Roger M. Macklis; 1993
Although the biological effects of low-frequency electromagnetic radiation have been studied since the time of Paracelsus, there is still no consensus on whether these effects are physiologically significant. The recent discovery of deposits of magnetite within the human brain as well as recent, highly publicized tort litigation charging adverse effects after exposure to magnetic fields has rekindled the debate. New data suggest that electromagnetic radiation generated from power lines may lead to physiologic effects with potentially dangerous results. Whether these effects are important enough to produce major epidemiologic consequences remains to be established. The assumption of quackery that has attended this subject since the time of Mesmer's original "animal magnetism" investigations continues to hamper efforts to compile a reliable data base on the health effects of electromagnetic fields. In January 1992, lawyers for a 21-year-old Connecticut woman who had a malignant brain tumor filed the first widely recognized and authoritatively researched U.S. lawsuit charging that the tumor was the direct result of the patient's protracted exposure to the electromagnetic field (EMF) generated in a nearby power line. This case and other similar tort cases are being based in part on new suggestive evidence for adverse EMF bioeffects. Well-known investigators in the field have recently published position papers on both sides of the EMF bioeffects problem. Both sides apparently agree that the debate has been hampered by the lack of a biochemical transduction mechanism capable of explaining how low-energy magnetic fields interact with human tissue. If confirmed, the recent discovery by Kirschvink and colleagues of substantial deposits of elemental magnetite in human brain tissue may finally provide a mechanistic framework within which to analyze the epidemiologic and toxicologic data concerning EMF bioeffects. However, the sensational media coverage accorded the neural magnetite discovery and the instant skepticism and partisan hostility engendered by the magnetite announcement reflect the fact that the EMF bioeffects problem continues to be surrounded by an aura of pseudoscience, quackery, and disrepute. This article traces the history of biomagnetism and magnetic healing, concentrating on the charlatanism and quackery that have plagued the field for centuries and that may now be limiting legitimate scientific investigation by placing the field off-limits to respectable medical investigators.
Xanya Sofra Weiss
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