Magnetobiology

Biological effects of weak low frequency magnetic fields, less than about 0.1 millitesla (or 1 Gauss) and 100 Hz correspondingly, constitutes a physics problem.

Many animal orders, such as certain birds, marine turtles, reptiles, amphibians and salmonoid fishes are able to detect small variations of the geomagnetic field and its magnetic inclination to find their seasonal habitats.

[3] A 2014 double blinded study showed that European robins exposed to low level electromagnetic noise between about 20 kHz and 20 MHz, could not orient themselves with their magnetic compass.

When they entered aluminium-screened huts, which attenuated electromagnetic noise in the frequency range from 50 kHz to 5 MHz by approximately two orders of magnitude, their orientation reappeared.

Several neurobiological models on the primary process which mediates the magnetic input have been proposed: In the radical pair mechanism photopigments absorb a photon, which elevates it to the singlet state.

Experiments prove that the input from magnetite-based receptors in birds and fish is sent over the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve to the central nervous system.

Present electromagnetic safety standards, worked out by many national and international institutions, differ by tens and hundreds of times for certain EMF ranges; this situation reflects the lack of research in the area of magnetobiology and electromagnetobiology.