The effects of EMF radiation on the growth of tadpoles

In 2010, the noted environmental scientist ALFONSO BALMORI, studied the effects of electromagnetic radiation on the development and growth of tadpoles in the small town of Valladolid in Spain, exposing the eggs and tadpoles of the common frog (Rana temporaria) to several mobile phone antennae.

The tadpoles were placed in two tanks with oxygen and food every day, which were set out on a fifth floor terrace at a distance of 140 meters from four base station located opposite.  The base stations were on a roof of an eight story high building.

In both experimental and control groups (n+70 in each) the experiment lasted two months, from eggs phase until an advanced phase of tadpole prior to metamorphosis.  The control group was in a Faraday cage (metallic shielding component: EMC-reinforment fabrics 97442 Marburg Technic)

The studies were conducted in the field and the results were startling.

Several studies on effects of electromagnetic fields on amphibians have been conducted in laboratories.  When amphibian eggs and embyos and Ambytoma maculatum and Rana sylvatica were exposed to high magnetic fields (6.3 x 10³ G), a brief treatment of early embryos produced several types of abnormalities, including mocrocephaly, retarded (abnormal) growth, edema, and scoliosis (Levengood, 1969).

Adult newts (Notophalmus viridescens) exposed to a pulsed electromagnetic field (1 T and 0.15V/m, approx) for the first 30 days post forlimbs were amputated and produced more abnormalities in their skeletal patterns than the native limbs or the normal regenerates.  12% exhibited unique abnormalities not observed in either the native of regenerate limb population.  These forelimbs demonstrated one or more of the following gross defects: acheira (lack of carpus and digits), aphalangia, or oligodactylia _loss of digits) and well as carpel bone and long bone (radius and ulna) abnormalities (Landesman and Douglas, 1990).

Exposed frog tadpoles (Rana temporaria) developed under electromagnetic field (50Hz, 260 A/m) show an increase in mortality.  Exposed tadpoles developed more slowly and less synchronously than control tadpoles and remained at the early stages for longer.  Tadpoles developed allergies and EMF caused changes in their blood counts (Grefner et al., 1998).  These results are consistent with the observations of this work.

Deformities and disappearance of amphibians and other organisms is part of the global biodiversity crisis (Blaustein and Johnson, 2003).  Some authors consider that the  electromagnetic pollution is destroying nature (Warnke, 2007; Firstenberg, 1997), Balmori (2006) proposed that electromagnetic pollution (in the microwave and radiofrequency range) along with other environmental factors is a possible cause for the decline and deformations of some wild amphibian populations exposed.  The results of this experiment conducted in a real situation in the city of Valladolid (Spain) indicate that the tadpoles that live near such facilities, exposed to relatively low levels of environmental electromagnetic fields (1.8 – 3.5 V/m) may suffer adverse effects (low coordination of movements, asynchronous growth, and high mortality), and this may be a cause (together with other environmental factors) of decline of amphibian populations.

The original paper can be found here: http://www.ct.gov/csc/lib/csc/pendingproceeds/docket_409/inlandwetland/409-iw_exh69-79.pdf#page=2

EMF radiation damaging Colorado's beautiful trees

I recently posted an article about some 9^th Grade students who experimented with the effects of wi-fi radiation on the germination of Cress seeds (see here).  The results were simply astonishing and highlighted the huge damage this radiation can have on our environment.

Katie Haggerty

Colorado researcher Katie Haggerty, has taken this study a step further.

She began studying electromagnetic fields 20 years ago. In 2005, when she noticed that her geraniums were stunted, she put the plants in a Faraday cage, an enclosure covered by a metal screen that blocks radio frequency energy, and soon found that the plants had larger leaves and were growing more vigorously.

The beautiful aspens of North America have been in decline for the last few decades.  Katie was well aware of the rapid growth of radiofrequency (RF) radiation around the country, particularly from mobile-phone ‘towers’ and wondered if this radiation could have contributed in some way to the decline?

So she set out to find the answer.  She planted three test plots of aspen seedlings. Carefully matched in all other respects, one plot was shielded from a nearby town’s RF radiation, one was ‘mock’ shielded, and the other was left unprotected.

Unshielded seedling

Shielded seedling

The difference, recorded in the International Journal of Forestry Research, was startling: the fully shielded saplings were vigorous and healthy, but both the ‘mock’ shielded and the exposed plants were small, lacked pigments, and had sickly leaves.  "I found that the shielded seedlings produced more growth, longer shoots, bigger leaves and more total leaf area. The shielded group produced 60 percent more leaf area and 74 percent more shoot length than a mock-shielded group," she said.

Journal Editor Terry Sharik, a Utah State University professor commented on the findings saying, "If she (Katie Haggerty) turns out to be right following subsequent investigations by others, the results could be very significant and cause people to rethink the current notion that anthropogenic sources of radio waves are fairly harmless to the environment and by extension to humans."

[The study is printed in fullhere:  International Journal of Forestry Research, 17 February 2010.]