Dr. Leendert Vriens, a retired physicist and expert in radiofrequency (wireless) radiation from the Netherlands shares the science on electromagnetic radiation in this interview with Lyn McLean of EMR Australia He provides important insights about this radiation, how it affects our bodies and what we can do to protect ourselves.
This interview was sent by EMR Australia in their monthly newsletter.
Physicist Leendert Vriens, PhD, worked for 30 years at Philips Natlab, a world renowned physics research laboratory. Vriens studied physics in Utrecht and got his PhD (cum laude) for work done at Utrecht University and at the National Bureau of Standards (later renamed to National Institute of Standards and Technology) near Washington DC. After two years at AMOLF Research in Amsterdam he joined Philips Research in Eindhoven where he worked for 30 years, the last 17 years as a Philips Research Fellow.
In this interview, he provides a summary of the evidence showing that wireless radiation is linked with cancer, oxidative stress (and related health problems), fertility, leakage of the blood-brain-barrier and cognitive performance and that current standards don’t protect us.
On the question of whether international standards protect us, Dr Vriens says that ‘Heating has almost never been a criterion for determining whether a biological effect is harmful or beneficial to our health.’ He refers to many agents that have harmful effects on our bodies – tobacco, DDT, asbestos, glyphosate – without heating them.
He says some countries – Italy, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Russia, China and some other countries – have radiation limits that are factors of 10 to 100 lower than those of the ICNIRP [the International Commission of Non-ionizing Radiation Protection] on which Australia’s standard is based.
“Saying that RF radiation from wireless communication cannot do any harm because it is non ionising – the individual photon energy is not large enough – is the same as saying that a tsunami cannot cause any harm because the individual water molecules don’t have enough energy.”
Read the full whitepaper by Physicist Leendert Vriens, PhD, here: On the Difference Between Man Made and Natural Electromagnetic Fields / Radiation, in Regard to Biological Activity.
Excerpts from the interview
“After the second world war and before the year 2000 detailed reports were published by all three US Defense organizations, the Navy, the Army and the Air Force. From the 1994 Air Force report I quote: “Experimental evidence has shown that exposure to low intensity radiation can have a profound effect on biological processes. The nonthermal effects of RF/MW radiation exposure are becoming important measures of biological interaction with EM fields.” In that report reference is made also to Russian investigators who, and I quote: “have placed a great emphasis on the nonthermal effects of biological exposure to RF/MW radiation. They contend that electromagnetic interactions with the bioelectrical and biochemical functions of the body constitute a more serious health risk than effects from thermal heating”.
“The short-term health effects include:
- Neurological effects, like fatigue, headaches, dizziness, memory and concentration problems, insomnia and anxiety.
- Cardiac effects, such as heart arrhythmias and high blood pressure.
- Eye problems, such as pressure in the eyes, deteriorating vision and cataracts.
- Ear problems, such as ringing and low-frequency noise.
- And a range of other effects, such as skin problems (allergic reactions, burning), digestive
- problems and nosebleeds.”
“The long-term health effects partly overlap the short-term effects. Fatigue, pains, high blood pressure, hearing disturbing noise and digestive problems, to mention a few, can become permanent. Other long-term effects include cancer, neurological diseases, genetic effects such as male sterility, miscarriage and birth defects. Scientific research has been very important in establishing the link between the exposure to RFR and these long-term effects.
“Lyn McLean: There’s also a view that we don’t need to worry about wireless radiation because it exposes us to much less radiation than we get from natural sources like the sun. Do you agree?”
“Dr. Vriens: No, we certainly have to worry about the low-intensity wireless radiation.
The intensity of the man-made wireless radiation is indeed orders of magnitude smaller than the intensity of the natural radiation from the sun. (on a summer day the radiation intensity deposited by the sun on earth can be over 1000 W/m2. The radiation intensities we are subjected to by cell towers are almost everywhere less than 0.025 W/m2 and now after the introduction of 5G less than 0.10 W/m2)
But, as I told you, the photons coming from a cell tower have one (carrier) frequency, one polarization direction and the same phase.
Their individual field components therefore add up to a macroscopic EM (with electric field strengths of 3 and 6 V/m for the mentioned radiation intensities of 0.025 and 0.10 W/m2) The photons from the sun, however, are mutually independent. They have different frequencies, different polarization directions and different phases.
Their individual EMF components therefore don’t add up and don’t yield any macroscopic EMF.
The EMF from wireless communication penetrates in our body and induces currents, resonant interactions and interferences – involving charged and polar particles and magnetic particles. The EMR from the sun does not yield any EMF and the individual photons don’t penetrate in our body.”
