Cellphones, Cell Towers and Wildlife - Part 1

Birds, bees and magnetically-sensitive cryptochromes

Why would RF signals disturb birds and bees? Here's an answer from biologist Andrew Goldsworthy, PhD: To navigate and also to control their immune systems, birds and bees use magnetically-sensitive substances called cryptochromes. These are pigments found in virtually all animals, plants and many bacteria. Cryptochromes absorb blue-green and ultra-violet light and use this energy to drive photochemical reactions where light energy is converted to chemical energy. Cryptochromes measure light to control and reset animals' and plants' biological clocks. Some animals also use cryptochromes to sense the direction of the Earth's magnetic field.

Unfortunately, cryptochromes are badly impaired by man-made oscillating fields that are orders of magnitude weaker than the Earth's steady magnetic field. Such impairment can disrupt insects' and animals' solar and magnetic navigational abilities. It can account for colony collapse disorder in bees, the loss of some migratory birds and butterflies, and immune system weakening in many more organisms.

An array of cryptochrome molecules oriented in different directions can be found in the compound eye of an insect, or in the retina of a vertebrate's eye. This cryptochrome found in the eyes is quite distinct from the regular visual pigments (rhodopsins) that are used in normal vision. However, the combination of these pigments gives the animal the potential to "see" the direction of the magnetic field, possibly as an extra color superimposed on its normal field of vision.

Robins can navigate in the Earth's magnetic field if they receive light from wavelengths absorbed by cryptochrome. (23) However, exposure to man-made frequencies between 0.1 and 10MHz at field strengths as little as 0.085 mT (about 500 times weaker than the Earth's magnetic field) made the birds completely unable to respond to the Earth's field.

Frequencies used by mobile devices, including cell phones, DECT cordless landline phones and Wi-Fi, can blot out "magnetic vision." Even lower field strengths are likely to disturb magnetic navigation, since radiation that is too weak to blot out magnetic vision totally may still be strong enough to distort a bird's perception of the Earth's field, causing the bird or insect to fly in the wrong direction.

The sheer number of wireless devices gives birds continuously conflicting navigational data -- as if they're constantly bombarded by flashing disco lights. We should not be surprised that birds would leave such areas. Likewise, scientists who put DECT cordless phone base stations next to their beehives found that their bees behaved abnormally and were less likely to return to the hive. (24) (Beekeepers are thereby well advised not to carry their mobile phones when visiting their hives.)

Birds, bees and many other animals can also navigate by the sun's position. To do this, they must have an internal clock that adjusts to the sun's changing position throughout the day. Cryptochrome makes this clock sensitive to magnetic fields. A 300 mT steady field can alter the clock's speed or even stop it altogether. (25) Given that sensing light and magnetic fields by cryptochrome uses the same basic mechanics as the internal clock, it's likely that weak alternating fields would also disrupt a clock's normal functions. As a consequence, weak, man-made electromagnetic fields would render animals unable to adjust accurately to the sun's changing position. This leaves the animal unable to use either magnetic or solar navigation. If there were no landmarks to guide it, the animal would be completely lost. This could explain colony collapse disorder, when bees do not return to their hives.

Circadian (daily) metabolic rhythms, which occur in virtually all higher organisms, keep us in sync with the Earth's twenty-four hour rotation on its axis. Circadian rhythms are also driven by cryptochrome-containing internal clocks. They enable the organism to anticipate the coming of dawn and dusk, and they modify its metabolism to be ready for the new conditions. Circadian rhythms control the production of melatonin (a sleep hormone); at night, they divert metabolic resources to repair and immune system strengthening.

Losing or even weakening of the circadian rhythm -- due to a failure of the internal clock's exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields--would have serious consequences. In humans, this would result in tiredness during the day, poor sleep at night, and reduced production of melatonin. All of these effects have been reported in people exposed to continuous, weak, electromagnetic radiation from DECT phone base stations, Wi-Fi routers and cellular antennas.

Also, any weakening of the circadian rhythms' amplitudes means that processes controlled by them will never function at maximum power. The immune system may never be able to summon the massive power that is sometimes required to overcome pathogens or destroy developing cancer cells before they get out of control. In part, this could explain epidemiologists' findings that people living near cellular antennas have an increased cancer risk. It could also explain bee colonies' continuing decreased health and ability to resist pathogens.

Bill Bruno, PhD biophysicist, retired from the Los Alamos National Lab: Biology is very sophisticated in its ability to make use of electromagnetic fields. Cryptochromes are just one example. Despite centuries of discoveries in biology and advances in medicine, there is so much we don't know. For example, why do our brains, sinuses and other tissues have magnetic magnetite particles?

Our bones and collagen are piezoelectric: in an electric field, they expand and contract. What are the implications of that? And what about recent experiments that show that DNA is a semiconductor, and that melanin, including neuromelanin in the brain, is a conductor?

Endnotes
1. Balmori, A., "Electromagnetic pollution from phone masts. Effects on wildlife," Pathophysiology, (2009), doi; 10.1016/j.pathophys.2009.01.007.
2. Maslin, N.M., " HF Communications: A Systems Approach, Plenum Press, 1987.
3. ibid.
4. Sanders, E.H., et al, "Broadband spectrum survey at Los Angeles, California," NTIA Report 47-336, 1997.
5. Petrov, I.Y., et al, "Possibility of correction of vital processes in plant cell with microwave radiation," in Proceedings of IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility," ppl. 234-235, December, 1991.
6. Berg, A. and H. Berg, "Influence of ELF sinusoidal electromagnetic fields on proliferation and metabolic yield of fungi," Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, v. 25, no.1, pp. 71-77, 2006.
7. Tafforeau, M., et al, "Plant sensitivity to low intensity105 GHz electromagnetic radiation," Bioelectromagnetics, v.25, no. 6, pp. 403-407, 2004.
8. Bitonti, M.B., et al, "Magnetic field affects meristem cell activity and cell differentiation in Zea mays roots," Plant Biosystems, v. 140, no. 1, pp. 87-93, 2006.
9. Wawrecki, W. et al, "Influence of a weak DC electric field on root meristem architecture," Annals of Botany, v.100, no.4, pp. 791-796, 2007.
10. Roux, D., et al, "Electromagnetic Fields (900 MHz) evoke consistent molecular responses in tomato plants," Physiologia Plantarum, v.128, n.2, pp. 283-288, 2006.
11. Haggerty, Katie, "Adverse Influence of Radio Frequency Background on Trembling Aspen Seedlings: Preliminary Observations," International J. of Forestry Research, 2010.
12. www.mastsanity.org/health/research/299-why-our-urban-trees-are-dying-by-andrew-goldsworthy-2011.html
13. click here
14. MacKay, William, Said Majdi, et al, "Attraction of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to Electric Fields," J. of the Kansas Entomological Society, 65(1), 1992, pp. 39-43.
5. Cammaerts, Marie-Claire and Olle Johansson, "Ants can be used as bio-indicators to reveal biological effects of electromagnetic waves from some wireless apparatus," Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 8.30.13.
6. Clarke, Dominic, Heather Whitney, et al, "Detection and Learning of Floral Electric Fields by Bumblebees," Science DOI: 10.1126/
science.1230883; published online February 21, 2013.
7. Kaplan, Matt, "Bumblebees sense electric fields in flowers," Nature, February 21, 2013.
8. http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetichealth-blog/emf-and-warnke-report-on-bees-birds-and-mankind/
19. Balmori, A. and C. Navarra, "Mobile phone mast effects on common frog (Rana temporaria) tadpoles; the city turned into a laboratory," Electromagn Biol Med, 2010, June;29(1-2); 31-5. 59.
20. Di Carlo, A., White, N., Guo, F. et al, 2002, "Chronic electromagnetic
field exposure decreases HSP70 levels and lowers cytoprotection," J. of
Cellular Biochemistry, 84;447-454.
21. Balmori, A., (2005) "Possible effects of electromagnetic fields from phone masts on a population of white stork (Ciconia ciconia), Electromag. Biol. Med. 24:109-119.
22. Beckley, Brian, "Are smart meters chasing away birds from Rolling Hills?" Renton Reporter, February 22, 2013.
23. Ritz et al, Nature, Vol. 429, May 13, 2004, 177-180.
24. Yoshi, et al, http://tinyurl.com/rans84
25. Yoshi et al, http://tinyurl.com/cx7xaa

--Katie Singer

www.ElectronicSilentSpring.com