It’s easy to overlook the effects of artificial electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on the natural world but equally important given the sensitive nature of wildlife, particularly insects and birds.
It’s now widely agreed that increasing airborne frequencies are disturbing wildlife. In January 2013, a very extensive report by the Institute of Environmental Sciences and the National Institute for Public Health in the Netherlands was published reviewing all of the published results related to the environmental effects of EMFs within the frequency range 10 MHz to 3.6 GHz. 13 original research papers were selected, mostly focused on birds (embryos and eggs), mycelium, and plants. The authors concluded that, in 65% of all cases, certain influences of EMFs were observed in both large and small doses of radiation.
The authors divided the selected research papers into sections by making a careful assessment of the contribution of each section, which involved birds, other vertebrates, insects, plants, and other organisms. They emphasized that artificial EMFs had a significant impact on these organisms. Birds are particularly good candidates as biological indicators for EMFs as they have thin skulls and their feathers can act as dielectric receptors of microwave radiation. Indeed, several million birds are estimated to die each year from collisions with telecommunications masts in the USA during migration.
One of the reasons for this is that the microwave radiation distorts the earth’s magnetic field that the birds use for navigation. This internal navigation of birds is thought to come from the cryptochrome cell (although human’s also have this protein) allowing them to literally see the magnetic fields of the earth. Cryptochromes are a class of flavoproteins found in plants and animals, primarily involved in the circadian rhythms but also in the sensing of magnetic fields in a number of species. Ritz et al recently demonstrated that the cryptochrome cell is disrupted by very low intensity EMFs, far below that which we experience today. Over the past 30 years, a number of species which rely on the earth’s magnetic field to navigate have gone into massive decline and it’s likely that habitat destruction is not the only cause given the sensitivity of these animals to electromagnetic pollution.
Similarly bees are thought to suffer in this regard which might help explain the increasing phenomenon whereby colonies of bees simply disappear overnight, known as bee colony collapse disorder. Just when bees are battling relentless use of pesticides and other man made chemicals, they get radiated by our microwaves. To test this hypothesis, Researcher Dr J Kun and his team, placed a DECT phone (a cordless phone) in bee hives to determine if this affected whether they returned to the hive. In the hives that contained the deck phone, very few of the bees returned and one hive didn’t return at all.
This reflects how the radio frequency (RF) radiation from things like cell towers could be affecting bees. Given the fact that roughly 70% of the world crops are pollinated by bee’s, many conservationists are calling for more research in this area. These risks posed to wildlife (and flora and fauna) have also been touched on by the recent EKLIPSE report (an EU-funded review body dedicated to policy that may impact biodiversity and the ecosystem) which looked over 97 studies on how EMFs may affect the environment.
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