Abstract
A significant amount of electromagnetic field/electromagnetic radiation (EMF/EMR) research is available that examines biological and disease associated endpoints. The quantity, variety and changing parameters in the available research can be challenging when undertaking a literature review, meta-analysis, preparing a study design, building reference lists or comparing findings between relevant scientific papers. The Oceania Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Association (ORSAA) has created a comprehensive, non-biased, multi-categorized, searchable database of papers on non-ionizing EMF/EMR to help address these challenges. It is regularly added to, freely accessible online and designed to allow data to be easily retrieved, sorted and analyzed. This paper demonstrates the content and search flexibility of the ORSAA database. Demonstration searches are presented by Effect/No Effect; frequency-band/s; in vitro; in vivo; biological effects; study type; and funding source. As of the 15th September 2017, the clear majority of 2653 papers captured in the database examine outcomes in the 300 MHz–3 GHz range. There are 3 times more biological “Effect” than “No Effect” papers; nearly a third of papers provide no funding statement; industry-funded studies more often than not find “No Effect”, while institutional funding commonly reveal “Effects”. Country of origin where the study is conducted/funded also appears to have a dramatic influence on the likely result outcome.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the Oceania Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Association (ORSAA) members and advisors who assisted us in the classification of scientific papers contained in the ORSAA database. We appreciate ARPANSA sharing their database abstracts for the period from 2000 to 2013.
Research funding: This association does not receive funding from any industry groups or government agencies. MR is not funded by any industry groups or government agencies. Conflict of interest: VL and SW are foundation members of Oceania Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Association (www.orsaa.org). This association is a not-for-profit advisory association and not an advocacy group for any specific cause. SW is a public representative of the Electromagnetic Energy Reference Group (EMERG) established by ARPANSA. MR is a member of TE-007 ASNZ 2772.2 (2016) and scientific advisor for ORSAA and EHT. Informed consent: Informed consent is not applicable. Ethical approval: The conducted research is not related to either human or animal use.
References
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Supplementary Material:
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2018-0017).
©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
