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Biohazards. The mankind has been experiencing the technological boom since 60 of the last century. This boom touched upon almost all the spheres of our life. New machines and equipment were developed to make our life better. The development of science and technology caused new hazardous factors for the human beings which were unknown before. New hazardous materials with the perfect technological qualities influence the man hazardously; the nuclear power generation appeared to be the perfect power source, but mortally hazardous for the man.
The catastrophe of the Chernobyl Power Station in Ukraine showed that the mankind should take into consideration that technical and scientific progress may bring not only benefits to the civilization but the mortal danger as well if proper precautions are not worked out. The scientific progress is accompanied with the hazardous factors. All the products of the technological progress bring the danger for the human health in this or that way. We can not imagine the modern office without a computer, but the computers displays radiate the hazardous beams, microwave appliances produce the MW (microwave) radiation, even the cellular phones, considered to be harmless produce the hazardous radiation. It should be noted that almost all the types of the hazardous radiation are present in our natural environment.
One of them is ultraviolet radiation or UV radiation. It can be caused by the sun light or similar factors, for example the welding. Thus, the direct sun radiation is harmful for the skin and may cause the sunburn, the phenomenon known by everyone. The UV radiation occurs during the welding and if proper safety is not provided it may cause some harmful influence on the human organism such as the welders' flash (medical photokeratoconjunctivitis). It is a painful irritation of the eye. There is a feeling of sand in the eye and sensitivity to light, or even the loss of sight.
The UV radiation may cause some very dangerous chronic effects such as skin cancer, photoaging and senile Cataracts 1. The UV radiation and its danger is quite familiar for the workers and if some harm occurs, it is just because the carelessness of the worker. The safety devices are developed very well. One of the dangerous effects on the human being is the effect of microwave radiation. Microwave radiation is observed in different man made devices such as Air Traffic Control Systems, Police and Military Radar, Long Distance Telephone equipment, Medical diagnostic and other devices, Microwave Generators and Microwave Ovens 2.
Microwave ovens are very convenient and energy efficient. They may be found almost in every house and a restaurant. They really make our life and food processing easier, especially in our time when we need less time and energy consuming devices. Electromagnetic radiation consists of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together (i. e. , radiating) through space at the speed of light. Taken together, all forms of electromagnetic energy are referred to as the electromagnetic "spectrum. " Radio waves and microwaves emitted by transmitting antennas are one form of electromagnetic energy.
They are collectively referred to as "radiofrequency" or "RF" energy or radiation. Often the term "electromagnetic field" or "radiofrequency field" may be used to indicate the presence of electromagnetic or RF energy. There can be various sources of electromagnetic fields. Electromagnetic fields exist everywhere in our life. They are of the natural origin. They may be produced by the natural phenomena such thunderstorms, natural gravity etc.
There are also human made electromagnetic fields. Electric fields exist whenever a positive or negative electrical charge is present. They exert forces on other charges within the field. The strength of the electric field is measured in volts per meter (V/m). Any electrical wire that is charged will produce an associated electric field.
This field exists even when there is no current flowing. The higher the voltage is, the stronger the electric field at a given distance from the wire. Electric fields are strongest close to a charge or the charged conductor, and their strength rapidly diminishes with distance from it. Conductors such as metal shield them very effectively. Other materials, such as building materials and trees, provide some shielding capability.
Therefore, the electric fields from power lines outside the house are reduced by walls, buildings, and trees. When power lines are buried in the ground, the electric fields at the surface are hardly detectable. Magnetic fields arise from the motion of electric charges. The strength of the magnetic field is measured in amperes per meter (A/m); more commonly in electromagnetic field research, scientists specify a related quantity, the flux density (in micro tesla, T) instead. In contrast to electric fields, a magnetic field is only produced once a device is switched on and current flows. The higher the current, the greater the strength of the magnetic field is.
Like electric fields, magnetic fields are strongest close to their origin and rapidly decrease at greater distances from the source. Magnetic fields are not blocked by common materials such as the walls of buildings 3. Our houses are full of electric cables and electric home appliances, our offices are full of computers and other office equipment. All of them produce the electric magnetic fields (EMF).
The cellular phones that became very common in use all over the world also produce EMF. The scientific experiments showed the direct dependence of the increase of the cancer diseases with the usage of the mobile phones. The human brain, the eyes, and the auditory apparatus (which are the most exposed due to the location of the phone) are sensitive to the microwave carrier frequency as well as the pulses at different frequencies especially of 8. 34 Hz and 2 Hz, which are within the alpha and delta frequency range of the brains endogenous rhythm. It is the coherence component of the pulses that is recognized by the brain and interferes with the body rhythms 4. The mobile phones are used repeatedly and the same part of the body is exposed during the usage, namely the head and the brain.
But that does not mean that the cancer is associated directly with the mobile phone use. A question that often arises is whether the usage of the hand held cellular phones may be risky for the public health. The FCC's exposure guidelines, and the ANSI/IEEE and NCRP guidelines upon which they are based, specify limits for human exposure to RF emissions from hand-held RF devices in terms of specific absorption rate (SAR) 5. There are very controversial opinions on the danger of cancer caused by the cellular phones. It is possible to say that if the all precautions are taken we may suppose that the mobile phones are not as dangerous as they considered being by some scientists. In October 1999, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) of the US Food and Drug Administration responded to increased media focus on cell phones and brain cancer by issuing a Consumer Update on Mobile Phones (including cellular phones).
In that update, the CDRH stated, "the available science does not allow us to conclude that mobile phones are absolutely safe, or that they are unsafe. However, the available scientific evidence does not demonstrate any adverse health effects associated with the use of mobile phones. " 6 So, if we compare the risk of the cellular phones with that may caused by the other appliances we see the scientists can not present any serious proof of such risk. The standards that have been accepted by the governmental bodies may exclude the hazardous affect of the mobile communication devices if they are observed. Anyway, the mobile phones are in our everyday life, we depend on them highly and we have nothing to do but upgrade their safety rather than get rid of them. Yet there is a way to reduce the hazardous effect of the mobile telephones, if any exists, which is to reduce the time of exposure.
Another hazardous effect that may occur due to the use of the mobiles phones is the interference to the medical devices such as heart pacemakers. Such risk may be considerable if the mobile phone is placed over the device. This risk is from the category easy to prevent. A person using such devices should consider the danger and should not keep his phone on the side the heart pacemaker is implanted 7. The microwave ovens entered our everyday life. There are a lot of prejudices of the hazardous effects the MW oven may cause to a human being.
Yet, the scientists found the only effect the high levels of microwaves may cause is the painful burn. The lens of the eye is particularly sensitive to intense heat, and exposure to high levels of microwaves can cause cataracts. Accidental exposure to high levels of microwave energy can alter or kill sperm, producing temporary sterility. But these types of injuries - burns, cataracts, temporary sterility - can only be caused by exposure to large amounts of microwave radiation, much more than can leak from a microwave oven. The accepted standards require a very high degree of impermeability for the microwave oven to prevent the leakage of the radiation.
The scientists have never observed any harm caused by the microwave oven unless thermal injury that any traditional oven may cause. Our business, schooling activity can not be imagined without a computer. Computer and television screens, also used for video games, function on the same principle: like a fine jet of water projected against a wall, a beam of fast electrons sweep the fluorescent surface of the screen, where, point by point, it draws a luminous image. This would not be a problem if the energy from the electrons was limited to providing the image. But some of this energy escapes in the form of radiation at various frequencies, in particular VLF and ELF (very low frequency and extremely low frequency) fields. The spot of electrons which sweep the screen generates what scientists call PEMR (Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Radiation) which, at close range, disturbs the balance of all living cells.
It has been established that the harmful effects of PEMR exist all around the screen, especially in front of and behind the tube, effects which persist several hours after the computer or TV set has been turned off. The computer manufacturers permanently reduce the harm produced by the computer monitors. They develop various safety devices to reduce the influence of the monitor radiation. There are some other factors that may cause harm while using the computer, but they are not directly connected with radiating effects. First of all, a person who is working with the computer for a long time may get the health disorder because of prolonged immobility.
Children who are playing the computer games for a long time may get insomnia and other nervous disorders. The technical progress showed it is accompanied by the new danger for the human beings. The Chernobyl Catastrophe reason of which was the carelessness showed the danger the scientific development may cause. The nuclear materials may be the most dangerous issue for the mankind. We can not stop developing the alternative energy sources. The nuclear generated energy is cheap and alternatively clear.
The power generating plants may cause the great danger for the civilization if not operated properly with all safety requirements. The beginning of the century showed that there is another thread connected with the uncontrolled spread of the mortally dangerous materials appeared in the world. There is a real threat of a hazardous, nuclear and other materials application by the terrorists groups. So the safety regulations should meet the serious requirements as for storing and transportation of the hazardous materials. The scientific and technical progress is irreversible and if we pay special attention to the safety development all the products of such progress will be safe for the people and will not harm the man during there application. Citation Health Effects of UV Exposure, Ministry of Labour of Ontario, available at web K.
Sri Nageswari, Biological Effects of Microwaves and Mobile Telephony, Available at web Electromagnetic fields (EMF), available at web emf / about /Whatis EMF/en/ K. Sri Nageswari, Biological Effects of Microwaves and Mobile Telephony, Available at web Information On Human Exposure To Radiofrequency Fields From Cellular and PCS Radio Transmitters, available at web Howard Frumkin, MD, Dr PH and Michael J. Thun, Mdsection Editors Environmental Carcinogens - Cellular Phones and Risk of Brain Tumors, available at web Bibliography: Health Effects of UV Exposure, Ministry of Labour of Ontario, available at web Electromagnetic fields (EMF), available at web emf / about /Whatis EMF/en/ Information On Human Exposure To Radiofrequency Fields From Cellular and PCS Radio Transmitters, available at web Howard Frumkin, MD, Dr PH and Michael J. Thun, Mdsection Editors Environmental Carcinogens - Cellular Phones and Risk of Brain Tumors, available at web 5. K. Sri Nageswari, Biological Effects of Microwaves and Mobile Telephony, Available at web
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