Watch out farmers and food lovers!

4 July, 2026

Does your living depend on producing food? Does your life depend on eating it?

Then this news is for you!

Scientists from Germany, Julian Keller and Uwe Geier, were interested to see what would happen when plants were subject to long-term exposure radiofrequency (wireless) radiation.

This is important because previous research has found that wireless exposure affected plant growth and development. Further, as they say, ‘The high levels of RF-EMF exposure we are currently facing are unprecedented in the history of the Earth’.

The researchers experimented on pots of 2-year-old silver linden trees (Tilia tomentosa). One group of trees was exposed to signals from a DECT base station and phones (1880–1900 MHz) as well as Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5 GHz). The second group, located close by, was shielded from the exposure.

The results showed that exposure damaged the plants.

‘Our in-depth … analysis reveals that long-term exposure to RF-EMF leads to a steady impairment of the photosynthetic apparatus,’ the authors said. The effects were similar to premature aging.

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use sunlight to produce oxygen-rich sugars that are the basis of the food chain.

‘By converting the energy of sunlight to a usable form of potential chemical energy, photosynthesis is the ultimate source of metabolic energy for all biological systems.’ 2 Put another way, ‘Photosynthesis is the ultimate source of all of humankind's food and oxygen.’3

So changes to a plants’ photosynthesis efficiency could be a very big deal indeed.

According to the authors, the damage they saw in this study was similar to the damage caused by photooxidative stress (damage from light exposure).

The authors say this work has important implications for the future. ‘As wireless technologies and weather extremes continue to intensify, understanding whether RF-EMF functions as a stressor—either independently or by reducing plant resilience to other environmental pressures—is a critical area for future research.’

  1. Keller, J., & Geier, U. (2026). Reduced Photosynthetic Efficiency of Tilia (Tilia tomentosa) Exposed to Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF)—JIP-Test Analysis. Plants, 15(12), 1824. https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/15/12/1824
  2. Cooper, GM, The Cell: A Molecular Approach,2nd ed, 2000
  3. Johnson MP. Photosynthesis. Essays Biochem. 2016 Oct 31;60(3):255-273. https://portlandpress.com/essaysbiochem/article/60/3/255/78224/Photosynthesis

 

 

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