There are many claims about how 60GHz radio waves interacts with Oxygen. Some of the claims include:
- 60GHz absorbs Oxygen
- Oxygen absorbs 60GHz and accelerates the electrons preventing interaction with Hemoglobin in humans
- Electrons are ejected from oxygen atoms due to 60GHz, thus are ionized
- The oxygen atoms are modified is unspecified ways preventing interaction with Hemoglobin in humans
None of these are correct. To clarity: 60GHz does get absorbed by Oxygen at a much higher rate than other frequencies of radio waves.

This absorption is due to a particular property of Oxygen related to electron spin. Two atoms of Oxygen are bound and their lowest energy electrons always have the same spin. The energy level to flip both of these spins is the same as a 60GHz photon. The nice thing about flipping both spins is that the molecule is just the mirror image of the other state so chemically behaves the same. There is no impact on bonding with hemoglobin.
Further this state is very temporary. Shortly after this interaction takes place and new photon is emitted in a random direction and the molecule goes back to its original state.
There are several resources to refer to on this topic:
- The Theory of Electric and Magnetic Susceptibilities, 1932
- J. H. Van Vleck
- In particular see pages 262-264 and page 266.
- https://archive.org/details/theoryofelectric031070mbp
- https://ia802608.us.archive.org/13/items/theoryofelectric031070mbp/theoryofelectric031070mbp.pdf
- The Absorption of Microwaves by Oxygen, 1947
- J. H. Van Vleck
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.71.413
- Analysis Of Atmospheric Effects Due To Atmospheric Oxygen On A Wideband Digital Signal In The 60 Ghz Band, 2001
- Adelia C. Valdez
- https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/35234
- 60-GHz oxygen band: precise broadening and central frequencies of fine- structure lines, absolute absorption profile at atmospheric pressure, and revision of mixing coefficients, 2005
- M.Yu. Tretyakova, M.A. Kosheleva, V.V. Dorovskikha, D.S. Makarova, P.W. Rosenkranzb
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jms.2004.11.011
- Revision of the 60-GHz atmospheric oxygen absorption band models for practical use, 2020
- Dmitriy S. Makarova, Mikhail Yu. Tretyakova, Philip W. Rosenkranzb
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2019.106798