Biological effects of electromagnetic fields on insects: a systematic review and meta-analysis

" The vast majority of studies found effects, generally harmful ones. These findings are unlikely to be the result of chance. Sceptics might object that most studies were not randomized controlled trials (but see here [103]). Despite these shortcomings, the existence of consistent results from numerous studies conducted by various research groups using various protocols make an irrefutable case for adverse effects of low-power LF- and HF-EMF on insects [86, 119]. This is further corroborated by a recent report commissioned by the Swiss federal office for the environment (BAFU) [120]. HF-EMF seem to produce stronger and more harmful effects in insects, compared to LF-EMF. It is highly probable that the effects shown in the laboratory also occur under real conditions [110]. A summary and chronicle of individual studies in insects is available in the supplemental materials, and in other reviews [86, 105, 121]. EMF bioeffects have also been shown in plants and all studied animals, as well as in humans [86, 122, 123, 124]." {Credits 1}

" Animals have stable rhythms in their brains, measurable by electroencephalogram (EEG) or electrodes, for example. For honeybees and locusts, a main frequency of 18 Hz or 20 Hz was observed, and 20–30 Hz in Drosophila fruit flies [23], [24], [25]. Parametric resonance describes the change of the human or animal EEG observed upon exposure to pulsed EMFs [26, 27]. EMFs pulsed at brain frequencies cause considerably stronger effects than continuous, non-pulsed EMF." {Credits 1}

" Technological HF-EMFs are in general pulsed or pulse-modulated, meaning that the carrier frequency (a sine wave) is emitted, cut-off and re-emitted many times per second. Typical values are 10 Hz (WiFi), 100 Hz (DECT), 217 Hz (GSM) up to 1,000 Hz and above (4G and 5G)." {Credits 1}

{Credits 1} 🎪 Thill, A., Cammaerts, M. & Balmori, A. (2023). Biological effects of electromagnetic fields on insects: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Reviews on Environmental Health. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2023-0072. © 2023 the author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.