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Metabolomics and psychological features in fibromyalgia and electromagnetic sensitivity
Cristina Piras, Stella Conte, Monica Pibiri, Giacomo Rao, Sandro Muntoni, Vera Piera Leoni, Gabriele Finco, Luigi Atzori.
Metabolomics and psychological features in fibromyalgia and electromagnetic sensitivity. Scientific Reports volume 10, Article number: 20418 (2020).
Abstract
Fibromyalgia (FM) as Fibromyalgia and Electromagnetic Sensitivity (IEI-EMF) are a chronic and systemic syndrome. The main symptom is represented by strong and widespread pain in the musculoskeletal system. The exact causes that lead to the development of FM and IEI-EMF are still unknown. Interestingly, the proximity to electrical and electromagnetic devices seems to trigger and/or amplify the symptoms.
We investigated the blood plasma metabolome in IEI-EMF and healthy subjects using 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. All the individuals were subjected to tests for the evaluation of psychological and physical features.
No significant differences between IEI-EMF and controls relative to personality aspects, Locus of Control, and anxiety were found. Multivariate statistical analysis on the metabolites identified by NMR analysis allowed the identification of a distinct metabolic profile between IEI-EMF and healthy subjects. IEI-EMF were characterized by higher levels of glycine and pyroglutamate, and lower levels of 2-hydroxyisocaproate, choline, glutamine, and isoleucine compared to healthy subjects. These metabolites are involved in several metabolic pathways mainly related to oxidative stress defense, pain mechanisms, and muscle metabolism.
The results here obtained highlight possible physiopathological mechanisms in IEI-EMF patients to be better defined.
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Heart rate variability in healthy young
adults exposed to global system for mobile communication (GSM) 900-MHz
radiofrequency signal from mobile phones
Wallace J, Andrianome S, Ghosn R, Blanchard ES, Telliez F, Selmaoui B.
Heart rate variability in healthy young adults exposed to global system
for mobile communication (GSM) 900-MHz radiofrequency signal from mobile
phones.
Environ Res. 2020 Aug 23;191:110097.
Abstract
Given the large
number of mobile phone users and the increasing exposure to
radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) worldwide, we aimed to
study the effect of RF-EMF related to mobile phones on heart rate
variability (HRV).
Twenty-six healthy young adults participated in two
experimental sessions with a double-blind, randomized and
counter-balanced crossover design. During each session, participants
were exposed for 26 min to a sham or real 900 MHz RF-EMF, generated by a
commercial dual-band Global System for Mobile technology (GSM) mobile
phone. We recorded an electrocardiogram at rest during the exposure. We
evaluated HRV by time- and frequency-domain analysis.
Evaluation of
time-domain HRV parameters revealed a statistically significant increase
of the standard deviation of interbeat intervals (SDNN) during the real
exposure. Other time-domain parameters were not affected. Analysis in
the frequency-domain demonstrated that total spectral power and
low-frequency band (LF) absolute power were significantly increased
during exposure (p = .046 and p = .043, respectively). However, other
parameters were not affected.
In conclusion, it seems that most HRV
parameters were not affected by GSM signal exposure in our study. The
weak effect observed on HRV frequency-domain is likely to represent a
random occurrence rather than a real effect.
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The enigma of headaches associated with electromagnetic hyperfrequencies: Hypotheses supporting non-psychogenic algogenic processes
Toffa DH, Sow AD.
The enigma of headaches associated with electromagnetic hyperfrequencies: Hypotheses supporting non-psychogenic algogenic processes.
Electromagn Biol Med. 2020 May 13:1-10. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2020.1762638.
Abstract
Although an electrohypersensitivity (EHS) is reported in numerous studies, some authors associate hyperfrequencies (HF)-related pains with a nocebo effect while others suggest a biological effect. Therefore, we aimed to suggest hypotheses about the complex mechanisms of headaches related to HF-exposure. We crossed basic features of headaches with relevant studies (from the year 2000 up to 2018) emphasizing on the HF effects that may lead to pain genesis: neuroglial dysmetabolism, neuroinflammation, changes in cerebral blood perfusion, blood-brain barrier dysfunction and electrophysiological evidences of hyperexcitability. We privileged studies implying a sham exposure (for in vivo studies) and a specific absorption rate lower than 4 W/Kg. HF-induced headaches may involve an indirect inflammatory process (neurogenic, magnetogenic or thermogenic) as well as a direct biophysical effect (thermogenic or magnetogenic). We linked inflammatory processes to meningeal dysperfusion or primary neuroglial dysfunction triggered by non-thermal irradiation or HF-induced heating at thermal powers. In the latter case, HF-induced excitoxicity and oxidative stress probably play a crucial role. Such disorders may lead to vascular-trigeminal activation in predisposed people. Interestingly, an abnormal oxidative stress predisposition had been demonstrated in overall 80% of EHS self-reporting patients. In the case of direct effects, pain pathways' activation may be directly triggered by HF-irradiation (heating and/or transcranial HF-induced ectopic action potentials). Further research on HF-related headaches is needed.
Excerpts
Electromagnetic HFs are non-ionizing radiations that have complex interactions with intracranial structures. These radiations can significantly impact on neuroglial excitability and induce direct or indirect changes in the permeability of the BBB and meningeal capillaries. All these objective interactions can lead to the induction of headaches either by non-thermal/thermal proinflammatory mechanisms, by thermal stimulation of trigeminal endings, or also by ectopic discharges genesis. However, we believe that unless there occurs a prolonged and high-intensity exposure, a low threshold for vascular trigeminal activation seems crucial to promote headaches in EHS people. Our hypotheses are based on the conclusions of several studies targeting the brain effects of HF. However, further experiments based on the current assumptions should be conducted. In practice, since it is impossible to avoid HF exposure in modern society, it is important to emphasize awareness to reduce this exposure, especially in EHS individuals. Moreover, since some of the mechanisms described above can lead to durable neuroglial processes, chronic exposure in predisposed people can result in brain disorders (headaches or other) that increasingly evolve independently from HF triggering.
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Symptoms Experienced by Persons with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: Submissions to FCC Docket #13-84
This report summarizes the responses of 184 persons with self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) who submitted comments to the FCC (Docket #13-84) and reported either their symptoms or the sources of their problematic exposure to radio frequency radiation.
https://www.saferemr.com/2020/05/EHSsubmissionstoFCC.html
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Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS, microwave syndrome) –
Review of mechanisms
Stein Y, Udassin IG. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS, microwave syndrome) – Review of mechanisms.
Environmental Research. Vol 186. Available online 30 March 2020, 109445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.109445
Abstract
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), known in the past as “Microwave syndrome”, is a clinical syndrome characterized by the presence of a wide spectrum of non-specific multiple organ symptoms, typically including central nervous system symptoms, that occur following the patient's acute or chronic exposure to electromagnetic fields in the environment or in occupational settings.
Numerous studies have shown biological effects at the cellular level of electromagnetic fields (EMF) at magnetic (ELF) and radio-frequency (RF) frequencies in extremely low intensities. Many of the mechanisms described for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) apply with modification to EHS. Repeated exposures result in sensitization and consequent enhancement of response. Many hypersensitive patients appear to have impaired detoxification systems that become overloaded by excessive oxidative stress. EMF can induce changes in calcium signaling cascades, significant activation of free radical processes and overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in living cells as well as altered neurological and cognitive functions and disruption of the blood-brain barrier. Magnetite crystals absorbed from combustion air pollution could have an important role in brain effects of EMF. Autonomic nervous system effects of EMF could also be expressed as symptoms in the cardiovascular system. Other common effects of EMF include effects on skin, microvasculature, immune and hematologic systems.
It is concluded that the mechanisms underlying the symptoms of EHS are biologically plausible and that many organic physiologic responses occur following EMF exposure. Patients can have neurologic, neuro-hormonal and neuro-psychiatric symptoms following exposure to EMF as a consequence of neural damage and over-sensitized neural responses.
More relevant diagnostic tests for EHS should be developed. Exposure limits should be lowered to safeguard against biologic effects of EMF. Spread of local and global wireless networks should be decreased, and safer wired networks should be used instead of wireless, to protect susceptible members of the public. Public places should be made accessible for electrohypersensitive individuals.
Mechanisms
Many of the mechanisms described for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) apply with modification to EHS. Repeated exposures result in sensitization and consequent enhancement of response (Overstreet, 2001; Latremoliere and Woolf, 2009; Molot, 2013; Sage, 2015). Many hypersensitive patients appear to have impaired detoxification systems that become overloaded by excessive oxidative stress (Korkina, 2009; De Luca et al., 2014). Patients can have neurologic, neuro-hormonal and neuro-psychiatric symptoms following exposure to EMF as a consequence of neural damage and over-sensitized neural responses (Dwyer and Leeper, 1978; Pall, 2016). EMF can induce changes in calcium signaling cascades (Liboff, 1984; Blackman et al., 1985; Smith et al., 1987; Pall, 2013, 2015), significant activation of free radical processes and overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in living cells (Irmak et al., 2002; Zmyslony et al., 2004; Friedman et al., 2007; Blank and Goodman, 2009; De Iuliis et al., 2009; Georgiou, 2010; Avci et al., 2012; Jing et al., 2012; Bilgici et al., 2013; Burlaka et al., 2013) as well as altered neurological and cognitive functions (Frey, 1961; Thomas et al., 1986; Carrubba et al., 2007; Nittby et al., 2009; Xu et al., 2010; Molot, 2013; Yakymenko et al., 2016; Pall, 2016; Kim et al., 2017) and disruption of the blood-brain barrier (Salford et al., 2008; Nittby et al., 2009). Magnetite crystals absorbed from combustion air pollution could have an important role in brain effects of EMF (Maher et al., 2016).
Conclusions
In the modern world, exposure to electromagnetic radiation has become inescapable. There are many people who develop adverse health effects as a result of exposure to EMF. This review of the literature included numerous self-reported neurologic and neuropsychiatric symptoms which have a temporal relationship to EMF exposures. Further studies suggest that EMF exposure may be associated with changes in cerebral blood flow which correspond to abnormalities on PET scan of the brain. Some of the researchers have even localized the brain abnormalities to the temporal lobe, thought to be the closest site of exposure to cell phones. Because of the widespread use of EMF technology, it is difficult to avoid exposure.
Open access paper: https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/1061559548743/EHS%20Mechanisms%20YS%20IU.pdf
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Electrohypersensitivity
as a Newly Identified and Characterized Neurologic Pathological
Disorder:
How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It
Belpomme D, Irigaray P. Electrohypersensitivity as a Newly Identified and Characterized Neurologic Pathological Disorder: How to Diagnose, Treat, and Prevent It. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Mar 11;21(6). pii: E1915. doi: 10.3390/ijms21061915.
Abstract
Since
2009, we built up a database which presently includes more than 2000
electrohypersensitivity (EHS) and/or multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
self-reported cases. This database shows that EHS is associated in 30%
of the cases with MCS, and that MCS precedes the occurrence of EHS in
37% of these EHS/MCS-associated cases. EHS and MCS can be characterized
clinically by a similar symptomatic picture, and biologically by
low-grade inflammation and an autoimmune response involving
autoantibodies against O-myelin. Moreover, 80% of the patients with EHS
present with one, two, or three detectable oxidative stress biomarkers
in their peripheral blood, meaning that overall these patients present
with a true objective somatic disorder. Moreover, by using ultrasonic
cerebral tomosphygmography and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, we
showed that cases have a defect in the middle cerebral artery
hemodynamics, and we localized a tissue pulsometric index deficiency in
the capsulo-thalamic area of the temporal lobes, suggesting the
involvement of the limbic system and the thalamus. Altogether, these
data strongly suggest that EHS is a neurologic pathological disorder
which can be diagnosed, treated, and prevented. Because EHS is becoming a
new insidious worldwide plague involving millions of people, we ask the
World Health Organization (WHO) to include EHS as a neurologic disorder
in the international classification of diseases.
Conclusions
In summary, we showed that there are presently sufficient clinical, biological, and radiological data for EHS to be acknowledged as a well-defined, objectively identified, and characterized pathological neurologic disorder. As a result, patients who self-report they suffer from EHS should be diagnosed and treated on the basis of presently available biological tests, including the detection of peripheral blood and urine biomarkers and the use of imaging techniques such as fMRI, TDU, and, when possible, UCTS. Moreover, because we showed for the first time that EHS is frequently associated with MCS and that both clinico-biological entities may be associated with a common physiopathological mechanism for genesis, it clearly appears that they can be identified as a unique neurologic pathological syndrome whatever their causal origin. Moreover; as it was shown that MCS genesis may be attributed to toxic chemical exposure, and EHS genesis to potentially excessive EMF and/or chemical exposure; protective measures against these two environmental stressors should be taken. Whatever its causal origin and mechanism of action, EHS should therefore be from now on recognized as a new identified and characterized neurological pathological disorder. As it is already a real health plague potentially involving millions of people worldwide it should be acknowledged by WHO, and thus be included in the WHO ICD. As stated during the international scientific consensus meeting on EHS and MCS that we have organized in 2015 in Brussels, scientists unanimously asked WHO to urgently assume its responsibilities, by classifying EHS and MCS as separate codes in the ICD; so as to increase scientific awareness of these two pathological entities in the medical community and the general public, and to foster research and train medical practitioners to e ciently diagnose, treat, and prevent EHS and MCS–which in fact constitute a unique, well-defined, and identifiable new neurologic disease.
Open access paper: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/6/1915
Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) is an Environmentally-Induced Disability that Requires Immediate Attention
Havas M.
Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) is an Environmentally-Induced Disability that Requires Immediate Attention. Review Article. J Sci Discov. 3(1):jsd18020;DOI:10.24262/jsd.3.1.18020. 2019.
Abstract
A
growing number of countries are beginning to acknowledge that
electrohypersensitivity (EHS) exists and a few countries have classified
it as a disability or a functional impairment attributable to the
environment. Epidemiological studies and in vivo experiments show that
exposure to non-ionizing radiation (NIR) from extremely low to microwave
frequency electromagnetic fields (EMF) at exposure intensities far
below the maximum limits in international guidelines increases anxiety,
depression, and physiological stress and impairs cognitive functions
that include concentration, memory and learning. Furthermore, exposure
to NIR contributes to neurodegenerative diseases including dementia,
Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis,
Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism
spectrum disorder. Exposure of the fetus to NIR (mobile phone) affects
the neonatal heart and can lead to emotional and behavioral problems in
human offspring. Similar exposures in laboratory studies report impaired
cognitive performance, neuronal losses and pathological changes in the
brain of rat offspring. The scientific and medical communities have
repeatedly sent out urgent warnings, in the form of appeals,
declarations and testimonies, that exposure to NIR needs to be reduced
from a public health perspective. These warnings have been largely
ignored. With continued development of wireless technology and the
imminent roll out of new and densified technologies (e.g., 5G
technology, satellite constellations, repeaters, wearables, Internet of
Things), society will pay an enormous price for disregarding these
warnings. It is long overdue for those responsible for public health,
the health of children and health policy to take these warnings
seriously and to provide a refuge for those afflicted by EHS. EHS is
real, it is exacerbated by exposure to NIR, it is increasing among the
population and when severe it becomes a disability. Action is long
overdue to minimize exposure to NIR and to provide a safe environment that all can enjoy.
Conclusion
Environments contaminated by electrosmog can be devastating to those individuals who are already impaired by electromagnetic exposures. Unfortunately, these environments may also induce impairment in previously unimpaired individuals. Fetal exposure is particularly disturbing as it can affect the life of the offspring, as shown in both human and animal studies. The research reported here is regarding undesirable disruption of neurological and hormonal functions such that either cognitive or physical ability becomes impaired.
According to this research, exposure to EMF or EMR at levels far below the maximum limits in federal guidelines can contribute to deficits in memory and learning; increase the stress response and lead to mood disorders, including both anxiety and depression; contribute to symptoms of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; contribute to neurodegenerative disorders and exacerbate symptoms of multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and various types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Removal of the EMF/EMR exposure can ameliorate the impairing symptoms for many with EHS and/or reduce requirements for prescriptive medications and care. Mechanisms of action involve neurotransmitter disturbances, oxidative stress, programmed cell death (apoptosis), increase in stress proteins, reduced growth of nerve cells, DNA damage and altered hormonal levels.
With the impending deployment of 5G (5th Generation Wireless technology and the Internet of Things), exposure to mm [millimeter] waves will dramatically increase, further densifying our current electrosmog exposure.
Scientists and physicians familiar with EHS have submitted multiple appeals and declarations to governing agencies in an attempt to reduce exposure to electromagnetic frequencies. They recommend establishing more protective emission and exposure guidelines; designing technologies that emit EMR less often, at lower intensity and with a reduced radiation footprint; educating health care providers; informing the public; and establishing radiation-free environments for persons with EHS.
Agencies responsible for assuring disabled persons are included, and welcomed, in their communities and have equal access to necessities and enjoyment of life have provided little support for those suffering with EHS, presumably due to lack of information and/or unintentional, yet nevertheless in appropriate, attitudinal barriers. It is my hope that this document will encourage federal and state agencies, as well as other jurisdictions and decision-makers, to take EHS seriously and to help individuals affected by this physiological condition and to support their families. According to the World Health Organization (2015) the level of severity of EHS is classified as being severe for approximately 10% of individuals who report EHS symptoms. This percentage is likely to increase as more EMF-emitting technologies, such as 5G, mm waves and Internet of Things, are deployed.
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Shielding methods and products against man-made Electromagnetic Fields: Protection versus risk
Panagopoulos DJ, Chrousos GP.
Shielding methods and products against man-made Electromagnetic Fields: Protection versus risk.
Sci Total Environ. 2019 Feb 23;667:255-262. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.344.
Highlights
• Human exposure to man-made EMFs has increased with increasing health problems.
• Metal shielding is lately suggested by private companies/individuals as a way to reduce exposure.
• Metal shielding reduces both man-made and natural atmospheric EMFs.
• EHS symptom relapses and internal desynchronization are reported after shielding.
• An avoidance strategy of man-made EMFs should be preferable than metal shielding.
Abstract
Human exposure to man-made
Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs) has increased to unprecedented levels,
accompanied by increase in various health problems. A connection has
been indicated by an increasing number of studies. Symptoms
characterized as Electro-hyper-sensitivity (EHS) are frequently reported
especially in urban environments. Lately, people are advised by private
companies and individuals to protect themselves from man-made EMFs by
metal shielding through various products, for which there are reasonable
concerns about their protective efficacy and safety. Indeed, any metal
shielding practice, even when correctly applied, attenuates not only
man-made totally polarized EMFs accused for the health problems, but
also the natural non-polarized EMFs responsible for the biological
rhythmicity and well-being of all animals. Strong evidence on this was
provided by pioneering experiments in the 1960's and 1970's, with
volunteers staying in a shielded underground apartment. We analyze the
physical principles of EMF-shielding, the importance of natural
atmospheric EMFs, and examine available shielding methods and suggested
products, relying on science-based evidence. We suggest that an
avoidance strategy is safer than shielding, and provide specific
protection tips. We do not reject shielding in general, but describe
ways to keep it at a minimum by intermittent use, as this is
theoretically safer than extensive permanent shielding. We explain why
metallic patches or "chips" or minerals claimed by sellers to be
protective, do not seem to make sense and might even be risky. We
finally suggest urgent research on the safety and efficacy of shielding
methods combined with use of generators emitting weak pulses of similar
frequency, intensity, and waveform with the natural atmospheric
resonances.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30831365
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Individual
variation in temporal relationships between RF exposure & physical
symptoms:
A new approach in studying 'electrosensitivity'
Bogers
RP, van Gils A, Clahsen SCS, Vercruijsse W, van Kamp I, Baliatsas C,
Rosmalen JGM, Bolte JFB. Individual
variation in temporal relationships between exposure to radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields and non-specific physical symptoms: A new
approach in studying 'electrosensitivity'. Environ Int. 2018 Sep
15;121(Pt 1):297-307. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2018.08.064.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Everyday exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF)
emitted from wireless devices such as mobile phones and base stations,
radio and television transmitters is ubiquitous. Some people attribute
non-specific physical symptoms (NSPS) such as headache and fatigue to
exposure to RF-EMF. Most previous laboratory studies or studies that
analyzed populations at a group level did not find evidence of an
association between RF-EMF exposure and NSPS.
OBJECTIVES: We
explored the association between exposure to RF-EMF in daily life and
the occurrence of NSPS in individual self-declared electrohypersensitive
persons using body worn exposimeters and electronic diaries.
METHODS:
We selected seven individuals who attributed their NSPS to RF-EMF
exposure. The level of and variability in personal RF-EMF exposure and
NSPS were determined during a three-week period. Data were analyzed
using time series analysis in which exposure as measured and recorded in
the diary was correlated with NSPS.
RESULTS: We found
statistically significant correlations between perceived and actual
exposure to wireless internet (WiFi - rate of change and number of peaks
above threshold) and base stations for mobile telecommunications
(GSM + UMTS downlink, rate of change) and NSPS scores in four of the
seven participants. In two persons a higher EMF exposure was associated
with higher symptom scores, and in two other persons it was associated
with lower scores. Remarkably, we found no significant correlations
between NSPS and time-weighted average power density, the most commonly
used exposure metric.
CONCLUSIONS: RF-EMF exposure was associated
either positively or negatively with NSPS in some but not all of the
selected self-declared electrohypersensitive persons.
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Characteristics of perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the general population
Gruber MJ, Palmquist E, Nordin S.
Characteristics of perceived electromagnetic hypersensitivity in the general population.
Scand J Psychol. 2018 May 9. doi: 10.1111/sjop.12449.
Abstract
Health
problems evoked in the presence of electrical equipment is a concern,
calling for better understanding for characteristics of electromagnetic
hypersensitivity (EHS) in the general population. The present study
investigated demographics, lifestyle factors, frequency and duration,
coping strategies, proportion meeting clinical criteria for intolerance
attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and comorbidity. Using data
from a large-scale population-based questionnaire study, we investigated
persons with self-reported (n = 91) EHS in comparison to referents (n =
3,250). Middle age, female sex and poor perceived health was found to
be associated with EHS. More than 50% in the EHS group reported having
EMF-related symptoms more often than once a week, and the mean number of
years experiencing EHS was 10.5. More than half of the EHS group
reported that their symptoms started after a high-dose or long-term EMF
exposure, that they actively tried to avoid EMF sources and that they
mostly could affect the EMF environment. A minority of the EHS group had
sought medical attention, been diagnosed by a physician or received
treatment. Exhaustion syndrome, anxiety disorder, back/joint/muscle
disorder, depression, functional somatic syndrome and migraine were
comorbid with EHS. The results provide ground for future study of these
characteristic features being risk factors for development of EHS and or
consequences of EHS.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29741795
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Hypersensitivity
to electromagnetic waves: research efforts should be scaled up
and
suitable care provided for the people concerned
French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES), March 27, 2018
Today the Agency is publishing the results of its expert
appraisal on hypersensitivity to electromagnetic waves. This work drew
on all the available scientific literature, as well as on numerous
hearings with hospital and general practitioners, researchers,
associations, and the people concerned. The expert appraisal revealed
the great complexity of the issue of electrohypersensitivity (EHS),
while concluding that according to the current state of knowledge, there
is no solid experimental evidence establishing a causal link between
exposure to electromagnetic fields and the symptoms described by the
people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive. The Agency also
emphasised that the suffering and pain expressed by the people declaring
themselves as electrohypersensitive is a reality of life, requiring
them to adapt their daily lives to cope with it. In this context, the
Agency recommends providing suitable care for the people concerned and
pursuing research work, in particular by setting up studies whose
experimental conditions take into account the circumstances of people
declaring themselves as EHS.
Radiofrequency electromagnetic waves have been a major health,
environmental and societal concern for several years now, in France and
abroad. Despite the measures taken to regulate and monitor the levels of
exposure to electromagnetic fields, for several decades the scientific
literature has regularly reported cases of people suffering from various
disorders attributed to exposure to fields emitted by household
appliances, electrical facilities and communicating devices.
In this context, the Agency has published several opinions and
collective expert appraisal reports, particularly in 2003, 2005, 2009,
2013 and, most recently, in 2016, on the potential health risks of
exposure to radiofrequency waves. It also wished to pay due attention to
the issue of electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), by devoting a
specific in-depth expert appraisal to this subject.
This expert appraisal, whose results are published today, was based
on an analysis of the scientific literature and on numerous hearings
(with hospital and general practitioners, researchers, associations and
the people concerned). It was also supplemented with data based on more
than 500 additional comments from scientists and stakeholders, in the
framework of the open public consultation that ran from 27 July to 15
October 2016, and which was based on a preliminary expert appraisal
report.
Agency conclusions and recommendations
The Agency's expert appraisal showed the great complexity of the
issue of electro-hypersensitivity. First of all, there are currently no
validated diagnostic criteria for EHS, and the expert appraisal found
that it is only possible to define EHS on the basis of self-reporting by
individuals.
The Agency also concluded that the pain and suffering (headaches,
sleep, attention and memory disorders, social isolation, etc.) expressed
by the people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive is a
reality of life, requiring them to adapt their daily lives to cope with
it.
The 40 experts, who worked on this expert appraisal for almost four
years, investigated many hypotheses in an attempt to understand these
symptoms. However, current scientific knowledge shows no cause and
effect relationship between the symptoms of people declaring themselves
as electrohypersensitive and their exposure to electromagnetic waves.
Nevertheless, these symptoms, which can have a significant impact on the
quality of life of these people, require and warrant suitable care by
health and social service players.
To this end, the Agency recommends asking the French National
Authority for Health to consider the relevance of formulating
recommendations for health professionals to ensure suitable care for
people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive. The Agency also
recommends developing training for health professionals on the issue of
electrohypersensitivity and training for social service professionals in
supporting and counselling people declaring themselves as
electrohypersensitive, as well as taking their questions and
expectations into account in their practices and fostering greater
coordination between the players involved in their care.
The Agency also recommends continuing research:
-
by strengthening the interactions between scientists and associations of people declaring themselves as electrohypersensitive;
-
by supporting the establishment of research infrastructure suitable
for investigating EHS, mainly in order to conduct long-term follow-up
studies, while ensuring that the experimental conditions are controlled
and take into account the circumstances of people declaring themselves
as electrohypersensitive;
-
by securing long-term funding for research work on the health effects of radiofrequencies.
Report (in French):
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Vital Signs with Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, has produced a program on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity which was aired on CNN International and on CNN in the U.S. in October and November, 2017.
You can watch the program online now by viewing the following three videos on the CNN website:
Part 1 (9-minute video): Welcome to the National Quiet Zone
- with Diane Schou and Dr. David Carpenter. In a small West Virginia
town, a restriction on wireless internet and phone signals provides a
refuge to disconnect.
http://cnn.it/2floP7A
Part 2 (7-minute video): Reducing Wireless Exposure -
with Dr. Joel Moskowitz, Melissa Chalmers, Kevin Mottus, and Dafna
Tachover. As the world becomes more connected, how can you reduce your
exposure to electromagnetic fields?
http://cnn.it/2yBjBgB
Part 3 (5-minute video): Living in the National Quiet Zone - with Leo Halepli. What life is like for a young man from Turkey now living in the small town of Green Bank, West Virginia.
Note: Dr. Gupta's statement that non-ionizing radiation cannot cause DNA damage is false. The National Toxicology Program found that mice and rats exposed to non-ionizing, cell phone radiation developed DNA damage. Numerous studies
have found evidence of DNA damage from exposure to low-intensity
radiofrequency radiation (RFR). At least seven published studies have found evidence of DNA damage in humans. The DNA damage may be an indirect
effect of the oxidative stress caused by exposure to RFR.
Discussion Questions:
Why
doesn't our federal government conduct or fund research on electromagnetic hypersensitivity and other health effects (e.g., cancer,
reproductive and neurological damage) associated with exposure to
radio frequency radiation? The only major study the government has
conducted in the past two decades, the National Toxicology Program study
on second-generation (2G) cell phone radiation, was requested by the
FDA in 1999 and still has not been finalized.
Why
doesn't the Federal Communications Commission update its decades-old
guidelines for radio frequency radiation exposure based upon the latest
international research that finds biologic and health effects from
current levels of exposure to radio frequency radiation?
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Mobile Phone Use and The Risk of Headache:
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cross-sectional Studies
Wang
J, Su H1, Xie W, Yu S. Mobile Phone Use and The Risk of Headache: A
Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Cross-sectional Studies. Sci Rep.
2017 Oct 3;7(1):12595. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12802-9.
Abstract
Headache
is increasingly being reported as a detrimental effect of mobile phone
(MP) use. However, studies aimed to investigate the association between
MP use and headache yielded conflicting results. To assess the
consistency of the data on the topic, we performed a systematic review
and meta-analysis of the available cross-sectional studies. Published
literature from PubMed and other databases were retrieved and screened,
and 7 cross-sectional studies were finally included in this
meta-analysis. The pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval
(CI) were calculated. We found that the risk of headache was increased
by 38% in MP user compared with non-MP user (OR, 1.38; 95% CI,
1.18-1.61, p < 0.001). Among MP users, the risk of headache was also
increased in those who had longer daily call duration (2-15 min vs.
<2 min: OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.34-1.98, p < 0.001; >15 min vs.
<2 min: OR, 2.50; 95% CI, 1.76-3.54, p < 0.001) and higher daily
call frequency (2-4 calls vs. <2 calls: OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.07-1.76,
p < 0.001; >4 calls vs. <2 calls: OR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.78-3.58,
p < 0.001). Our data indicate that MP use is significantly associated
with headache, further epidemiologic and experimental studies are
required to affirm and understand this association.
Excerpts
The underlying mechanism of the
association between MP use and headache remains unclear but some suggest
that breakdown of the blood-brain barrier due to exposure to low
intensity MP frequency microwave energy may be involved 33,34,35,36.
Also, the dopamine-opiate system may be involved in headaches and low
intensity electromagnetic energy exposure affects those systems
37,38,39. However, since Frey’s group first reported headaches occurring
after microwave energy exposure at approximately the same frequencies
and incident energies that present day MP emit40, the exact mechanism under this association is still not fully understood now.
The
results of our meta-analysis and lots of previous studies herein
supported current clinical opinion that MP use may cause increased risk
for headache. Therefore, it is advisable to admit that the use of MP is a
risk factor for headache. In Stalin’s study 18 and Chiu’s study 19, the
prevalence of MP usage among adult and children was 69.8% and 63.2%
respectively in their study population, and that was only the data from
two years ago. We could foresee the prevalence of MP usage will be
higher in the future. So it is also advisable to suggest that excessive
use of MP should be avoided by increasing social awareness through
health promotion activities. It is imperative that health care
professionals, clinicians and common people are educated about the
deleterious influence of MP on headache. And it is reasonable to
instruct children and adolescent about a prudent use of MPs. In
addition, we encourage screening of headache patients during routine
clinical visits to identify those patients to explore excessive MP use
as a potential cause. Intervention and policies must be developed,
evaluated and carry out at the population level to raise the awareness
of the potential adverse health effect to decrease the headache caused
by MP using.
Open Access Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-12802-9
--
Special Issue on Ecopsychology and Environmental Sensitivities:
Chemical, Electrical, and Beyond
Ecopsychology, Vol. 9, Issue 2
--
EUROPAEM
EMF Guideline 2016 for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment
of
EMF-related health problems and illnesses
Belyaev I, Dean A, Eger H, Hubmann G, Jandrisovits R, Kern M,
Kundi M, Moshammer H, Lercher P, Müller K, Oberfeld G, Ohnsorge P,
Pelzmann P, Scheingraber C, Thill R. EUROPAEM EMF Guideline 2016 for the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems and
illnesses.Rev Environ Health. Publ online 2016 Jul 25. doi:
10.1515/reveh-2016-0011.
Abstract
Chronic diseases and illnesses associated with unspecific symptoms are on the
rise. In addition to chronic stress in social and work environments, physical
and chemical exposures at home, at work, and during leisure activities are
causal or contributing environmental stressors that deserve attention by the
general practitioner as well as by all other members of the health care
community. It seems certainly necessary now to take "new exposures"
like electromagnetic field (EMF) into account. Physicians are increasingly
confronted with health problems from unidentified causes.
Studies, empirical observations, and patient reports clearly indicate
interactions between EMF exposure and health problems. Individual
susceptibility and environmental factors are frequently neglected. New wireless
technologies and applications have been introduced without any certainty about
their health effects, raising new challenges for medicine and society. For
instance, the issue of so-called non-thermal effects and potential long-term
effects of low-dose exposure were scarcely investigated prior to the
introduction of these technologies. Common EMF sources include Wi-Fi access
points, routers and clients, cordless and mobile phones including their base
stations, Bluetooth devices, ELF magnetic fields from net currents, ELF
electric fields from electric lamps and wiring close to the bed and office
desk. On the one hand, there is strong evidence that long-term-exposure to
certain EMF exposures is a risk factor for diseases such as certain cancers,
Alzheimer's disease and male infertility. On the other hand, the emerging
electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is more and more recognized by health
authorities, disability administrators and case workers, politicians, as well
as courts of law.
We recommend treating EHS clinically as part of the group of chronic
multisystem illnesses (CMI) leading to a functional impairment (EHS), but still
recognizing that the underlying cause remains the environment. In the
beginning, EHS symptoms often occur only occasionally, but over time they may
increase in frequency and severity. Common EHS symptoms include headaches,
concentration difficulties, sleeping problems, depression, lack of energy,
fatigue and flu-like symptoms.
A comprehensive medical history, which should include all symptoms and their
occurrences in spatial and temporal terms and in the context of EMF exposures,
is the key to the diagnosis. The EMF exposure can be assessed by asking for
typical sources like Wi-Fi access points, routers and clients, cordless and
mobile phones and measurements at home and at work. It is very important to
take the individual susceptibility into account.
The primary method of treatment should mainly focus on the prevention or
reduction of EMF exposure, that is, reducing or eliminating all sources of EMF
at home and in the workplace. The reduction of EMF exposure should also be
extended to public spaces such as schools, hospitals, public transport, and
libraries to enable persons with EHS an unhindered use (accessibility measure).
If a detrimental EMF exposure is reduced sufficiently, the body has a chance to
recover and EHS symptoms will be reduced or even disappear. Many examples have
shown that such measures can prove effective. Also the survival rate of
children with leukemia depends on ELF magnetic field exposure at home.
To increase the effectiveness of the treatment, the broad range of other
environmental factors that contribute to the total body burden should also be
addressed. Anything that supports a balanced homeostasis will increase a
person's resilience against disease and thus against the adverse effects of EMF
exposure. There is increasing evidence that EMF exposure has a major impact on
the oxidative and nitrosative regulation capacity in affected individuals. This
concept also may explain why the level of susceptibility to EMF can change and
why the number of symptoms reported in the context of EMF exposures is so
large. Based on our current understanding, a treatment approach that minimizes
the adverse effects of peroxynitrite - as has been increasingly used in the
treatment of multisystem disorders - works best.
This EMF Guideline gives an overview of the current knowledge regarding
EMF-related health risks and provides concepts for the diagnosis and treatment
and accessibility measures of EHS to improve and restore individual health
outcomes as well as for the development of strategies for prevention.
http://bit.ly/2asNTuj
--
Electrohypersensitivity:
a functional impairment due to an
inaccessible environment
Johansson O. Electrohypersensitivity: a functional impairment due to an
inaccessible environment. Rev Environ Health. 2015 Dec 1;30(4):311-21. doi:
10.1515/reveh-2015-0018.
Abstract
In Sweden, electrohypersensitivity is recognized as a functional impairment
which implies only the environment as the culprit. The Swedish view provides
persons with this impairment a maximal legal protection, it gives them the
right to get accessibility measures for free, as well as governmental subsidies
and municipality economic support, and to provide them with special Ombudsmen
(at the municipality, the EU, and the UN level, respectively), the right and
economic means to form disability organizations and allow these to be part of
national and international counterparts, all with the simple and single aim to
allow persons with the functional impairment electrohypersensitivity to live an
equal life in a society based on equality. They are not seen as patients, they
do not have an overriding medical diagnosis, but the 'patient' is only the
inferior and potentially toxic environment. This does not mean that a
subjective symptom of a functionally impaired can not be treated by a
physician, as well as get sick-leave from their workplace as well as economic
compensation, and already in the year 2000 such symptoms were identified in the
Internal Code of Diagnoses, version 10 (ICD-10; R68.8/now W90), and have been
since. But the underlying cause still remains only the environment.
http://1.usa.gov/1YFwzkd
Excerpts
The very first case may have been
Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856–7 January 1943) a Serbian-American inventor,
electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist, best known
for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC)
electricity supply system. Descriptions of his health status closely resembles
what we today would have named electro-hypersensitivity. A surge of similar
case reports were also seen during the amateur radio (DX) years.
In more recent times, as early as
in the 1970s, a report from the former Soviet Union described a “microwave
syndrome”. The Soviet military recognized early on the possible side-effects
from radar and radio radiation. This microwave syndrome was seen in up to a
quarter of the military personnel working with radio and radar equipment. They
showed symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, headaches, problems with
concentration and memory, sleep disturbances, and being hot tempered. The
treatment suggested was a change of assignments and to keep away from exposure.
Rest, physical exercise, and nutritious food were also offered (8).
Also in the 1970s the newspaper industry was one of the first to supply it’s
employees with personal computers using visual display terminals. Complaints of
headaches and visual problems, as well as clusters of miscarriages and birth
defects in children born to female editors and other newspaper employees,
generated some publicity. In addition, many people who worked in the
electronics industry in Sweden, including an estimated 12% of the electrical
engineers in that industry, became electrically sensitive, and helped form the
current Swedish disability organization ...
In the United States,
then-Representative Al Gore held Congressional hearings in 1981 on the health
effects of computer screens ....
Today the most famous electrohypersensitive
person is Gro Harlem Brundtland (20 April 1939), the former Prime Minister of
Norway and the former Director General of the UN World Health Organization
(WHO).
I and my collaborator, Dr.
Shabnam Gangi, in two papers of theoretical nature (27, 28), have put forward a
model for how mast cells and substances secreted from them (e.g. histamine,
heparin, and serotonin) could explain sensitivity to electromagnetic fields...
When it comes to functional
impairments, it is always only action that speaks, nothing else. To ensure that
everyone acts within the UN Human Rights Convention is of paramount importance,
and that persons with EHS is promptly given complete accessibility is the only
acceptable goal, as is proper symptom identification and treatment when
possible, but only when asked for by the disabled person Himself/Herself.
However, the latter should never be used instead of the first.
--
Biomarkers
for diagnosing electrohypersensitivity &
multiple chemical sensitivity:
Two
etiopathogenic aspects of a unique pathological disorder
Belpomme D, Campagnac C, Irigaray
P. Reliable disease biomarkers characterizing and identifying
electrohypersensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity as two etiopathogenic
aspects of a unique pathological disorder. Rev Environ Health. 2015 Dec
1;30(4):251-71. doi: 10.1515/reveh-2015-0027.
Abstract
Much of the controversy over the causes of electro-hypersensitivity (EHS) and
multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) lies in the absence of both recognized
clinical criteria and objective biomarkers for widely accepted diagnosis.
Since 2009, we have prospectively investigated, clinically and biologically,
1216 consecutive EHS and/or MCS-self reporting cases, in an attempt to answer
both questions. We report here our preliminary data, based on 727 evaluable of
839 enrolled cases: 521 (71.6%) were diagnosed with EHS, 52 (7.2%) with MCS,
and 154 (21.2%) with both EHS and MCS. Two out of three patients with EHS
and/or MCS were female; mean age (years) was 47. As inflammation appears to be
a key process resulting from electromagnetic field (EMF) and/or chemical
effects on tissues, and histamine release is potentially a major mediator of
inflammation, we systematically measured histamine in the blood of patients.
Near 40% had a increase in histaminemia (especially when both conditions were
present), indicating a chronic inflammatory response can be detected in these
patients. Oxidative stress is part of inflammation and is a key contributor to
damage and response. Nitrotyrosin, a marker of both peroxynitrite (ONOO°-)
production and opening of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), was increased in 28%
the cases. Protein S100B, another marker of BBB opening was increased in 15%.
Circulating autoantibodies against O-myelin were detected in 23%, indicating
EHS and MCS may be associated with autoimmune response. Confirming animal
experiments showing the increase of Hsp27 and/or Hsp70 chaperone proteins under
the influence of EMF, we found increased Hsp27 and/or Hsp70 in 33% of the
patients. As most patients reported chronic insomnia and fatigue, we determined
the 24 h urine 6-hydroxymelatonin sulfate (6-OHMS)/creatinin ratio and found it
was decreased (<0.8) in all investigated cases. Finally, considering the
self-reported symptoms of EHS and MCS, we serially measured the brain blood
flow (BBF) in the temporal lobes of each case with pulsed cerebral ultrasound
computed tomosphygmography. Both disorders were associated with hypoperfusion
in the capsulothalamic area, suggesting that the inflammatory process involve
the limbic system and the thalamus.
Our data strongly suggest that EHS and MCS can be objectively characterized and
routinely diagnosed by commercially available simple tests. Both disorders
appear to involve inflammation-related hyper-histaminemia, oxidative stress,
autoimmune response, capsulothalamic hypoperfusion and BBB opening, and a
deficit in melatonin metabolic availability; suggesting a risk of chronic
neurodegenerative disease. Finally the common co-occurrence of EHS and MCS
strongly suggests a common pathological mechanism.
http://1.usa.gov/1NEtsXW
--
The
microwave syndrome or electro-hypersensitivity: historical
background
Carpenter DO. The microwave syndrome or electro-hypersensitivity: historical
background. Rev Environ Health. 2015 Nov 10. doi: 10.1515/reveh-2015-0016.
[Epub ahead of print]
Abstract
Microwave generating equipment first became common during World War 2 with the
development of radar. Soviet bloc countries reported that individuals exposed
to microwaves frequently developed headaches, fatigue, loss of appetite,
sleepiness, difficulty in concentration, poor memory, emotional instability,
and labile cardiovascular function, and established stringent exposure
standards. For a variety of reasons these reports were discounted in Western
countries, where the prevailing belief was that there could be no adverse
health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that were not mediated by
tissue heating. The reported Soviet effects were at lower intensities than
those that cause heating. However, there were several accidental exposures of
radar operators in Western countries that resulted in persistent symptoms
similar to those described above. The Soviets irradiated the US Embassy in
Moscow with microwaves during the period 1953-1975, and while no convincing
evidence of elevated cancer rates was reported, there were reports of
"microwave illness." Officials passed these complaints off as being
due to anxiety, not effects of the microwave exposure. There is increasing
evidence that the "microwave syndrome" or
"electro-hypersensitivity" (EHS) is a real disease that is caused by
exposure to EMFs, especially those in the microwave range. The reported
incidence of the syndrome is increasing along with increasing exposure to EMFs
from electricity, WiFi, mobile phones and towers, smart meters and many other
wireless devices. Why some individuals are more sensitive is unclear. While
most individuals who report having EHS do not have a specific history of an
acute exposure, excessive exposure to EMFs, even for a brief period of time,
can induce the syndrome.
Excerpts
Electro-hypersensitivity
(EHS) is a syndrome that may include some or all of the following: excessive
fatigue, headache, tinnitus, insomnia, photophobia, a feeling of cognitive dysfunction and impaired
memory, irritability, pain at various sites and often cardiovascular
abnormalities (1). However, these are all relatively common complaints. All of
us have on occasion suffered from headaches and insomnia. Because the symptoms
are relatively non-specific, and because the adverse health effects of
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is a contentious issue, and also because primary
care physicians have no objective diagnostic algorithms by which to diagnose
EHS, patients suffering from EHS are often referred to a psychiatrist. There
is, however, a body of evidence, both old and more recent, that indicates that
these symptoms are triggered by exposure to EMFs in sensitive individuals. This
is the case for exposure to both the extra low electromagnetic fields (ELF)
coming from electricity and the radiofrequency (RF) EMFs coming from radar,
communication devices, WiFi, smart meters and many other forms of wireless
devices.
There are conflicting estimates
on what percent of the population suffers from EHS, with some suggesting that
between 5 and 10% of people have the syndrome, and that the incidence is
increasing with time (2). However, there are several reports of tests of
individuals taken into a laboratory and their responses recorded when they were
unaware of whether or not an EMF field was being applied. Some of these studies
have not shown that individuals who report that they are electro-sensitive are
in fact able to discern if the EMFs are present or not (3–6). However, these
reports are balanced by others that show that at least some individuals do
respond with adverse symptoms when exposed to EMFs in a blinded fashion (7, 8).
Thus not everyone who believes they are electrosensitive really is, but it is
also likely that some have the symptoms of EHS but have not identified the
cause. Thus the true incidence of EHS is currently not known.
... the Soviet countries’
standard for maximal permissible [EMF] exposure during the workday is 1,000
times lower than that in the US. [0.01 mW/cm2 over an entire workday]
Some of the strongest evidence
that EHS is a real syndrome comes from cases of acute high intensity exposure
to microwaves of healthy people, which resulted in prolonged illness ....
Recent years have seen a marked
increase in overall exposure to EMFs ....There has always been uncertainty over
which characteristics of EMFs are most important with regard to human health
effects. Because the mechanisms whereby these various adverse health outcomes
arise are still not well understood, it is important to ask the question of
which components pose the greatest risk, whether or not we are confident of the
answer. Frey (36, 37) first suggested that peak power density was more important
than average power density. Litovitz et al. (38) concluded that 60 Hz EMFs and
RF EMFs do very much the same things, and later studies suggested that the low
frequency, modulatory component of RF was particularly important (39). Others
have implicated on-off transients, “dirty electricity” and other
characteristics of the fields than the steady 50 or 60 Hz fields.
... smart meter RF radiation is
significantly different from many other forms of RF, in that it consists of
brief but very high intensity pulses. Thus, whereas the average exposure over
time is not excessive it appears possible that the high intensity pulses are
responsible for the development of EHS. Brief intense pulses have been
described as “dirty electricity” by Milham and Morgan (33), who suggest that
many of the reported adverse effects of EMFs are due to these brief events, rather than the sine wave
forms ...
Conclusion
The weight of evidence indicates
that EHS is a real syndrome induced by exposure to either ELF or RF EMF. In
some cases it results from a brief, high intensity exposure, whereas in others
it appears to reflect ambient exposures, especially those of increasing
intensity and perhaps of certain waveforms. Whether from acute high intensity
exposure or ambient background exposure from cell towers, mobile phones, smart
meters and other devices, it is clear that not everyone develops EHS, for
reasons not well understood. Certainly more research is needed to understand
exactly which of the components of EMF exposures pose the greatest danger to
human health, and what biological mechanisms are responsible. But the important
conclusion is that there is something about EMFs of various forms that do pose
direct hazards to human health.
--
Electromagnetic
Hypersensitivity (EHS): Fad Allergy,
Debilitating Disease, or What?
The National Law Review, Oct 15,
2015
"... electromagnetic
hypersensitivity (or “EHS” – sensitivity to radio waves from Wi-Fi routers,
cell phones and similar products) is an “allergy” that has recently gotten more
mainstream media attention and is also “characterized by a range of non-specific
symptoms.” The Access Board, which is the federal agency responsible for
promulgating accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities
Act, has recognized that “electromagnetic sensitivities may be considered
disabilities under the ADA ...."
<snip>
"The upshot of court rulings
to date is that while some courts will overlook the lack of scientific evidence
that EHS is caused by exposure to EMF in the context of government benefits,
they have not been so accommodating where another individual’s (or company’s)
rights would be adversely affected by a ruling in favor of an EHS
plaintiff."
"If EHS becomes as prevalent
as “gluten sensitivity,” we can expect more EHS sufferers to ask courts to
fashion them a remedy. Unlike bread and pasta for the gluten-obsessed,
EMF is not something a person can easily avoid. Americans are exposed to
EMF on a daily basis, from the likes of garage door openers, cell phones,
cordless phones, laptops, tablets, to Wi-Fi routers in their homes,
supermarkets, malls and places of work. Radio frequency energy is literally
everywhere. While there is no science to support the causation hypothesis,
people who believe they have EHS really believe they have a legitimate
sensitivity, and many have demonstrable symptoms that are not frivolous. That
makes for motivated litigants, which means the courts will probably see more of
these cases in the future. But for courts to decide that EHS is something more
than a fad allergy, or a psychological manifestation arising from the nocebo
effect, they will need controlled scientific studies supporting the
case—studies that at the moment do not exist."
--
2015
International Scientific Declaration on Electromagnetic
Hypersensitivity
and
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
ARTAC / ECERI Press Release, Sep 4, 2015
Following the fifth
Paris Appeal Congress, which
took place on the 18th of May, 2015 and focused on
environmental hypersensitivities, the attending European, American and Canadian
scientists unanimously decided to create a working group and to write a Common
International Declaration to request an official recognition of these new
diseases and of their sanitary consequences worldwide.
The declaration calls upon national and international bodies and institutions
and particularly the World Health Organization, for
taking urgently their responsibility for recognizing electrohypersensitivity
and multiple chemical sensitivity as real diseases, including them in the
International Classification of Diseases.
This International Declaration also asks national and
international institutions to adopt simple precautionary measures of
prevention, to inform populations and requires
the appointment of real independent expert groups to evaluate these sanitary
risks in total scientific objectivity, which
is not the case today.
For the
Scientific Committee of the Paris Appeal Fifth Congress:
Pr. David Carpenter, MD (USA)
Pr. Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD
(Sweden)
Pr. Dominique Belpomme, MD, MS
(France
--
Ex-WHO
General-Director Warns: "Wireless
Technology has Health Effects There is no Doubt "
YouTube, Aug 20, 2015
(3:20)
On August 14, 2015, retired
General-Director of the World Health Organization and former Prime Minister of
Norway, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, was interviewed by the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten.
One issue discussed in the interview was her current thoughts about wireless
radiation. Her statement was crystal clear. Watch the relevant clip from
the interview here, subtitled in English by Citizens´ Radiation Protection,
Norway.
--
What does
the World Health Organization say about EHS?
The EHS overview on the World
Health Organization's web site is nine years old. When will the WHO inform the
public about the world-wide program of EMF studies on EHS it is
co-ordinating?
Electromagnetic fields and public
health: Electromagnetic hypersensitivity
Backgrounder, World Health
Organization, December 2005
<snip>
What WHO is doing
WHO, through its International
EMF Project, is identifying research needs and co-ordinating a world-wide
program of EMF studies to allow a better understanding of any health risk
associated with EMF exposure. Particular emphasis is placed on possible health
consequences of low-level EMF. Information about the EMF Project and EMF
effects is provided in a series of fact sheets in several languages www.who.int/emf/.
Resources
Hypersensitivity to WiFi ... Could it be a disability?
On Sept. 1, a federal district
court in Florida refused to dismiss an ADA
claim based on allegations
that an individual experienced insomnia, loud and violent ear ringing and
difficulty concentrating as a result of the attachment of a digital meter to
his home.
The court said that because these
symptoms substantially limited major life activities and derived from “some
sort of physical or mental impairment,” it could reasonably infer that the
plaintiff has a disability.
--
Electromagnetic
hypersensitivity -- an
increasing challenge to the medical profession
Hedendahl L, Carlberg M, Hardell
L. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity - an increasing challenge to the medical
profession. Rev Environ Health. 2015;30(4):209-15.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In 1970, a report from the former Soviet Union described the
"microwave syndrome" among military personnel, working with radio and
radar equipment, who showed symptoms that included fatigue, dizziness,
headaches, problems with concentration and memory, and sleep disturbances.
Similar symptoms were found in the 1980s among Swedes working in front of
cathode ray tube monitors, with symptoms such as flushing, burning, and
tingling of the skin, especially on the face, but also headaches, dizziness,
tiredness, and photosensitivity. The same symptoms are reported in Finns, with
electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) being attributed to exposure to
electromagnetic fields (EMF). Of special concern is involuntary exposure to
radiofrequency (RF)-EMF from different sources. Most people are unaware of this
type of exposure, which has no smell, color, or visibility. There is an
increasing concern that wireless use of laptops and iPads in Swedish schools,
where some have even abandoned textbooks, will exacerbate the exposure to EMF.
METHODS: We have surveyed the literature on different aspects of EHS and
potential adverse health effects of RF-EMF. This is exemplified by case reports
from two students and one teacher who developed symptoms of EHS in schools
using Wi-Fi.
RESULTS: In population-based surveys, the prevalence of EHS has ranged
from 1.5% in Sweden to 13.3% in Taiwan. Provocation studies on EMF have yielded
different results, ranging from where people with EHS cannot discriminate
between an active RF signal and placebo, to objectively observed changes
following exposure in reactions of the pupil, changes in heart rhythm, damage
to erythrocytes, and disturbed glucose metabolism in the brain. The two
students and the teacher from the case reports showed similar symptoms, while
in school environments, as those mentioned above.
DISCUSSION: Austria is the only country with a written suggestion to
guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of EMF-related health problems. Apart
from this, EHS is not recognized as a specific diagnosis in the rest of the
world, and no established treatment exists.
CONCLUSION: It seems necessary to give an International Classification of
Diseases to EHS to get it accepted as EMF-related health problems. The
increasing exposure to RF-EMF in schools is of great concern and needs better
attention. Longer-term health effects are unknown. Parents, teachers, and
school boards have the responsibility to protect children from unnecessary
exposure.
From: The Fifth Congress of the Paris Appeal: Environmental idiopathic
intolerance: what role for EMFs and multiple chemicals? 18 May 2015, Brussels,
Belgium.
Conclusions
The prevalence of EHS seems to be
increasing today, and many people get symptoms when exposed to ELF- and/or
RF-EMF. With the ever more extensive use of wireless technologies, nobody can
avoid being exposed. It is important to work toward getting objective
diagnostic criteria for EHS, and have it recognized and officially accepted as
hypersensitivity, an illness caused by exposure to EMF. Thus, it is necessary
to give an International Classification of Diseases to EHS. If and when EHS is
accepted as a diagnosis by society and the medical profession, measures can be
taken especially in consideration for this group of people with EHS regarding
healthcare, accommodation, school, and work.
Measurements of exposure to EMF
should be performed in classrooms and in school yards during a typical school
week. The results must be evaluated in relation to current knowledge of
biological effects from EMF exposure. This should lead to a precautionary
approach using wired solution of the internet connection, but also reduction of
other sources of EMF exposure. This approach should be similar as for control
of exposure to other toxic agents such as asbestos and radon emissions. It is
time to consider ELF-EMF and RF-EMF as environmental pollutants that need to be
controlled.
--
Implications
of non-linear biological oscillations on human
electrophysiology for EHS and MCS
Sage C. The implications of
non-linear biological oscillations on human electrophysiology for
electrohypersensitivity (EHS) and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Rev
Environ Health. 2015 Sep 12.
Abstract
The 'informational content' of
Earth's electromagnetic signaling is like a set of operating instructions for
human life. These environmental cues are dynamic and involve exquisitely low
inputs (intensities) of critical frequencies with which all life on Earth
evolved. Circadian and other temporal biological rhythms depend on these
fluctuating electromagnetic inputs to direct gene expression, cell
communication and metabolism, neural development, brainwave activity, neural
synchrony, a diversity of immune functions, sleep and wake cycles, behavior and
cognition. Oscillation is also a universal phenomenon, and biological systems
of the heart, brain and gut are dependent on the cooperative actions of cells
that function according to principles of non-linear, coupled biological
oscillations for their synchrony. They are dependent on exquisitely timed cues
from the environment at vanishingly small levels. Altered 'informational
content' of environmental cues can swamp natural electromagnetic cues and
result in dysregulation of normal biological rhythms that direct growth,
development, metabolism and repair mechanisms. Pulsed electromagnetic fields
(PEMF) and radiofrequency radiation (RFR) can have the devastating biological
effects of disrupting homeostasis and desynchronizing normal biological rhythms
that maintain health. Non-linear, weak field biological oscillations govern
body electrophysiology, organize cell and tissue functions and maintain organ
systems. Artificial bioelectrical interference can give false information
(disruptive signaling) sufficient to affect critical pacemaker cells (of the
heart, gut and brain) and desynchronize functions of these important cells that
orchestrate function and maintain health. Chronic physiological stress
undermines homeostasis whether it is chemically induced or electromagnetically
induced (or both exposures are simultaneous contributors). This can eventually
break down adaptive biological responses critical to health maintenance; and
resilience can be compromised. Electrohypersensitivity can be caused by
successive assaults on human bioelectrochemical dynamics from exogenous
electromagnetic fields (EMF) and RFR or a single acute exposure. Once
sensitized, further exposures are widely reported to cause reactivity to lower
and lower intensities of EMF/RFR, at which point thousand-fold lower levels can
cause adverse health impacts to the electrosensitive person.
Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) can be a precursor to, or linked with, multiple
chemical sensitivity (MCS) based on reports of individuals who first develop
one condition, then rapidly develop the other. Similarity of chemical
biomarkers is seen in both conditions [histamines, markers of oxidative stress,
auto-antibodies, heat shock protein (HSP), melatonin markers and leakage of the
blood-brain barrier]. Low intensity pulsed microwave activation of
voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) is postulated as a mechanism of action
for non-thermal health effects.
Does
electromagnetic hypersensitivity originate from
nocebo responses?
Indications
from a qualitative study
Dieudonné M. Does electromagnetic
hypersensitivity originate from nocebo responses? Indications from a
qualitative study. Bioelectromagnetics. 2015 Sep 15. doi: 10.1002/bem.21937.
[Epub ahead of print]
Abstract
Idiopathic Environmental
Intolerance attributed to Electromagnetic Fields (IEI-EMF) is a condition in
which symptoms are attributed to electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure. As
electro-hypersensitive (EHS) people have repeatedly been observed, during
provocation trials, to report symptoms following perceived rather than actual
exposure, the hypothesis has been put forward that IEI-EMF originates from
psychological mechanisms, especially nocebo responses. This paper examines this
hypothesis, using data from a qualitative study aimed at understanding how EHS
people come to regard themselves as such.
Forty self-diagnosed EHS people were interviewed.
A typified model of their attribution process was then elaborated, inductively,
from their narratives. This model is linear and composed of seven stages: (1)
onset of symptoms; (2) failure to find a solution; (3) discovery of EHS; (4)
gathering of information about EHS; (5) implicit appearance of conviction; (6)
experimentation; (7) conscious acceptance of conviction.
Overall, symptoms appear before subjects start questioning effects of EMF on
their health, which is not consistent with the hypothesis that IEI-EMF
originates from nocebo responses to perceived EMF exposure. However, such responses
might occur at the sixth stage of the process, potentially reinforcing the
attribution. It remains possible that some cases of IEI-EMF originate from
other psychological mechanisms.
Metabolic
and Genetic Screening of Electromagnetic
Hypersensitive Subjects
as a
Feasible Tool for Diagnostics and Intervention
--
This West
Virginia Town Has Gone Radio Silent: Greetings
from the Quiet Zone
Steve
Featherstone, Popular Science, Apr 13, 2015.
Excerpts
"According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), EHS is not a medical diagnosis, but
rather a vague set of symptoms with no apparent physiological basis. Even so,
the condition--whatever its cause--appears to be widespread. Olle Johansson, an
associate professor of neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, says
the number of people who claim to have EHS varies by country, from 8 percent of
the population in Germany to 3.5 percent, or about 11 million people, in the
U.S."
“There
are few epidemic diseases this large,” Johansson says. “Nowadays, wherever you
live, whatever you do, you’re whole-body exposed, 24/7.”"
"As
palpable as Jane’s symptoms are to her--and as certain as she is that they’re
caused by EMR--scientific consensus disagrees. Almost universally, scientists
hold that most EMR has no adverse health effects at the levels people typically
encounter. And no study has ever definitively linked EHS symptoms to RF
radiation, a type of electromagnetic radiation that originates from wireless devices,
such as Wi-Fi routers, cellphones, base stations, or Bluetooth antennas.
“Health agencies have repeatedly waded through the scientific literature,” says
Kenneth Foster, professor of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania,
“and they don’t see any clear evidence that there’s a problem other than if you
put a rat in a microwave oven, it’s bad for the rat.”
"The
only recognized health risk from RF radiation is the heating of tissue (as in
the rat in the microwave). In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission
adopted a safety standard for RF-emitting devices based on thermal heating.
That’s why even though the standard is set far below levels recognized to cause
harm, wireless companies still recommend not carrying your phone around in your
pocket or sleeping with one too close to your head."
"According
to Joel Moskowitz, the director of the Center for Family and Community Health
at the University of California at Berkeley, the test for the thermal standard
is outdated if not irrelevant. “It’s not at all reflective of what the average
user looks like today and not really of any user anywhere,” he says. “It’s not
even the right measurement.” Moskowitz believes that science hasn’t caught up
with the rapid proliferation of RF-emitting devices--from smartphones to smart
meters--that have been spilling radiation into our homes, schools, and
workplaces over the past two decades. Electrosensitives may be the proverbial
canaries in the coal mine, he says. He cites a growing body of research that
suggests RF exposure has many nonthermal biological effects, including damage
to sperm cells and changes in brain chemistry.
“There
are a lot of unanswered questions, obviously, but we clearly have evidence for
precautionary health warnings,” Moskowitz says."
"Without
an official medical diagnosis, it’s difficult for EHS sufferers to claim
benefits from insurance companies and government health agencies. Only Sweden
recognizes EHS as a functional impairment, equivalent to a disability. But
activists are beginning to have an impact on attitudes toward EHS and
EMR-related issues, such as the use of wireless networks in public schools.
Some day they hope that the medical establishment will treat EHS like other
mysterious syndromes, such as fibromyalgia. They won a moral victory in 2011,
when the WHO classified RF radiation as “possibly carcinogenic” in response to
its Interphone study, which found a 40 percent greater risk for certain brain
tumors at the highest exposure levels. (Scientists, however, did not find an increased
incidence in cellphone users overall.) Then, in February of this year, France
restricted the use of RF devices in daycare centers, citing a precautionary
approach to exposure. Those gains aside, few if any studies are taking
seriously the issue of EHS, and the inexorable expansion of wireless
technologies does not appear to be slowing. Barring a breakdown in relations
between electrosensitives and townsfolk or defunding of the GBT, Green Bank
will continue to attract technological refugees searching for a safe haven from
the electrosmog they feel is smothering the rest of the world."
“That’s
why I call [EHS] technological leprosy,” Diane {Schou } said. “We can’t be with
other people in society. We have to live like lepers. Technology is wonderful stuff--if
we aren’t harmed by it.”
This article was originally
published in the April 2015 issue of Popular
Science, under the title "Greetings From The Quiet Zone.”
--
Is a toxicology model appropriate as a guide for biological
research with electromagnetic fields?
My comments
The American neuroscientist, Allan H. Frey, published the first scientific paper that documented the microwave hearing effect in 1962. He published the first paper that documented leakage in the blood-brain barrier from exposure to microwave radiation in 1975. In the following letter from 1990, he discussed why the toxicology model is inappropriate for biologic research on electromagnetic fields.
Twenty-five years later, we have yet to fully comprehend this important message.
International guidelines and national regulatory standards assume a dose-response relationship exists between the power of an EMF exposure and the likelihood of a harmful health effect. However, biologic studies are finding harmful effects from sub-thermal exposures to microwave radiation at power levels that are a fraction of the regulatory limits.
Allan
H. Frey. Letter to Editor: Is a toxicology model appropriate as a guide for
biological research with electromagnetic fields? Journal of Bioelectricity.
9(2):233-234. 1990.
"...
most people use a toxicology model as their frame of reference in the selection,
funding, design and analysis of experiments. Data and theory show, however,
that this is the wrong model (2-4). Thus much of the research has been
inappropriate or irrelevant. This is one reason why hundreds of millions of
dollars have been spent on EMF biological research with so little return for
investment."
"
... living beings are electrochemical systems that use very low frequency EMFs
in everything from protein folding through cellular communication to nervous
system function."
"
... if we impose a very weak EMF signal on a living being, it has the
possibility of interfering with normal function if it is properly tuned. This
is the model that much biological data and theory tell us to use, not a
toxicology model."
--
Is There a Connection Between Electrosensitivity and
Electrosensibility? A Replication Study
My comments
The electromagnetically sensitive (ES) participants selected for the following study were based upon individuals' responses to a self-reported measure. Most ES participants did not experience severe symptoms so it may be inappropriate to consider them to have electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).
Like other sham provocation studies, this study assumed that someone with ES knows when they are exposed to an electromagnetic field (EMF) and when they are not. The study protocol assumed that there is no lag between the exposure and the ability to detect the exposure (or the non-exposure).
The study also assumed that all ES participants would be affected by exposure to a 50 Hz magnetic field. However, it is likely that some people who experience ES may be sensitive to certain radio frequency fields, but not ELF magnetic fields.
Despite the questionable assumptions upon which this study was based, the ES participants were significantly (p = .038) more likely to detect an MF exposure than chance would dictate. This result replicated the finding of an earlier study.
--
Is There a Connection Between Electrosensitivity and Electrosensibility? A Replication Study
Szemerszky
R, Gubányi M, Árvai D, Dömötör Z, Köteles F. Is There a Connection Between
Electrosensitivity and Electrosensibility? A Replication Study. Int J Behav
Med. 2015 Mar 17. [Epub ahead of print]
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Among people with idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to
electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF), a better than random detection ability for a
50-Hz 0.5-mT magnetic field (MF) and a propensity to experience more symptoms
than controls was reported in a previous study.
PURPOSE:
The current study aimed to replicate and clarify these results using a modified
experimental design.
METHOD:
Participants of the provocation experiment were 49 individuals with
self-reported IEI-EMF and 57 controls. They completed the questionnaires (symptom
expectations, Somatosensory Amplification Scale-SSAS, radiation subscale of the
Modern Health Worries Scale-MHWS Radiation) and attempted to detect the
presence of the MF directed to their right arm in 20 subsequent 1-min sessions.
Symptom reports were registered after each session.
RESULTS:
Individuals with IEI-EMF as opposed to the control group showed a higher than
random detection performance (d' index of signal detection theory), while no
difference in their bias (β index) toward the presence of the MF was found.
Predictors of reported symptoms were self-reported IEI-EMF and believed as
opposed to actual presence of the MF. People with IEI-EMF reported
significantly more symptoms particularly in the believed presence of the MF.
IEI-EMF was closely related to MHWS Radiation and SSAS scores.
CONCLUSION:
People with IEI-EMF might be able to detect the presence of the MF to a small
extent; however, their symptom reports are connected to perceived exposure.
--
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: EESC urges continuance of the precautionary principle
through regulation and advisory work (Ref: 06/2015)
Press Release, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Jan
23, 2015
At its January plenary session, the EESC adopted an opinion on electromagnetic
hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) which recognises the distress being suffered by
people in Europe who believe they are affected. The opinion, which was adopted
by 136 votes to 110 with 19 abstentions, calls for sympathetic and appropriate
treatment and support for this condition.
Although
the EESC opinion says that radiofrequency exposure is not causally linked to
EHS symptoms, it urges continuance of the precautionary principle through
regulation and advisory work, particularly as further research is still needed
to accumulate evidence concerning any potential health impact from long-term
exposure.
The EESC opinion on electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome points out that
further substantial research is ongoing to understand the problem and its
causes. It also notes that the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on
Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has performed an extensive
analysis of this issue and will shortly be completing its latest opinion which
draws on a broad public consultation. The opinion will soon be adopted and will
be published on the SCENIHR website (http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/emerging/index_en.htm).
Public Hearing on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity
Between 3 and 5 per cent of the population are electrosensitive according to
the European Economic and Social Committee.
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is causing distress and loss of quality
of life to a growing number of Europeans and according to new estimates,
between 3 % and 5% of the population are electro-sensitive. The most common
sources of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) pollution are mobile phone masts,
cordless phones and Wi-Fi routers installed in the homes. All these emit
microwaves permanently (24/7) in the places where they are installed.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) study group on
electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) will hold a public Hearing on EHS on Tuesday,
November 4, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium.
This event
will gather all relevant stakeholders from a broad range of European civil
society for a debate on how to deal with this issues at EU level and to give
input for the future EESC's opinion that is scheduled for adoption in January
2015.
The EESC is a consultative body of the European Union that gives
representatives of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups and others, a
formal platform to express their points of views on EU issues.
--
EESC
opinion: Exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents
(electromagnetic fields)
European
Economic and Social Committee, Dec 7, 2011
Proposal
for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum
health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks
arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields)
Key
points
- The EESC
recommends that this directive be adopted and implemented in the
legislation of Member States as soon as possible.
- However,
the Committee is in favour of a precautionary approach being adopted
without delay, given the risks of the non-thermal biological effects of
emissions from electromagnetic fields. The long-term health of workers
must be completely guaranteed at a high level through the introduction of
the best available technologies at economically acceptable costs. The
Committee expects a relevant provision to be incorporated into the
directive.
- The EESC
supports the Commission's initiative to fix thresholds so as to make this
precautionary approach effective and credible; however, to ensure that
this is absolutely effective it advocates fixed thresholds based on the thresholds
applied when Directive 2004/40/EC was transposed (by Austria, the Czech
Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Italy).
- The
Committee stresses the need to strengthen the independence of scientific
bodies involved in determining thresholds for workers' exposure to
electromagnetic radiation, its effects and its consequences for public
health, and in establishing measures to protect the health of workers
exposed to this radiation. It is essential to put a stop to conflicts of
interest among members of these bodies, linked to the financing of their
research and their appointment (procedures and calls for tender, use of
independent public research institutes).
- The
Committee concedes the need for a derogation for professions using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for medical purposes, which should
however be subject to a time limit and accompanied by additional resources
for research into new technologies to protect workers from the effects of
electromagnetic fields and alternative techniques. Workers subject to the
derogation should be covered by enhanced measures to protect them, special
medical supervision and civil liability insurance to cover errors in the
execution of their work arising from strong exposure to electromagnetic
fields. The Committee also feels that the above-mentioned principles
should be applied not only to medical workers, but also to all other
workers who may be excluded from the general principles of the directive
on the basis of the derogation included in Article 3 of the proposal.
--
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: EESC urges continuance of
the precautionary principle through regulation and advisory work (Ref:
06/2015)
Press Release, European Economic and Social Committee
(EESC), Jan 23, 2015
At its January plenary session, the EESC adopted an opinion on electromagnetic
hypersensitivity syndrome (EHS) which recognises the distress being suffered by
people in Europe who believe they are affected. The opinion, which was adopted
by 136 votes to 110 with 19 abstentions, calls for sympathetic and appropriate
treatment and support for this condition.
Although the EESC opinion says that radiofrequency exposure
is not causally linked to EHS symptoms, it urges continuance of the
precautionary principle through regulation and advisory work, particularly as
further research is still needed to accumulate evidence concerning any
potential health impact from long-term exposure.
The EESC opinion on electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome points out that further
substantial research is ongoing to understand the problem and its causes. It
also notes that the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and
Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) has performed an extensive analysis of
this issue and will shortly be completing its latest opinion which draws on a
broad public consultation. The opinion will soon be adopted and will be
published on the SCENIHR website (
http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/emerging/index_en.htm).
Public Hearing on Electromagnetic
Hypersensitivity
Between 3 and 5 per cent of the population are electrosensitive according to
the European Economic and Social Committee.
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is causing distress and loss of quality
of life to a growing number of Europeans and according to new estimates,
between 3 % and 5% of the population are electro-sensitive. The most common
sources of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) pollution are mobile phone masts,
cordless phones and Wi-Fi routers installed in the homes. All these emit
microwaves permanently (24/7) in the places where they are installed.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) study group on
electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) will hold a public Hearing on EHS on Tuesday,
November 4, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium.
This event will gather all relevant stakeholders from a
broad range of European civil society for a debate on how to deal with this
issues at EU level and to give input for the future EESC's opinion that is
scheduled for adoption in January 2015.
The EESC is a consultative body of the European Union that gives representatives
of Europe’s socio-occupational interest groups and others, a formal platform to
express their points of views on EU issues.
--
EESC
opinion: Exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents
(electromagnetic fields)
European Economic and Social Committee, Dec 7, 2011
Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of
the Council on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the
exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic
fields)
Key points
- The
EESC recommends that this directive be adopted and implemented in the
legislation of Member States as soon as possible.
- However,
the Committee is in favour of a precautionary approach being adopted
without delay, given the risks of the non-thermal biological effects of
emissions from electromagnetic fields. The long-term health of workers
must be completely guaranteed at a high level through the introduction of
the best available technologies at economically acceptable costs. The
Committee expects a relevant provision to be incorporated into the
directive.
- The
EESC supports the Commission's initiative to fix thresholds so as to make
this precautionary approach effective and credible; however, to ensure
that this is absolutely effective it advocates fixed thresholds based on
the thresholds applied when Directive 2004/40/EC was transposed (by
Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and
Italy).
- The
Committee stresses the need to strengthen the independence of scientific
bodies involved in determining thresholds for workers' exposure to
electromagnetic radiation, its effects and its consequences for public
health, and in establishing measures to protect the health of workers
exposed to this radiation. It is essential to put a stop to conflicts of
interest among members of these bodies, linked to the financing of their
research and their appointment (procedures and calls for tender, use of
independent public research institutes).
- The
Committee concedes the need for a derogation for professions using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for medical purposes, which should
however be subject to a time limit and accompanied by additional resources
for research into new technologies to protect workers from the effects of
electromagnetic fields and alternative techniques. Workers subject to the
derogation should be covered by enhanced measures to protect them, special
medical supervision and civil liability insurance to cover errors in the
execution of their work arising from strong exposure to electromagnetic
fields. The Committee also feels that the above-mentioned principles
should be applied not only to medical workers, but also to all other
workers who may be excluded from the general principles of the directive
on the basis of the derogation included in Article 3 of the proposal.
--
Study of self-reported hypersensitivity to electromagnetic
fields in California
Levallois P, Neutra R, Lee G, Hristova L. Study of
self-reported hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields in California. Environ
Health Perspect. 2002 Aug;110 Suppl 4:619-23.
Abstract
Cases of alleged hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields
(EMFs) have been reported for more than 20 years, and some authors have
suggested some connection with the "multiple chemical sensitivity"
illness. We report the results of a telephone survey among a sample of 2,072
Californians. Being "allergic or very sensitive" to being near
electrical devices was reported by 68 subjects, resulting in an adjusted
prevalence of 3.2% (95% confidence interval = 2.8, 3.7). Twenty-seven subjects
(1.3%) reported sensitivity to electrical devices but no sensitivity to
chemicals. Characteristics of the people reporting hypersensitivity to EMFs
were generally different from those of people reporting being allergic to
everyday chemicals. Alleging environmental illness or multiple chemical
sensitivity diagnosed by a doctor was the strongest predictor of reporting
being hypersensitive to EMFs in this population. Other predictive factors apart
from self-reporting chemical sensitivity were race/ethnicity other than White,
Black, or Hispanic; having low income; and being unable to work. The perception
of risk of exposure to EMFs through the use of hair dryers (vs. exposure to
power and distribution lines) was the factor the most associated with
self-reporting about hypersensitivity to EMFs. However, risk perception was not
sufficient to explain the characteristics of people reporting this disorder.
Additional Resources
Updated: March 2022
Anonymous. Testimony from an internist about her two electrosensitive children to the Joint Committee on Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Sep 4, 2017.
http://bit.ly/MDtestifyMass
Belpomme, D. “Diagnosing, treating and preventing the electromagnetic fields impact on adults and children." 2nd international forum on protection from electromagnetic environmental pollution. Protection of children. Krakow, Poland. Nov 27, 2017. (46 minute video). http://bit.ly/EHSBelpomme2017
Bevington, M. The Prevalence of People with Restricted Access to Work in Manmade Electromagnetic Environments. Journal of Environment and Health Science. 2019. doi: org/10.15436/2378-6841.19.2402.
https://bit.ly/3EuDJ60
Ekici B, Tanındı A, Ekici G, Diker E. The effects of the duration of
mobile phone use on heart rate variability parameters in healthy
subjects. Anatol J Cardiol. 2016 Apr 7. http://bit.ly/1Wo9na9.
Heuser G, Heuser SA. Functional brain MRI in patients
complaining of electrohypersensitivity after long term exposure to
electromagnetic fields. Rev Environ Health. 2017 Jul 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28678737
Hojo S, Tokiya M, Mizuki M et al. Development and evaluation of an electromagnetic hypersensitivity questionnaire for Japanese people. Bioelectromagnetics. Jun 21, 2016. http://bit.ly/28KvYuF
Hojo S, Mizukoshi A, Azuma K, Okumura J, Ishikawa S et al.
Survey on changes in subjective symptoms, onset/trigger factors,
allergic diseases, and chemical exposures in the past decade of Japanese
patients with multiple chemical sensitivity.
Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2018 Aug 13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30115513
Lai, H. Electrohypersensitivity Abstracts. Dec 14, 2017. (Over 100 abstracts of scientific studies on EHS published between 1995 and 2017). http://bit.ly/LaiEHSabstracts
Maisch D. Commentary: The sad state of affairs with EHS research in Australia. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Nov 5, 2017. http://bit.ly/2AroQjF
Medeiros LN, Sanchez TG. Tinnitus and cell phones: the role of
electromagnetic radiofrequency radiation.Brazilian Journal of
Otorhinolaryngology. 82(1):97-104. 2016. Open Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26602000
Palmquist E, Claeson AS, Neely G, Stenberg B, Nordin S. Overlap in prevalence between various types of environmental intolerance. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2014; 217(4-5):427-34. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24029726
Raefsky et al. Delayed-Onset multiphasic demyelinating lesions after high dose radiofrequency electromagnetic field exposure: A multiple sclerosis (MS) micmic.
Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2020 Jun 20;45:102318. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32622299/
Slottje P, van Moorselaar I, van Strien R, Vermeulen R, Kromhout H, Huss
A. Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) in occupational and primary
health care: A nation-wide survey among general practitioners,
occupational physicians and hygienists in the Netherlands. Int J Hyg
Environ Health. 2016 Dec 2. pii: S1438-4639(16)30385-6. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1438463916303856
Tatoń G, Kacprzyk A, Rok T, Pytlarz M, Pawlak R, Rokita E.
A survey on electromagnetic hypersensitivity: the example from Poland.
Electromagn Biol Med. 2021 Oct 22;1-8. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2021.1995873. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34686066/ Terzi, M, Ozberk, B, Deniz, OG, Kaplan, S. The role of electromagnetic fields in neurological disorders. J Chem Neuroanat. 2016 Sep;75(Pt B):77-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2016.04.003. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27083321
EHS Support Groups and Resources
D'Agnolo L. Are “Wi-Fi Allergies” an Impairment Covered by the ADA? National Law Review. June 21, 2017. http://bit.ly/2rEx0AD
Harkinson J. This Former Techie Owes His Fortune to Electronic Devices. Now He Thinks They're Dangerous. Mother Jones. 2017 Jan 28. http://bit.ly/2k3O5kt
