Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Non-Thermal Effects of Non-Ionizing Energy Have Not been Looked at

Up to this point, most studies of non-ionizing radio signals--either well done or not--have focused on thermal effects, as the specific difference between non-ionizing and ionizing radiation is tissue heating in the former case, potential cell or other damage in the latter case.


Non-ionizing energy can warm tissue, but cannot dislodge electrons from an atom or molecule, potentially causing genetic damage, as ionizing energy from X-rays and so forth can do. 


So far, research on non-ionizing energy has not focused on non-thermal effects. It bears watching, though, as always, it will be difficult to show that correlation is causation, there being no way to isolate the impact of all the various sources of energy exposure. 


All that said, prudent behavior is not a bad idea. Though we do not have conclusive evidence that using mobile phones is a hazard, and even if exposure levels in the mobile era have not increased,  it does not hurt to limit exposure to the extent feasible. 

Also, exposure levels in the real world are not the same as levels in some studies of non-ionizing radiation. Drinking water is essential for life. But drinking too much water can kill a person. The same general rule arguably applies to human exposure to all sources of non-ionizing energy in real life.

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