Review of Microwave Weapons in the Cold War: The Moscow Embassy Study

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The ‘Moscow signal’ incident occurred during the Cold War between 1953 and 1976. The former USSR reportedly irradiated the US embassy with a 2.5 – 4 GHz microwave beam with a maximum reported exposure of 15 μW/cm2 for 18 hours a day (Lilienfeld et al., 1978). This paper reviewed the evidence of adverse health effects to staff working in the US embassy. Based on medical records and a Health History Questionnaire, there were no observed differences to total mortality or in ‘mortality from cancer’ between the Moscow group and the comparison group (staff who served in other eastern European embassies). Likewise, the results for morbidity found no differences in health status between the Moscow exposure group and the comparison group except for an increased rate of protozoal infections in males, and a slightly increased frequency of common health conditions. However, hundreds of morbidity comparisons were made, and these are likely chance findings. The paper concludes that no adverse health effects related to increased exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic energy (RF EME) from the ‘Moscow signal’ incident were found. This supports the findings of the original report by Lilienfeld et al. commissioned by the US Department of State.

Microwaves in the cold war: the Moscow embassy study and its interpretation. Review of a retrospective cohort study

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The exposure experienced by staff in the US embassy in Moscow is low compared to the current ARPANSA RF exposure standard. Further, there is no substantiated scientific evidence of adverse health effects from exposure to RF EME below the limits set by the ARPANSA RF Standard. The exposure limits are underpinned by several reviews of the body of scientific literature including: the ICNIRP review of RF EME and health, and The Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR)’s opinion ‘Potential health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF)’. The results of this study contribute further to the growing body of evidence supporting no adverse health effects from RF EME below the set exposure limits.