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Non-thermal microwave injuries

When the first reports of diplomats at the American Havana Embassy falling ill were caused by microwave injuries it seemd quite implausible. Now it seems more incidents have emerged, and the Frey effect, discovered in the early

1960's, at least indirectly supports the idea microwaves can have lasting non- thermal effects on humans. The article is at
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There are links within the article to the Frey effect.

If anybody can shed further light please do. I always though microwave injuries were exclusively thermal.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska

Reply to
bob prohaska
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In 1970 I was working for a small company making cardiac pace makers. We received reports that people with pace makers were being affected by microwave ovens. We did some tests and found that leaky microwaves could interfere with our pace makers. It wasn't a huge effect, you had to be pretty close, but they did interfere.

Bill

Reply to
Bill Gill

From what I was taught way back this problem was from the magnetic fields associated with the way microwave ovens worked, and not with the microwaves themselves. Hence a very quick dropoff of problems if you were just a couple of feet away. (Inverse square law and all that).

Reason: early pacemakers used a simple magnetic relay to put them into "test mode". So if you went to the cardiologist for a checkup, they'd take EKGs, etc., both with and without a magnet over your chest.

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Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key 
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Reply to
danny burstein

I recall accounts of telephone engineers installing line-of-sight microwave links being unable to sire children because their gonads were damaged by microwave radiation. But that would have been heat--Fry not Frey, if you'll excuse the pun.

--
When, once, reference was made to a statesman almost universally 
recognized as one of the villains of this century, in order to 
induce him to a negative judgment, he replied: "My situation is 
so different from his, that it is not for me to pass judgment". 
Ernst Specker on Paul Bernays
Reply to
Peter

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