Posted on 01/23/2005 7:05:01 PM PST by aculeus
Scientists and health advisers are taking the claims of people who say electricity makes them ill seriously for the first time.
The National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) is carrying out a review of existing scientific studies into "electromagnetic hypersensitivity" (EHS).
Two studies into the condition, funded with £750,000 from the Department of Health and the telecommunications industry, are already under way.
Sir William Stewart, the government's adviser on radiation, has called for more research into the issue.
Some researchers believe a proportion of the population suffers ill health, with symptoms including fatigue, severe headaches and skin problems, because of exposure to electromagnetic fields. Other scientists say there is no evidence.
The Swedish government, which recognised EHS as a physical impairment in 2000, calculates that 3.1 per cent of its population 200,000 people suffer from the condition. A recent warning by Sir William, head of the NRPB and the Health Protection Agency, that parents should limit their children's use of mobile phones received widespread publicity.
However, his suggestion that another section of the population, as well as the young, could have extra sensitivity to exposure to either radio frequency fields from mobiles or electromagnetic fields in general did not.
The NRPB has commissioned Dr Neil Irvine, of the Health Protection Agency, to carry out a review of existing scientific literature on EHS.
His report, focusing on symptoms, prognosis and treatment, will be published in the summer.
The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research programme, funded by the Government and the telecommunications industry, is spending £8.6 million on 29 studies, two of which will investigate EHS.
A team at King's College, London, is looking at whether mobile phones cause symptoms such as headaches, nausea and fatigue in those who claim to be hypersensitive and those who do not.
Researchers at the University of Essex are exposing two groups of volunteers to signals from a mobile mast to test if cognitive functions such as attention span and memory are affected. Half will be people who say they suffer EHS.
Dr David Dowson, a former GP who is now a complementary medicine specialist based in Bath, said he had seen around 10 patients he believed to be suffering from EHS. "I think the condition is increasing in prevalence, because we are living in a more electrically polluted environment."
Olle Johansson, associate professor of neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, has been studying EHS for 20 years.
He has shown in experiments that there is an increase in the number of mast cells near the surface of skin when exposed to electromagnetic fields, a similar reaction to that when it is exposed to radioactive material.
He said: "If you put a radio near a source of EMFs you will get interference. The human brain has an electric field so if you put sources of EMFs nearby, it is not surprising that you get interference, interaction with systems and damage to cells and molecules.''
Others say the condition is in the mind.
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I'd rather play it safe -- though my instincts tells me that EMFs are just another form of pollution. Some people take the hit, and most people don't.
Don't know.... but I'm not willing to say there are none.
There is also frequency to consider. Light is far higher in frequency than RF, Radar, and X-rays in the EM spectrum.
If I remember the test questions correctly, at a given power level, the lower the frequency, the more dangerous it is.
we have a peak at the future of environwackos if and when cars go emisionless.
Ever heard of HAARP?
lifespan before electrication: ~45 YOA.
lifespan after electrification: ~75 YOA.
Whattsamattuh? You don't TRUST our guvmint ?
Give me a million dollars and I will take it serious also.
Directed by Alfonso Arau Writing credits Laura Esquivel (also novel) |
Yes! Another Thurber fan! This was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread title.
This is the first I've heard of HAARP.
Sounds dangerous.
Not on your life, jack.
Good. I keep my eyes open and my powder dry.
Sorry to break it to you nice folks. The most EMF you are exposed to is either from your electric blanket or the electric power wires in the walls.
Myself...
I won't rule out some 2+ standard deviation anomaly but save that, there is NOTHING to this nonsense.
It's the other way around. The absorption ends up as heat and efficiency of absorption depends on the relationship of half wavelength to say radius of part absorbing.
If the energy in the field at your location is diddly and couldn't raise the temperature of a thimble full of water one degree in an hour(like a cell phone), it's harmless. RF, radar and IR are heat radiation. Efficient antennas for them depend on their length in comparison with their wavelength. Light ends up being absorbed as heat. Turn off the light in a closed room and it gets dark fast. The flying photons get absorbed and the room gets a few nanodegrees warmer. UV and X are ionizing rad.
Well, what would you expect from a Microwave? Why do you think they called the early ones radar ranges? There is no proof that low power waves at any frequency hurts humans. And high power waves are generally at high frequencies and close range, before they start to cook something. Humans live longer now then ever. If we give up electricity we will all die faster then we do now and that is a fact, not conjecture. It was a fact 125 years ago and it would be a fact again if we gave it up. No refrigerators to keep food fresh, hospital using coal oil lamps, no research to speak of, no communication, people dying way before they could get to a hospital, these are just a few of the drawbacks . These people need to get a life. The scientists making these claims aren't about to give up electricity, so what do they propose to do about this so called illness?
Sunlight and moon light are em transmissions.
Thanks for the refresher...
I am at work and don't have my spectrum chart handy. :)
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