RMEHA Home page> > MCS Resources page> > EMF Sensitivity Resources>
This area contians the following sections -
A hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields, such as from the 50/60 Hertz power lines, charged batteries, compact fluorescent lamps, signals from radio transmission towers or even idling cell telephones, is sometimes a manifestation of the MCS/Dr Pall's neural injury illness. The following links give more information about the prevalence, concerns and mitigation regarding this situation -
From Electrical Sensitivity, by Louise Kosta,
Human Ecologist, Summer 2006, pages 18 ...
This article surveys recent developments in recognizing Electrical Hypersensitivity around the world.
The first section examines World Health studies that concluded Electrical Hypersensitivity is characterized by a variety of non-specific symptoms that differ from individual to individual. A term Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance is proposed to replace Electrical Hypersensitivity. The study examines several provocation studies that claimed test subjects could not detect EMF exposure. The study reports that "the symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity."
The second section reviews a U.K. report by the Health Protection Agency. The report acknowledged that people can suffer severe physical reactions when exposed to electromagnetic fields. And that Electrical Hypersensitivity will be recognized as a "physical impairment."
The third section reviews a study published by the National Institute of Building Sciences, called Indoor Environmental Quality. The report includes "for people who are electromagnetically sensitive, the presence of cell phones and towers, portable telephones, computers, fluorescent lighting, unshielded transformers and wiring, battery rechargers, wireless devices, security and scanning equipment, microwave ovens, electric ranges, and numerous other electrical appliances can make a building inaccessible." The findings have been adoptd by the Access Board with recommendations that Electrical Hypersensitivity be considered for access to public places.
Here are other sources of more information -
Electrical Fields can Make You Sick!
Hypersensitivity to Electricity
International Journal of Grey LiteratureNational Institute of Building Sciences
NIOSH Factsheet, EMFs in the Workplace
Mobile Phones and Health
Access Board
WHO Workshop on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity
WHO 3 Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity Project Factsheet
EMFs in the Workplace
Definition, Epidemiology and Management of Electrical Sensitivity
Review of Scientific Evidence for Limiting Exposures ...
Mobile Phones and Health
Evaluation of Risks from Electric and Magnetic Fields ...
Indoor Air Quality, 2005
Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields
For much more information about reducing Electromagnetic Fields, see the following book -
Plans are underway to effectively microchip everyone in America. A provision was passed in 2005 tucked into one of the Iraq war spending bills to create a Real Id program which would have required all Americans to carry a high-tech national identification card that contained a microchip containing a wide variety of personal identification, such as Social Security number or whatever else is decreed in the name of "official purpose.".
The microchip is an electronic technology that contains a wide variety of information and transmits it in a radio signal upon request. The microchip is interrogated by aiming a radio beam at it so the chip transmits its information. The interrogating radio beam can come from several feet away; there is apparently no regard about how much power would be used in that radio beam. Further, the microchip can be interrogated without the owner's knowledge even from a distance of several feet. Given the developing concerns about cell phones causing tumors and possibly cancer, this can be a serious and perhaps needless health hazard to everyone, on top of the invasion of privacy concerns.
Objections to the national identification card have apparently put the Real Id program aside for now. What has now surfaced are plans to require effectively the same Real Id microchip to be embedded in the driver's license of every American. The name for this variation is "Enhanced Driver's License" or "EDL."
Such a development would be very bad news for people with Electromagnetic Hyper Sensitivity (EHS) who cannot tolerate being exposed to any significant amount of radio power.
See the following site for more information on this development -
(For disclosure, this site is sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union.)The following site lists low radiation computers and display systems for sale.
The supposedly low radiation from the computers supplied by this company is apparently accomplished only by external shielding only. There appears to be no effort to mitigate the generation of the radiation, such as by selecting low frequency circuits.
Television service in the United States is being changed over to a new format, called Digital Television (DTV). This is an area that may be of interest to people with electromagnetic sensitivities because of the mode and frequencies of the the revised television signals that are transmitted has been changed.
Previously, the television signals were transmitted in an analog mode. Which meant that the transmitter was continuously transmitting a sine wave at the frequency assigned to the channel. Channels were assigned numbers, 2...51 for all available channels. Frequencies were assigned as follows, with a 6 Mhz bandwidth for each channel:
Those allocations and frequencies may change with the advent of DTV. Channel numbers are now really virtual and physical. The virtual number is what you see displayed on the television screen and usually corresponds to the old channel numbers. The physical numbers are the channel number associated with the real frequency in the radio frequency spectrum where the information is being transmitted. And the virtual and physical numbers may or may not be the same. What this amounts to is that if you call a television station to find what frequencies they transit on, insist they give you the physical as well as virtual numbers and frequencies.
Some background about this changeover is that the DTV signal is in a highly compressed format that contains much more information than the previous television signal plus it is transmitted in a digital format instead of the previous analog format. Thus a wide band of radio frequencies have been opened up that can be sold to other services.
The digital format means that the transmitter is sending pulses instead of a continuous signal, with the pulse frequency at the new channel frequency. Further, even though the average power transmitted by the system may be about the same as previously, the peak power of the digital pulses may be considerably greater.
Thus there is a distinct possibility that the changed frequencies, changed peak transmitted power, and possibly assigning new or released frequencies to other uses may be problematic for people with electromagnetic hypersensitivities.
Further information is available at -
Concerns are being raised about the cumulative effects of transients on the AC power lines upon human health. One source of such transients is the dimmer switches for tungsten type lamps that have become common in the last several years.
A brief explanation of how these dimmer switches work is in order - they use a semiconductor element called a thyristor, which can be either a triac or a silicon controlled rectifier, to switch on the power to the load, such as a lamp, 120 times a second. At exactly what point in the AC power waveform the switching occurs determines just how much power goes to the load and thus giving the dimming action. These thyristors have the property that when they are switched on, they immediately - within a few millionths of a second - deliver the entire power to the load. Which in turn causes a short, but very intense, radio frequency transient 120 times a second.
The biggest RF transient is generated when the dimmer switch is set for delivering about half power to the lamp - the power being switched on during the maximum of the power waveform.
Thus to minimize the intensity of the transients, one should not set the dimmer in the range of half power to the lamp.
Another point worth keeping in mind about dimmers is that most tungsten lamps do not begin to light up until some 10 ... 20 percent of their rated power is applied. Which means that even though the dimmer is set to "off," power is still flowing to the lamp. Which in turn still generates some radio frequency transients. Dimmers should be unplugged or switched off with a metal switch to really stop their transients.
Yes, a few dimmers do physically turn off the circuit when they are turned off. Look for this type if you must use dimmers.
Further information on this area is available at the following -
In 2009 -
Here are several search engines in case you wish to do more research from this page -
Return to the top of this pageFollow the links below to learn more about RMEHA and Environmental Illness.