The word STRESS was used by H. Selye (Montreal, 1936) to represent an organism’s reaction condition to any stimulus.

The stimulus H. Selye calls the “stressor” may be a living organism (microbe, predator), a physical factor (cold, heat, radiation), a chemical substance (poison), an organic wound (haemorrhage), a dysfunction of the nervous system or a psychological imbalance (overwork, unpleasant or pleasant emotion).

The response to stress or “general adaptation syndrome” corresponds to all of the organism’s non-specific reactions in response to any aggression.

It occurs in 3 successive phases, under the control of nervous, hormonal and immune mechanisms:

   1. the reaction of alarm, during which the organism, surprised by the aggression, triggers its first defence reactions, particularly with an increased production of adrenaline.
   2. the resistance stage, longer lasting, during which the organism increases its defence capacities to retreat from the aggression. This phase depends on hormones which mobilize energizing substances (corticoids, adrenaline, glucagon).
   3. an exhaustion stage, related to the duration of the stress, which leads to a breakdown of the defence mechanisms and may result in the apparition of pathologies (autoimmune or degenerative diseases, depression, etc.)


Over the last decade, the Tecnolab Research Center, working with other scientific institutions in France and abroad, has studied the biological repercussions of prolonged exposure to non-ionizing, athermic and low-intensity radiations, such as those emitted by, among other sources, the electronic devices (game consoles, computers, television sets, cellular telephones, etc.) which surround us daily at home and at the office.

Studies conducted on animals and humans have revealed the cellular disruptions, physiological modifications, as well as symptoms typical of stress conditions.

It follows, therefore, that the daily and common use of radiation-emitting devices, as well as the resulting electromagnetic overload of the environment, place the organism in a context of chronic electromagnetic stress, which may, in the long run, foster the development of any pathology. And all the more so as certain frequencies emitted by such devices are similar to those of physiological functions.

The ever-increasing list of harmful or potentially harmful biological effects triggered by radiation attests the existence of a real risk of pathologies arising as a result of chronic electromagnetic stress:
   - modification of the secretion of melatonin, which plays a crucial role in sleep and in immune defence processes (Wilson et coll., 1989; Reiter, 1993; Santini, 2003);
   - induction of stress-protein synthesis or heat-shock proteins (Daniells et coll., 1998; Goodman and Blank, 1998; Weisbrot et coll., 2003)
   - modifications of the electroencephalogram (Mann et coll., 1999; Huhert et coll., 2000);
   - neurological problems (Hocking and Westerman, 2000; Johensen, 2000)
   - drop in arterial pressure (Braune et coll., 1998);
   - increase in the permeability of the hemato-meninx barrrier which normally protects the brain from the toxic substances transported by peripheral blood (Persson et coll., 1997; Schirmacher et coll., 2000);
   - triggers headaches, asthenia (Hocking, 1998; Oftedal et coll., 2000);
   - memory problems (Koivisto et al., 2000; Krause et coll., 2000; McKay and Persinger, 2000);
   - fertility problems (Mgras et coll., 1997; Cecconi et coll., 2000);
   - involved in cancerous processes (Repacholi et coll., 1997; Hardell et al., 1995; 2000; Bianchi et coll., 2000; Savitz et coll., 2000);
   - decrease in immune defences (Youbicier et coll. 1997; Del Signore et coll., 2000; Marino et coll., 2000; Youbicier 2000-2001; Bastide et coll. 2001).