How EMFs May Cause Cancer

Unlike ionization radiation, electromagnetic fields (EMFs) lack the energy required to do direct damage to DNA. For this reason, many scientists consider EMFs harmless. Yet, there are numerous epidemiological studies suggesting that the EMFs produced by home wiring, appliances and power lines play a role in causing leukemia, brain tumors or other malignancies. Now, researchers at the Wayne Hughes Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota, have discovered an EMF-triggered reaction that could be the mechanism by which these fields cause cancer.

Test-tube studies indicate that electromagnetic fields can trigger a chain of enzyme reactions which cells use to relay operational directions to their DNA. The EMF-activated enzymes are known as tyrosine kinases, and are produced by tumor-promoting genes. Other studies have shown that excess activation of one of these enzymes can lead to lymphomas, leukemia and other cancers. In addition, tyrosine kinases are necessary for all hormone production, which may explain the hormone changes associated with EMF exposures.

The head researcher of this study, Fatih M. Uckun, a former National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewer for grant-seekers in EMF research, had been highly skeptical of a link between EMFs and cancer. However, about a year ago he was studying ionizing radiation and its ability to initiate enzyme cascades related to cancer, and, just out of curiosity, he did a test to see if EMFs could do the same thing. To his surprise, they did.  Based on information in: Science News, 2-21-98