Flora and fauna: how nonhuman species interact with natural and man-made EMF at ecosystem levels and public policy recommendations

Authors: Levitt BB, Lai HC, Manville III AM, Scarato T

Year: 2025-11-18

Category: Environmental Health

Journal: Frontiers in Public Health

DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1693873

URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1693873/full

Abstract

Overview

Over the past six decades, ambient exposures from nonionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) between 0 and 300 GHz, especially in the radiofrequency (RF) range (30 kHz to 3 GHz), have increased significantly. Successive technological advances have layered new sources of EMF exposure with different characteristics into the environment, resulting in continuous, low-intensity, biologically active exposures that now affect both human and nonhuman species.

Findings

  • Next-generation wireless technologies (5G, 6G) employ higher frequencies (>3.5 GHz) and a broader range of simultaneous exposures, creating pervasive, artificial forms of energetic pollution.
  • Deployment of numerous low earth orbit satellites has made global RF-EMF exposure essentially ubiquitous, erasing the rural-urban divide in exposure intensity.
  • Nonhuman species are especially sensitive to electromagnetic fields for crucial activities such as orientation, migration, mating, food location, and territorial behaviors. Many species have evolved refined electro/magneto-receptors attuned to natural geomagnetic fields.
  • Current EMF exposures, even at very low intensities, are capable of disrupting critical biological functions of flora and fauna. All existing exposure standards consider only human health, disregarding the unique sensitivities of other species.

Conclusion

Policy recommendations for wildlife protection include:

  • Treating "airspace as habitat" and respecting the natural electromagnetic environment
  • Enforcing existing environmental protection laws
  • Implementing mitigation measures such as frequency re-allocation, hardware/network redesign, and creation of EMF-free zones during migration and breeding seasons
  • Reconsidering competitive economic models that promote unchecked technological deployment

This research highlights the pervasive risk that EMF poses to nonhuman species and the urgent need for policy reform to safeguard ecosystem health.

electromagnetic fields radiofrequency wildlife ecosystem impacts public policy 5G behavioral disruption
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