The editors are pleased to present these Proceedings of the V Course of the "International School of Radiation Damage and Pro tection" of the "E. Majorana Centre", held in Erice (Italy) in No vember 1983. The lectures and discussions among leading scientists in various disciplines of physics, engineering, biophysics, cellular biology, physiology and medicine from 11 countries are included in this compilation. In this volume we have attempted to explore all aspects of the interaction of static and Extremely Low Frequency (ELF: 0-300 Hz) electric and magnetic fields with biological tissue, systems and whole organisms; we considered dosimetry and what is known or pre sumed concerning basic interactions, responses from the cellular and molecular level to the whole organism. Discussions of medical appli cations as well as epidemiologic investigations related to high volt age transmission were held with critiques of methodologies used and recommendations for future approaches. Consideration was also given to the necessity and principles of setting protection standards for man and the environment. We believe this is the first attempt to put all this informa tion together into one volume to provide perspective for understand ing the influence of static and ELF electric and magnetic fields on biological systems. We hope our attempts were successful. Martino Grandolfo Sol M. Michaelson Alessandro Rindi v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This is the Fifth Course of the International School of Radia tion Damage and Protection of the "Ettore Majorana" Centre for Sci entific Culture directed by Professor A. Zichichi.

Spanning static fields to terahertz waves, this volume explores the range of consequences electromagnetic fields have on the human body. Topics discussed include essential interactions and field coupling phenomena; electric field interactions in cells, focusing on ultrashort, pulsed high-intensity fields; dosimetry or coupling of ELF fields into biological systems; and the historical developments and recent trends in numerical dosimetry. It also discusses mobile communication devices and the dosimetry of RF radiation into the human body, exposure and dosimetry associated with MRI and spectroscopy, and available data on the interaction of terahertz radiation with biological tissues, cells, organelles, and molecules.

Dosimetry refers to the calculation and assessment of the radiation dose received by the human body. The proposed book will place emphasis on the existence of physical and biophysical dosimetry. It will be discussed for the proper description and evaluation of the signal at the power generation system. It will cover in detail 10 different parameters of EMF (electromagnetism) exposure such as amplitude, frequency, vector, time of exposure, orientation, etc. In most published papers, these parameters are not well defined.

Reporting new results, this book covers the subject of biological effects of EMF in its entirety. Experimental verification of the theoretical results is given when at all possible, and the book is expected to open new areas of research, providing material for university course creation.

Recent concerns over the possible hazards of electrical and magnetic fields in the home and workplace are comprehensively addressed within this book. The chapters contain detailed research on the biological effects of electric and magnetic fields, and evidence for and against any interaction of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and the biological systems. The relative risk of exposure to EMFs Putative behavioral and neural effects of EMFs EMF effects on cells