Robert Park repeatedly states, in various ways, that electromagnetic
radiation we are typically exposed to, such as from cell phones, can
not cause cancer because the photons do not carry enough energy to
ionize the DNA. (See a couple of examples appended below.) This is a
short sighted analysis, but not surprising given that physicists are
not necessarily biochemists.
What Park is overlooking is that ionization, the photoelectric
effect, is not necessary to damage DNA or other molecules important
to life functions. Chemical reactions can be triggered by very small
potential differences, and such chemical reactions can result in
changes to important molecules, including DNA. Such changes can be
effected by ordinary electrochemical means, when electrochemical
potentials are in close balance, or via potential triggered ion
exchange through membranes, such as across cellular membrane
barriers. Nerve dendrites are conductive paths with lengths
sufficient to act as antennas for short wavelength EM waves. They
can thus resonantly build potentials when EM radiation stimulated,
and their membranes can act as barriers through which ions can tunnel
to chemically affect molecules on the other side.
The biochemistry involved in potential EM damage is a complex field
with large scope. For example see the paper by Peter Kovacic1 and
Ratnasamy Somanathan:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/34247981/EMF-Mechanism-Cell-Signaling-Bio-
Processes-Toxicity-Radicals
http://tinyurl.com/4ao3rlf
On Apr 24, 2010, at 10:27 AM, Robert Park wrote:
WHAT’S NEW Robert L. Park Friday, 23 Apr 10 Washington, DC
1. CELL PHONES: FIVE BILLION ARE IN USE AROUND THE WORLD.
In spite of unsubstantiated reports that cell phone radiation
increases
the risk of brain cancer, sales soared in the first decade of the 3rd
Millennium. Cell phones became a $1 trillion business. There was no
corresponding increase in brain cancer, but perhaps there is a long
latency period. Cancer victims have no way of knowing what caused
their
cancer, but the media had made their cell phones the suspect. The
clear
scientific conclusion that cell phone radiation could not be the
cause,
http://jncl.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/93/3/166 , went
largely
unreported. In short, microwave photons do not have enough energy to
create a mutant strand of DNA. That can’t happen until you get to the
blue limit of the visible spectrum. In the interest of full
disclosure,
let me state that although I own a cell phone I don’t normally
carry it,
and can’t even remember my number. I find cell phones to be rude and
intrusive. My wife insists I carry it when I travel so I can dial
911 in
an emergency. That’s OK.
On Jan 1, 2011, at 5:02 AM, Robert Park wrote:
2. PHOTONS: WHAT ALBERT EINSTEIN KNEW ABOUT CELL-PHONE RADIATION.
Maybe I missed it, but I have seen nothing from major media sources
refuting the preposterous claim that radiation from cell phones and
other
wireless devices is linked to human health problems. We are bathed in
microwave radiation. Most of it is as natural as sunshine, but
wireless
communication, including cell phone radiation, is not. What do we
know
about the effect of this stuff on the human body, and how long ago
did we
know it? The starting point is 1905, sometimes called "Albert
Einstein's
miracle year." One of the four "miracle" papers he published that year
dealt with the photoelectric effect. He treated the light striking an
object as particles called quanta, having energy equal to the
frequency
times the Planck constant. This predicted a photoelectron
threshold at the
extreme blue end of the visible spectrum, below which there would
be no
photoemission. Almost nobody believed him, including Robert Millikan,
perhaps the world's greatest experimentalist. The photoelectric
effect had
already been explained with Maxwell’s wave theory, but experimental
confirmation was lacking. Einstein wasn't bothered; he had other
great
things to do while waiting for confirmation. Millikan did the
experiment
in 1917; it agreed perfectly with Einstein's theory. The 1921
Nobel Prize
in Physics was awarded to Einstein for his theory of the photoelectric
effect. Millikan won the Prize two years later. Their results
show that
microwaves are great for warming pizza and they don't cause cancer.
Best regards,
Horace Heffner
http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
