What Is Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)?

We are in the midst of potentially the most pervasive and important environmental struggle of the new millennium, the struggle to understand the effects of exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

Wireless devices and broadcast antennas threaten the natural and human environments in ways that affect every one of us at home, school, places of worship, and at work.

If you didn’t take physics in high school, or if you haven’t had occasion to put the knowledge you learned there into practical application lately, here’s your chance. Electromagnetic radiation, naturally occurring and man-made, is all around you in your everyday life. Here are some links to put all of that into perspective.

Here’s an explanation of what Electromagnetic Radiation is.

Here’s a schematic explanation of the different “divisions” of the electromagnetic spectrum.

This table lists the frequency wavelengths for radio frequency radiation - the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is used for personal wireless communications such as cellular and PCS phones is indicated as “Personal Communications”.

Now try to put all of this information together as you read through this page from NASA’s educational site. The graphics are very helpful and quite complete. As is to be expected though, graphics take awhile to come up on your screen, so be patient.

From the California EMF Program - Fact Sheets on electromagnetic radiation exposures in the home, school, and workplace as well as information on EMR research findings.

Are there adverse health effects from human exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR)and specifically, radio frequency radiation (RFR) coming from cellular phone transmitter?

What kind of research has been done? What is the history of legislation and regulation regarding (RFR) in the United States?

The EMR Network concentrates its efforts on public education about radio frequency radiation (RFR). With the global buildout of wireless telecommunications systems, this is the area of the EMR spectrum that is making its way into every community. Humans are irrevocably altering the electromagnetic signature of the world. And we are doing this with no clear understanding of the implications to humans or other species. “A Clear Call: American Unplugged - A Guide to the Wireless Issue,” by B. Blake Levitt, award winning medical and science write, is a primer on the many facets of the RFR health issue in America. This presentation was first given at the Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council: Environmental Tower Siting Conference, held in Connecticut on May 10, 1997. (This is a PDF document.)

Telecom Towers Tsunami - an update from B. Blake Levitt.

There are medical and political ramifications to cell tower siting in our country. At its core, this is a medical and an environmental issue. In emphasizing aesthetics, such as hiding antennas in church steeples, our premier planners are missing a critical opportunity to exercise prudent avoidance and precautionary principles - wise courses of action now recommended by doctors and public health officials all over the world.

The most crucial question about electromagnetic radiation is whether the general public is exposed to hazardous levels of emissions in everyday life. The scientific controversy centers around the argument that EMR can only produce harm at power levels high enough to heat human tissue. This explanation of the problems with that argument refers specifically to radio frequency/microwave radiation used for wireless telecommunications, but it applies to other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. “Serious Flaws with the FCC RF/MW Safety Standards,” by B. Blake Levitt, award-winning science author. (This is a PDF document.)

How does electromagnetic radiation (EMR) affect living organisms?

Can EMR exposure cause harm?

You’ll find answers in this interview with Dr. Robert Becker, M.D., one of the first medical pioneers to study natural electrical currents in the human body and to caution about electropollution. Dr. Becker was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. This interview with Linda Moulton Howe of Earthfiles took place in May, 2000