The collision between wireless and biology

This article examines the historical development of the concept of energy of activation, which has been used in the past to frame the belief that non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation is harmless at non-thermal levels.The power and telecommunications industries have used two arguments to support th...

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Main Author: Paul Héroux
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Heliyon
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025006474
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author Paul Héroux
author_facet Paul Héroux
author_sort Paul Héroux
collection DOAJ
description This article examines the historical development of the concept of energy of activation, which has been used in the past to frame the belief that non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation is harmless at non-thermal levels.The power and telecommunications industries have used two arguments to support their view that human exposures to non-thermal non-ionizing radiation is inoffensive. First, the radiation is non-ionizing. Second, the energy quanta of the radiation are too weak to overcome the competing energy of thermal motion. Those arguments rest on the Arrhenius equation (1889) and on the concept of energy of activation. Later scientific developments such as the Eyring equation (1935) and the Bennett-Chandler (1977–1978) equation on reaction rates, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, recognized in living systems by Schrödinger as “negentropy”, all undermine these arguments.The Second Law of Thermodynamics supplies the ionization claimed to be lacking, while some biological processes are independent of thermal motion.We contribute a new view of the physics and biology of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation hygiene which explains many epidemiological, toxicological and scientific observations.The health effects of non-thermal non-ionizing radiation presently observed are in fact completely supported by physics. Furthermore, the expansion of wireless data rates is in direct conflict with preservation of a healthy environment.
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spelling doaj-art-d81a7e5263fe48c7a3c97f0060b5bd492025-08-20T02:02:24ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402025-05-011110e4226710.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42267The collision between wireless and biologyPaul Héroux0International Commission on the Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaThis article examines the historical development of the concept of energy of activation, which has been used in the past to frame the belief that non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation is harmless at non-thermal levels.The power and telecommunications industries have used two arguments to support their view that human exposures to non-thermal non-ionizing radiation is inoffensive. First, the radiation is non-ionizing. Second, the energy quanta of the radiation are too weak to overcome the competing energy of thermal motion. Those arguments rest on the Arrhenius equation (1889) and on the concept of energy of activation. Later scientific developments such as the Eyring equation (1935) and the Bennett-Chandler (1977–1978) equation on reaction rates, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, recognized in living systems by Schrödinger as “negentropy”, all undermine these arguments.The Second Law of Thermodynamics supplies the ionization claimed to be lacking, while some biological processes are independent of thermal motion.We contribute a new view of the physics and biology of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation hygiene which explains many epidemiological, toxicological and scientific observations.The health effects of non-thermal non-ionizing radiation presently observed are in fact completely supported by physics. Furthermore, the expansion of wireless data rates is in direct conflict with preservation of a healthy environment.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025006474Electromagnetic radiationHeatHealth impactsIonizationTelecommunicationsSpecific Absorption Rate
spellingShingle Paul Héroux
The collision between wireless and biology
Heliyon
Electromagnetic radiation
Heat
Health impacts
Ionization
Telecommunications
Specific Absorption Rate
title The collision between wireless and biology
title_full The collision between wireless and biology
title_fullStr The collision between wireless and biology
title_full_unstemmed The collision between wireless and biology
title_short The collision between wireless and biology
title_sort collision between wireless and biology
topic Electromagnetic radiation
Heat
Health impacts
Ionization
Telecommunications
Specific Absorption Rate
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025006474
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