13 Dec Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS)
Technology is changing at a staggering pace. We are now exposed to man-made energy levels (forces) that did not exist a decade ago. Many new diseases and sicknesses have developed since our parent’s generation including electrical hyper-sensitivity and extreme cancer levels. Both of these conditions and many, many more have links to long term, low level, exposure to electromagnetic fields – EMF and radio-frequency waves (RF). EMF consists of electric and magnetic fields and is produced from live electrical wiring, electric appliances and electronic devices. RF waves are produced by all wireless communication products. Electric fields, magnetic fields and RF radiation are invisible yet exist everywhere. They are detrimental to our long-term health and it is necessary to reduce our long term exposure to them. There is so much research supporting this that it is fool-hardy to claim that significant, serious health effects do not exist. The best source of information about, peer reviewed studies is the BioInitiative Report. The best source of information on the long-term health effects of world electrification that utilizes historical medical data and other reports generated from the onset of electrification in the mid 1850s onward is the book The Invisible Rainbow, Arthur Firstenberg, 2017. This book is the result of over ten years of research. The bibliography is over 40 pages. It documents the monumental increase in EHS, diabetes, cancer, obesity and other afflictions that are the curse of ‘modern’ societies.
Symptoms of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS)
Neurological:
Headaches, dizziness, nausea, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, irritability, depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, weakness, tremors, muscle spasms, numbness, tingling, altered reflexes, muscle and joint pain, leg/foot pain, “Flu-like” symptoms, fever. More severe reactions can include seizures, paralysis, psychosis and stroke.
Cardiac:
Palpitations, arrhythmias, pain or pressure in the chest, low or high blood pressure, slow or fast heart rate, shortness of breath.
Respiratory:
Sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma.
Dermatological:
Skin rash, itching, burning, facial flushing.
Ophthalmologic:
Pain or burning in the eyes, pressure in/behind the eyes, deteriorating vision, floaters, cataracts.
Others:
Digestive problems, abdominal pain, enlarged thyroid, testicular/ovarian pain, dryness of lips, tongue, mouth, eyes, great thirst, dehydration, nosebleeds, internal bleeding, altered sugar metabolism, immune abnormalities, redistribution of metals within the body, hair loss, pain in the teeth, deteriorating fillings, impaired sense of smell, ringing in the ears.
Long Term Effects
Adult cancer, tumors, childhood leukemia, breast cancer, DNA strand breakage, abnormal cell division, nerve damage, MS, ALS, Alzheimer and Parkinson disease, brain damage, melatonin reduction, miscarriages.
Biological Mechanisms:
Some suggest that these epidemiological studies should be rejected because they claim that there are no known biological mechanisms. This is wrong on two counts. Firstly, epidemiological evidence is the strongest evidence of human health effects and dose-response relationships are indicative of a causal effect, Hill (1965). Biological mechanisms are limited by current knowledge and therefore should not diminish the epidemiological conclusions. Secondly, there is a large and coherent body of evidence of biological mechanisms that support the conclusion of a plausible, logical and causal relationship between EMR exposure and cancer, cardiac, neurological and reproductive health effects.
Neurological Interactions:
König (1974) and Wever (1974) prove that ELF EMR interacts with and interferes with human brains at extremely low field intensities.
Calcium Ion Homeostasis:
Blackman (1990) concludes that there is overwhelming evidence that EMR alters cellular calcium ion homeostasis, down to 0.08 mW/cm2, Schwartz et al. (1990).
Chromosome Aberrations:
Fourteen studies show that RF/MW causes significant chromosome damage, four with dose response relationships and one recorded a dose related cell death rate; Heller and Teixeira-Pinto (1959), Tonascia and Tonascia (1996) [cited in Goldsmith (1997b)], Sagripanti and Swicord (1986), Garaj-Vrhovac et al. (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998), Maes et al. (1993), Timchenko and Ianchevskaia (1995), Balode (1996), Haider et al. (1994), Vijayalaxmi et al. (1997), Tice, Hook and McRee (1999).
DNA strand breakage:
Four independent laboratories observe significant DNA damage, including two for cell phone radiation, down to 1 mW/cm2, Phillips et al. (1998). Lai and Singh (1995, 1996, 1997), Sarkar, Ali and Behari (1994), Verschave et al. (1994), including a dose response relationship, Lai and Singh (1996).
Neoplastic Transformation of Cells:
Balcer-Kubiczek and Harrison (1991) observed a significant dose response in cells exposed to microwaves.
Oncogene Activity:
Two laboratories show that cell phone radiation significantly alters proto oncogene activity; Ivaschuk et al. (1997) and Goswami et al. (1999).
Melatonin Reduction:
Fourteen studies show that EMR across the spectrum from ELF to RF/MW reduces melatonin in people.
Wang (1989) who found that workers who were more highly exposed to RF/MW had a dose-response increase in serotonin, and hence indicates a reduction in melatonin. Abelin (1999) reported significant reductions from SW radio exposure, Burch et al. (1997) with a combination of 60 Hz fields and cell phone use and Arnetz et al. (1996) with VDTs.
ELF exposure reduced melatonin in Wilson et al. (1990), Graham et al. (1994), Wood et al. (1998), Karasek et al. (1998), and Burch et al. (1997, 1998, 1999a), Juutilainen et al. (2000) and Graham et al. (2000); Pfluger et al. (1996)[16.7 Hz] and geomagnetic activity, Burch et al. (1999b).
Immune system impairment by EMR:
Impairment of the immune system is related to calcium ion efflux, Walleczek (1992) and to reduced melatonin, Reiter and Robinson (1995). Cossarizza et al. (1993) showed that ELF fields increased both the spontaneous and PHA and TPA- induced production of interleukin-1 and IL-6 in human peripheral blood. Rats exposed to microwaves showed a significant reduction in splenic activity of natural killer (NK) cells, Nakamura et al. (1997).
Quan et al. (1992) showed that microwave heating of human breast milk highly significantly suppressed the specific immune system factors for E. Coli bacteria compared with conventional heating. Dmoch and Moszczynski (1998) found that microwave exposed workers had decreased NK cells and a lower value of the T-helper/T-suppressor ratio was found. Moszczynski et al. (1999) observed increased IgG and IgA and decreased lymphocytes and T8 cells in TV signal exposed workers.
Chronic, 25 year, exposure to an extremely low intensity (<0.1 mW/cm2) 156-162 MHz, 24.4 Hz pulse frequency, radar signal in Latvia produced significant alterations in the immune system factors of exposed villagers, Bruvere et al. (1998).
Biological Mechanism Conclusions:
EMR is shown to alter cellular calcium ions, significantly increase chromosome aberrations, DNA strand breakage, neoplastic transformation of cells, reduce melatonin, enhance oncogene activity and impair the immune system. This is a coherent, consistent and overwhelming set of evidence to show that EMR is genotoxic. When coupled with the epidemiological evidence of cancer, there is compelling evidence that EMR is genotoxic, and, hence, is carcinogenic and teratogenic.