What's Happening?
Are We Waking Up To The Issues?

The Daily Record. 08-Sep-2008.
by Lisa Adams

It's called an allergy to modern life and half of Scots in the next 10 years could be at risk from this crippling illness, according to scientific research. Victims of the condition, which is triggered by electromagnetic waves from mobile phones, power lines, microwaves and computers, suffer headaches, crushing chest pains, nose bleeds and a loss of feeling in arms and legs. Experts report that up to 1.5million people in the UK already have their lives blighted by electro-sensitivity, with symptoms that also include heart palpitations, tiredness, fainting, light sensitivity and skin problems.

Mike Bell, chairman of the Radiation Research Trust, said: "We are seeing a significant increase in enquiries from individuals suffering from these symptoms. " We're concerned that many people could be living with health-related electro-sensitivity symptoms without realising the cause. "Doctors in the UK are not trained to recognise this condition. They could be misdiagnosing patients and treating them with drugs rather than investigating the cause."

One victim has compared the condition with life as a human aerial - their body overreacting to electrical waves in the environment. Today, as a scientific conference opens in London, public health expert Dr. Gerd Oberfeld will predict that if current trends continue, up to 50 per cent of people could suffer from electro sensitivity symptoms in the next 10 years. The World Health Organisation is also backing research, stating that: "Electrical hypersensitivity is a real and sometimes disabling condition." Sufferers are particularly vulnerable to the £2.5billion police communication system Tetra - Terrestrial Trunked Radio - which has been introduced throughout the UK. In the past three years, more than 1000 masts have been erected in Scotland. They pulse at 17.6Hz - above the 16Hz frequency the Government's Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones warns might affect brain activity. Experts say radio waves at this frequency can cause calcium to leak from the brain, causing damage to the nervous and immune systems. If the masts are less than 15 metres high, they don't need planning permission.

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Harlem Brundtland suffers from electro-sensitivity.

She said: "I felt a local warmth around my ear. But the agony got worse. It turned to discomfort and headaches every time I used a mobile phone. Some people develop sensitivity to electricity and radiation from equipment such as mobile phones or PCs. If this can lead to adverse health effects such as cancer or other diseases, we do not know yet. But I think we should follow the precautionary principle."

Case study: 'Largs Hum' made me so ill I left town.

Georgie Hyslop claims her life was ruined by what locals call the "Largs Hum" - an unexplained low frequency noise. The 66-year-old former RAF radar operator says her problems started after she had a metal implant fitted to repair her back after a skiing accident. And she fears the implant turned her into a human aerial - picking up electricity waves when she is near a mobile phone mast, pylon or military radar. After moving to Largs in 2000 following the death of her husband Roy, Georgie started to feel unwell. She experienced headaches, nose bleeds, loss of feeling in her arms, chest pains and an abnormal heart rhythm. Her symptoms got worse after a police Tetra mast was fitted nearby. And a constant, low-frequency hum made it impossible for her to sleep.

She contacted Transco,Scottish Power, the European Environment Agency, the World Health Organisation, the National Radiological Protection Board and the British Geological Survey in a bid to find answers to her health problems. She also spoke to officials at Faslane naval base and the Hunterston nuclear power plant but drew a blank. Eventually Georgie moved to Rothbury, in Northumberland, to escape the symptoms. Now, she is writing a book about her 14,000-mile journey across the UK looking for somewhere to live away from the worst electromagnetic fields. Georgie says: "I can't even use a telephone without feeling ill now. If I pick up a mobile or cordless phone, I get burns on my face from it. And if I touched a microwave or attempted to eat food from one, that would also make me ill. "As an RAF radar operator, I think I was exposed to such a large volume of radio waves that my body can't cope with any amount now. "I should have been born hundreds of years ago as I'm allergic to modern life. "I'm Scots born and bred but life in Largs made me ill. "I still get affected by electromagnetic waves in my new home but if I avoid mobile phones and power lines, I can keep better. "But I don't think I'll ever feel 100 per cent again. "I've had letters from people all over the world who also suffer from sensitivity to electromagnetic fields. "I just don't want them to devastate other people's lives too. We deserve answers."

Stichting EHS.

The Japan Times Online. 23-Oct-2007.

The industrial safety agency will set up standards early next year to protect the public from exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields that exist close to power lines and appliances whenever there are electric currents, officials said Monday. An ordinance under the Electricity Enterprises Law will be revised to comply with a World Health Organization recommendations in June to set exposure limits against the biological effects of low-frequency electric and magnetic fields. According to the WHO, high levels of exposure to electric and magnetic fields in the frequency up to 100kHz can affect the nervous systems, resulting in acute health effects, including nerve stimulation.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will take the step based on a working group report, the agency officials said. Currently no standards have been set under domestic laws for magnetic fields, while standards are set for electric fields. Under the envisaged standards, the level of magnetic fields arising from a current would be capped at 100μT (microtesla) in eastern Japan, where electric power operates at a frequency of 50Hz, and 83μT in western Japan with a frequency of 60Hz, the officials said.

When the agency measured the magnetic field values at about 760 locations across Japan between 2003 and 2006, they were below the planned standards directly under the power lines. But figures were higher, 144μT at the maximum, near some transformers installed on streets and lines running from underground cables to power poles. The agency believes the values above the standards do not pose immediate risks, but it plans to urge power companies to take measures to reduce them, the officials said.

The agency also plans to discuss the fields' potential long-term effects, because everyday, chronic exposure to magnetic fields above 0.3 to 0.4μT is considered a possible health risk based on epidemiological studies of childhood leukemia. As for high-level exposures to electric and magnetic fields, adverse health effects have already been scientifically established. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection issued in 1998 guidelines for limiting exposure to fields up to 300GHz.

The Independent Today Sunday. UK. 07-May-2006.
by Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor

Around your home there are countless gadgets whose electrical fields, scientists now warn, are linked to depression, miscarriage and cancer.

Invisible "smog", created by the electricity that powers our civilisation, is giving children cancer, causing miscarriages and suicides and making some people allergic to modern life, new scientific evidence reveals. The evidence - which is being taken seriously by national and international bodies and authorities - suggests that almost everyone is being exposed to a new form of pollution with countless sources in daily use in every home.

Two official Department of Health reports on the smog are to be presented to ministers next month, and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has recently held the first meeting of an expert group charged with developing advice to the public on the threat.

The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) calls the electronic smog "one of the most common and fastest growing environmental influences" and stresses that it "takes seriously" concerns about the health effects. It adds that "everyone in the world" is exposed to it and that "levels will continue to increase as technology advances".

Wiring creates electrical fields, one component of the smog, even when nothing is turned on. And all electrical equipment - from TVs to toasters - give off another one, magnetic fields. The fields rapidly decrease with distance but appliances such as hair dryers and electric shavers, used close to the head, can give high exposures. Electric blankets and clock radios near to beds produce even higher doses because people are exposed to them for many hours while sleeping.

Radio frequency fields - yet another component - are emitted by microwave ovens, TV and radio transmitters, mobile phone masts and phones themselves, also used close to the head.

The WHO says that the smog could interfere with the tiny natural electrical currents that help to drive the human body. Nerves relay signals by transmitting electric impulses, for example, while the use of electrocardiograms testify to the electrical activity of the heart.

Campaigners have long been worried about exposure to fields from lines carried by electric pylons but, until recently, their concerns were dismissed, even ridiculed, by the authorities.

But last year a study by the official National Radiological Protection Board concluded that children living close to the lines are more likely to get leukaemia, and ministers are considering whether to stop any more homes being built near them. The discovery is causing a large-scale reappraisal of the hazards of the smog.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer - part of the WHO and the leading international organisation on the disease - classes the smog as a "possible human carcinogen". And Professor David Carpenter, Dean of the School of Public Health at the State University of New York, told The Independent on Sunday last week that it was likely to cause up to 30 per cent of all childhood cancers. A report by the California Health Department concludes that it is also likely to cause adult leukaemia, brain cancers and possibly breast cancer and could be responsible for a 10th of all miscarriages.

Professor Denis Henshaw, Professor of Human Radiation Effects at Bristol University, says that "a huge and substantive body of evidence indicates a range of adverse health effects". He estimates that the smog causes some 9,000 cases of depression.

Perhaps strangest of all, there is increasing evidence that the smog causes some people to become allergic to electricity, leading to nausea, pain, dizziness, depression and difficulties in sleeping and concentrating when they use electrical appliances or go near mobile phone masts. Some are so badly affected that they have to change their lifestyles.

While not yet certain how it is caused, both the WHO and the HPA accept that the condition exists, and the UN body estimates that up to three in every 100 people are affected by it.

Until a year ago, Sarah Dacre reckoned she had a "blessed life". Running her own company, and living in an expensive north London home, the high-earning divorcee described herself as "fab, fit and 40s". Then suddenly the sight in her right eye failed: she first noticed it when she was unable to read an A-Z map. Soon she was getting pains and numbness in her joints. She could not sleep and spent nights "pacing about like a caged lion". Her short-term memory failed and if she took notes to remind her, she would forget she had made them.

The symptoms got worse whenever she was exposed to electricity. She could not use a computer for more than five minutes without becoming nauseous. Even using a telephone landline gave her a buzzing in the ear and made her feel she was "going into meltdown".

Jackson County Chronicle. 23-Nov-2004.
by Ken Luchterhand

A couple of experts in the electrical field are in the area, conducting research of the affects[sic] of electrical pollution on living beings, including humans.

Professor Magda Havas, environmental and resource studies professor at Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, is studying the effects of electrical pollution on teachers and students at a Canadian school. She is hoping to get another school to participate in her research for additional data.

Also conducting research is Art Hughes, Ph.D., Austin, Texas, who is working together with Havas and Dave Stetzer of Stetzer Electric, Blair, to see how electrical pollution affects animals and human health.

Stetzer is one of the most prominent authorities on the subject of electrical pollution, and all gathered recently at Stetzer's Blair office to compare notes.

Havas first became aware of problems associated with electrical pollution when Michelle I.'s niece, Katherine K. was diagnosed as having Chronic Fatigue Syndrome through the symptoms she was exhibiting. Katherine contacted Stetzer and asked his advice, since she knew that he had conducted a great deal of research on farms.

Stetzer told her to turn off all power except for the refrigerator. Within a few days, Katherine was feeling a lot better. The house then was equipped with electrical filters and Katherine's Chronic Fatigue went away, Havas said.

Not only did her health improve, but also the health of everyone in the house improved, including the dogs.

But the home situation was not the only concern when it comes to electrical pollution. Michelle's daughter had to change schools, as well. She was so sensitive to the electrical problems in the school, she could only stand being in the building for a half-day. Usually, she would come home in the afternoon.

Havas conducted research at a small, private school in Toronto. The principal agreed to install electrical filters in the school building. After waiting for a time for adjustment, Havas evaluated the results.

She found that 2 percent of the 50 students and staff were extremely sensitive to the Rf waves emitted from the electrical wires and equipment, while 20 percent were moderately sensitive. So not to prejudice the results, the students and staff filled out questionnaires when they didn't know what, or if anything, had been done. They weren't even aware that filters had been installed. The only people who knew about the research and the changes were the principal and the custodian.

"The results were absolutely astounding," Havas said. "69 percent of the people who responded said their health improved. They were less fatigued, less frustrated, more satisfied, had less pain, fewer headaches and less flu-like symptoms."

Students from first grade through grade 12 were included in the study.

The degree of fatigue and frustration without the filters were more obvious in the afternoon, because the effects of the electrical pollution took its toll with longer exposure, she said.

The filters and a meter to read the radio frequency in the kilohertz range were developed by Dr. Martin Graham Professor Emeritus Berkeley, California, along with Dave Stetzer. Governments in counties overseas have more of a tendency to recognize the problems associated with electrical use and have taken steps to correct the problems that has an [sic] on health. The Republic of Kazakhstan called upon Stetzer to address the issue in May 2003.

"Radio wave sickness is common," he said. "They were looking at cell towers as a possible source."

Recognizing the serious threat to human health, the government immediately convened an international conference on the issue, with Stetzer playing a major role in presenting the information.

"Four out of the seven presenters said it was the number one problem in health," he said.

Dr. Graham and Stetzer began working to develop an easy-to-use meter to read the frequency, or RF energy, of the alternating current flowing through the power lines. Previously an oscilloscope was used to measure frequency, but many people needed to have an-easy-to-use handheld meter. Then, a guideline figure needed to be established to as a baseline for better health. The Republic of Kazakhstan set a figure of 50 as a basic guideline, with electrical circuit frequencies to be at or below that mark. Anything above 50 has increasing negative affects[sic] on human health, Republic of Kazakhstan said. As a result, the Republic of Kazakhstan created a law last November that requires the RF energy to be at 50 or below on the microsurge meter.

Each electrical component, such as a computer or television, alters the amount of "noise" on the electrical lines, Havas said.

The problem is that electrical distortion is not running under strict standards, which would take a movement from the utility companies to clean up, but they don't even address the issue.

"The standards are there, but the utility companies were made the policemen," Stetzer said. "The easiest place to clean it up would be on the grid."

One of the biggest problems is the fact that one electrical user can create problems for other people. One customer creating electrical distortion on the line will affect his neighbors, as well, sending it down the electrical line.

The easiest, relatively inexpensive way to clean up electrical pollution would be to have all manufacturers of electrical components incorporate filters into the circuits.

"It would take a filter that cost less than $5 for a television," Stetzer said. Because of the additional cost to equip the items with filters, plus the fact there are no regulations, the manufacturers don't include filters in the consumer products.

Until there is a lot of public pressure to get utility companies to set some regulations, however, nothing will change and people's health will continue to be adversely affected.

Meanwhile, Havas is hoping to get another school to participate in her study on the affects[sic] of electrical pollution on human health.

She knows of many people who have been diagnosed with diabetes, only to have blood sugar levels return to normal when electrical distortion levels are decreased, or the people leave the electrical environment.

"Many people are misdiagnosed," Havas said.

To prove the point, Stetzer referred to a study which was done with chicken eggs in incubators.

The normal mortality rate for fertilized chicken embryos is 25.6 percent, but embryos exposed to a high frequency distortion for four hours per day suffered a 31 percent mortality rate. Embryos with the same frequency exposure, but equipped with filters, had a mortality rate reduced to 18 percent.

"You apply these results to hatcheries and there can be a huge savings," Stetzer said. "But you can also apply these standards to humans, especially mothers with babies. Results like this is revolutionary, something that gets the medical establishment upset."

The Russians have analyzed with affects[sic] of humans to high amounts of electrical Rf distortion. They have concluded that the affects[sic] are cumulative, similar to sun exposure. Also notable, some people are more sensitive to the effects than others.

"It's similar to pollutants - it behaves that way and has an impact on people," Stetzer said. "No one is immune to this. There is no way you can't be affected."

All the information on electrical pollution is not disputed by electrical companies, but to say it is correct would create a liability problem. The lawyers would have quite a battle to determine who is to blame and what are the margins of acceptance when dealing with electrical pollution standards.

A study has been done, with conclusive results published. Yet, that information has been made difficult for the average person to obtain.

"No one can argue what Rf distortion causes," Stetzer said. "The reports have been suppressed by utility lobbyists."

A book on the study costs $25,000. It is so highly priced so that it is out of reach for most people, thus suppressing the information.

Another problem is the increased use of electricity on an aged system, Hughes said.

He equates the present 50-year-old electrical line system to an old sewer system in which more houses have been added.

In the hypothetical situation, new sewer pipes could be added to handle the additional load, which would be the proper route to follow. But, instead, holes would be drilled in the pipe to allow the additional sewage to flow out into the ground.

Similarly, additional return lines are needed to serve the electrical line system. But instead of adding a return line, the power companies will use a grounding post, making the return path of electricity use the earth as a route instead of an additional line.

Electricity uses the path of least resistance, therefore, it will go through anything in its path, including buildings, animals and people.

"It's not stray voltage - it was put there on purpose," Hughes said. "The body acts like a capacitor. It's not like burning on the skin, but more internal. The energy is dissipated into the internal parts of the body, causing damage over a long period of time."

There have been many studies on the affects[sic] of electricity of humans, but nothing is being done to correct it because of the political circumstances.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a report on electricity's [sic] on health in 1992, but the results have not been made public to this date.

The number one source of "soft" money to politicians in the United States is the pharmaceutical companies, Stetzer said. The number two source is the utility companies.

"Utilities, manufacturers and homeowners are going to have to become concerned about this problem before anything will get done," Stetzer said. "It's going to take a cooperative effort."

On October 25-26, 2004 Dr. Havas presented some of her findings to the World Health Organization in Prague, Czech Republic. She concluded her presentation by reporting that, "Graham/Stetzer filters and the microsurge meters enable individuals to monitor and improve power quality in buildings and they provide scientists with a tool for studying the effects of dirty electricity."

© 2004 The Chronicle and other attributed sources.

Jackson County Chronicle. 12-Feb-2004.
by Ken Luchterhand

Angela Olstad almost quit being a fourth grade teacher and principal. Although she loved her job at the Mindoro school, she couldn't handle being sick so often. The whole right side of her body went numb. She had terrible headaches, vision problems and felt completely exhausted at the end of a work day. She had never been able to teach for an entire week without calling in sick. This had gone on more than two years. She was about to quit when a cause had been found for her illness - electrical pollution.

Electrical filters soon were placed throughout the school and now she says she feels better than ever. She's not the only person making these claims. Several other teachers have been convinced of the electrical pollution theory and swear to its authenticity. "I feel better," said teacher Sharon Kaczrowski. "All my sinus problems are gone. I was always fighting a sinus infection before."

Teacher Aide Dawn Rand agrees, and said she used to experience chest pains and sinus problems. Before, when she walked up the stairs, she could hardly breathe. Since the filters have been installed, she hasn't had any chest pains and her sinuses have cleared. "I'm definitely a believer," Rand said. "I have them installed in my home now." Olstad has worked for the Melrose-Mindoro School District for 15 years. She worked at the Melrose building as a kindergarten teacher for 10 years, then switched to the Mindoro building five years ago, when she began teaching fourth grade. That's when the health problems began surfacing.

At the end of October during her first year, her whole right side went numb, a problem that continued for four months. Her ability to think became difficult and she always felt exhausted. She began to see double at the end of the second year.

Meanwhile, Administrator Ron Perry was trying to find out what was causing her illness. State inspectors came to the school and, after some analysis, they determined it was being caused by mold. During the summer, the school was completely cleaned, including the heating ducts, tunnels and ceiling tiles. It cost the district about $100,000, she said. Olstad's health improved during the summer because she spent time away from her classroom. However, when she returned to her third year at Mindoro, the symptoms returned. The numbness on one side of her body returned. "I need to be out of this room," she told herself. "There must be something that was skipped." She told Perry about the return of her health problems and her classroom was completely stripped and cleaned. Everything was bleached. "My students were in a traveling classroom for a month while they tore my classroom apart," Olstad said. She had been to a general practitioner physician, an allergist and an eye doctor. A neurologist at Mayo Clinic diagnosed her as having benign multiple sclerosis. "I had never been so sick in my life," she said. "It even hurt to put my head on the pillow at night." The sickness was so great, she was ready to quit teaching.

Then, early one morning Perry and Melrose-Mindoro District Board of Education President Bob Hardie came to the school to hold a meeting. They told the group of teachers they think they know what the problem might be. The only thing that had changed over the years, they explained, was the amount of electricity used by the school. More computers and other electrical devises increased the demand for electricity. The culprit: electrical pollution emanating from the electrical wiring, they concluded. "I didn't want to believe it," Olstad said. "I was the biggest skeptic there."

Dave Stetzer of Stetzer Electric, Blair, was contracted to isolate the problem and make any adjustments to alleviate the problem. Stetzer found the amount of radio frequency electromagnetic fields were too high, so he installed electrical filters in every outlet. Besides the Mindoro school, the Melrose-Mindoro High School and the Melrose school also were fitted with filters. Weeks after the filter installation, Olstad and other teachers began to report they felt much better. Even students were in better health, she said.

Before the problem was diagnosed, 37 children were on inhalers. Now, only five children are using inhalers. "I haven't had a headache since. I have never felt this good," Olstad said. "Some people come here feeling bad and when they leave at the end of the day, they are feeling good." The temperature in the computer lab dropped 20 degrees since the filters have been installed, yet the thermostat hasn't been changed. Many of the teachers have installed electrical filters in their homes. Each filter costs $25 and it usually takes 20 for an average house, Olstad said. Stetzer recently spoke before the Wisconsin School Board convention about the hazards of electrical pollution. Blair-Taylor, CFC, Brighton and Marshfield schools now have filters installed at each school building.

Rep. Barbara Gronemus (D) - Whitehall has introduced legislation (bill AB529) that would require something done about electrical pollution. "It's time they do something," Olstad said. "What is it doing to our children?". No-one from Xcel Energy, the supplier of electricity to the school, would speak on the subject. Also, no doctor could be located who would speak on the validity of electrical pollution's affects[sic] on health. "It has changed so many lives," Olstad said. "I'm so thankful that the filters have been installed. The cost is so minimal considering the benefits."

© 2004 The Chronicle and other attributed sources.