Combined biological and health effects of electromagnetic fields and other agents in the published literature

Electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation exerts both stand-alone and combined effects on biological systems. The present study examines the scope of the combined effects; i.e., identify effects on biological systems from combined exposure to electromagnetic fields/radiation and at least one other agent. Only articles in which the presence of EMF had some effect (beneficial or adverse) on the biological system were selected. A comprehensive and novel query was developed using an iterative hybrid approach, whereby articles related by common text and by citation linkages were retrieved. This retrieved literature was: 1) clustered algorithmically into 32 biomedical sub-themes (assigned by the authors); 2) grouped through factor analysis into 32 factors; and 3) subsequently grouped manually (by the authors) into an effects-based taxonomy. The common principles within each thematic cluster/group that accounted for the combined effects were identified.