by Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) signals, and included in on/off pulses repeated at various ELF rates. Moreover, they exhibit intense random variability, mainly in the Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) band. Thus, WC EMFs are a combination of MW and ELF/ULF EMFs. The combination of polarization/coherence and intense low-frequency (ELF/ULF) variability seems to be the key to EMF-bioactivity. Epidemiological and laboratory studies highlight a connection between ELF or WC EMF exposure and cancer, infertility, electro-hypersensitivity, and various other pathologies. Studies also find DNA damage and Oxidative Stress (OS) which explain these pathologies. While man-made EMFs cannot directly ionize molecules, they are capable of doing this indirectly in biological tissue, by triggering the biosynthesis of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which can damage biomolecules, including DNA. The (over)production of ROS and the consequent OS are triggered by irregular gating of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels (VGICs) in the cell membranes as described by the Ion Forced Oscillation (IFO)-VGIC mechanism: Mobile ions within VGICs forced to oscillate by the applied ELF/ULF EMFs exert forces on the voltage sensors of the VGICs, similar to or greater than the forces that physiologically gate those channels, resulting in their irregular gating (dysfunction). Dysfunction of ion channels disrupts intracellular ionic concentrations. This triggers ROS overproduction and OS by the ROS-generating systems/enzymes in the cells, such as the electron transport chain (ETC) in the mitochondria or the NADPH/NADH oxidases (NOXs), the Nitric Oxide synthases (NOS), etc. The IFO-VGIC mechanism and the consequent OS constitute a comprehensive mechanism that explains all known adverse biological and health effects reported to be induced by anthropogenic EMFs.
Keywords: Electromagnetic Fields, Voltage-gated ion channels, Oxidative Stress, ion forced oscillation, IFO-VGIC mechanism, ROS, DNA Damage, Cell Death
Received: 28 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Panagopoulos, Yakymenko, De Iuliis and Chrousos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dimitris J. Panagopoulos, Choremeion Research Laboratory, 1st Department of Paediatrics, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, Athens, Greece
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