Electromagnetic-field exposure and cancer.

Electromagnetic fields are a ubiquitous part of man's environment. Natural sources of energy have been present, and possibly have contributed to the processes of the evolution of living forms. In very recent time, however, exploitation of the properties of the electromagnetic spectrum, has added variables in intensity, frequency, modulation frequency, and alterations in contributions of electrical and magnetic components. Biological impact has been little studied and poorly defined. Animal carcinogenesis studies and human epidemiological data indicate that exposure to nonionizing radiation can play a role in cancer causation. Numerous effects at the physiological and biochemical level have been reported; many are of such a nature that a relationship to the causation of neoplastic transformation can rationally be hypothesized. Many bioeffects of electromagnetic fields can be adequately and economically explained in terms of heat effects alone. However, observations of frequency-, pulse form or modulation-, and intensity-specificity as well as effects opposite to that known for temperature-rise, imply direct interaction of radiant energy with biomolecules. The possibility of such direct interaction has been shown in quantum mechanical models.