• 06 SEP 22

    Expert critique on the “Psychology Today” article “Tin Foil Hats: Tired Trope or Sign of the Times”

    Letter from Kent Chamberlin PhD, Professor & Chair Emeritus, to Kaja Perina, Editor-in-Chief, Psychology Today

    Excerpt

    I am writing to provide comment on an article that was recently published in your magazine entitled “Tin Foil Hats: Tired Trope or Sign of the Times?” by Joe Pierre. I am providing my comments as a representative of a state commission that was tasked with exploring the health and environmental effects of wireless radiation, and not as a single individual. Because the findings of that commission form the basis for my comments, I will provide a brief overview of the commission here. The commission I served on was convened through bipartisan legislation (House Bill 522, 2019) that was passed by both houses of the New Hampshire legislature and signed by the Governor. The intention of the legislation was to bring together unbiased experts in fields relating to non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation to address questions and concerns about the ever-growing number of radiofrequency radiation sources. Citizens and legislators were looking for answers as to why the telecommunications industry was claiming that wireless communications radiation posed no harm at all, while a clear majority of scientists identified significant harm from exposure. SNIP

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    • 18 AUG 21

    The EHS Project, EHS persons and EHS diagnosing-physicians…

    Excerpt: From Dariusz Leszczynski:
    The EHS Project, EHS persons and EHS diagnosing-physicians…

    Posted on August 13, 2021

    It is my firm belief that some sub-population of people is more sensitive to EMF than the rest of us. Knowledge about environmental hazards and simple logic make me that certain.

    However, currently and for many past years, persons claiming to be sensitive to EMF were mistreated. Their symptoms were trivialized. Their claims of EMF as sensitizing agent were trivialized too.

    After years of neglect, in 2004 the WHO finally decided to recognize the symptoms, and the suffering, as real but… not really linked with EMF exposures.

    That was it. That was the maximum what the WHO dared to do.

    The WHO, the ICNIRP, the ICES, the radiation protection authorities in numerous countries do nothing about the sensitivity to EMF. They just blindly follow whatever science reviews made by ICNIRP and ICES decide.

    This is wrong and a new thinking and new actions are needed.

    Unfortunately, those that consider sensitivity to EMF as a real ailment, when doing scientific research, do it very poorly. Is it for the lack of funding or is it for the lack of ideas and knowledge, the result is scientific data of very poor quality that should be, rightly, dismissed as such. Not because of bias but because of poor science.

    What is needed, and urgently, is new science approach and new quality scientific data on EMF sensitivity….SNIP

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    • 25 JAN 21

    “Low dose” exposure to EMR may cause “severe health effects”…

    Research review by expert committee (BERENIS) convened by Swiss government concludes that exposure to a “low dose” of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields may cause “severe health effects” in the young and elderly and in people with immune deficiencies or diseases

    Meike Mevissen, David Schürmann: Is there evidence for oxidative stress caused by electromagnetic fields? A summary of relevant observations in experimental animal and cell experiments related to health effects in the last ten years. BERENIS – The Swiss expert group on electromagnetic fields and non-ionising radiation Newsletter – Special Issue January 2021…SNIP

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    • 02 JAN 21

    The EMF Medical Conference 2021

    Excerpt: Biological and health effects of electromagnetic field exposure are scientifically established and no longer deniable.

    Science continues to demonstrate, in over 2000 peer reviewed publications, clear adverse health effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure on humans, animals, and plants. What was once debatable is now scientifically and clinically clear to the growing number of healthcare professionals familiar with EMF science. Worldwide, patients and clinicians are observing and documenting cases of EMF associated illness. These patients present with a wide variety of symptoms and conditions that abate or significantly improve with EMF assessment and exposure reduction…SNIP

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    • 30 OCT 20

    New paper on CFS symptoms and the role of power frequency and radio frequency exposures

    ABSTRACT: A 2019 report to the Australian NHMRC found that 66% of research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also referred to as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) was on managing the condition, 17% was on finding the cause for the condition, 10% on prevention and 7% on multiple areas. Besides a number of recommendations, the committee recommended “building research quantity and capacity, improving health services research and developing health advice.” It is estimated that 50 -70 million Americans chronically suffer from a sleep and wakefulness disorder which hinders their daily functioning and adversely affects health and longevity . In Australia, a 2016 sleep health survey found that inadequate sleep affects 33-45% of adults, across all age groups. As one of the symptoms of CFS is insomnia and other sleep disorders, any common factor in these conditions should be of research interest. Australia is in an excellent position for such research. For example, the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases, based at Griffith University, Qld. and part of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland, has a research focus on the causes and mechanisms of ME/CFS, identifying biomarkers of the condition and improving patient outcomes in the area of preventative medicine, social and clinical care and public health. According to a literature review by Henry Lai, bioengineering Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington and Editor-in-chief of Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, the biological effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (which range from 0 – 300 Hz) and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields ( RF-EMF) (from 30 kHz to 300 GHz) are very similar, with both including sleep problems. Lai concludes that there is a basic mechanism of interaction between biological tissues and artificial electromagnetic fields that is independent of frequency. This finding brings into question the assurances of safety claimed by various national and international exposure standards….SNIP

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    • 26 SEP 20

    Leszczynski: EHS or not EHS: What about are studies by Belpomme and his team?

    EHS or not EHS: What about are studies by Belpomme and his team? Excerpt: Since some readers are wondering… before writing this blog I contacted French team… no response…Deployment of the 5G is unlike earlier generations of wireless technology. The base stations for the 5G will be very densely located, in close proximity to people dwellings and working places. Furthermore, once 5G will employ millimeter-waves there will be a need to deploy mini-base stations inside apartments and places of work because the millimeter-waves do not penetrate walls of buildings. The increased density of base stations and the future location of these inside buildings causes anxiety among the electro-hyper-sensitive persons (EHS). There are two approaches to study EHS, by either (i) the psychological provocation studies or by (ii) biochemical studies looking for physiological markers for diagnosis of EHS.EHS research is dominated by psychology provocation studies and I have elaborated on it earlier.Biochemical studies looking for physiological markers of EHS are performed by a single team in France. It appears that EHS sufferers and anti-EMF activists consider these French studies as valid evidence that can be used for the clinical diagnosis of EHS French researchers, using biochemical approach, claim finding of several markers of EHS associated with EMF exposures. Unfortunately, French studies have major design problems that invalidate their final conclusions…SNIP

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    • 02 JUL 20

    Recent Swedish article on chemical emissions and human health

    Excerpt: Health hazards in the form of dangerous chemicals are built into electronic devices when these are manufactured. As scrap, the devices are an environmental risk to both nature and people. But it is less known that the devices can leak hazardous substances during normal use.The role of the chemicals as an essential cause of ill-health is surprisingly rarely discussed. Above all, there is no detailed discussion of possible relationship between chemicals and so called new diseases such as multiple chemical hypersensitivity, electrical hypersensitivity and chronic fatigue…SNIP

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    • 27 JUN 20

    BBC caught with its finger in the 5G pie – or captured journalism

    The BBC aired their File on Four offering “the 5G Con that could make you sick” on Tuesday 16th June on Radio 4. File on Four is an “Award-winning current affairs documentary series investigating major issues at home and abroad”.The programme featured well known go-to 5G proponent David Robert Grimes who, egged on by presenter Tom Wright, took a laboured and sneering tone of boredom throughout at having to repeat such basic facts.This tone matched the context, in which Electro Hypersensitivity Sufferers (EHS) were presented as ‘dangerously’ believing that their symptoms are related to Electro Magnetic Frequencies (EMF). As the programme lumbered on, these unfortunates were eventually presented virtually as a virus in their own right, with the power to infect the world with this belief.The eminent and influential award winning scientist and writer Dr Devra Davis pulled her contribution to the programme citing concerns about the context: “I refused to participate in the BBC program when it became clear that they had conducted a sting operation by fraudulently inviting me to talk about the science when all they wanted to do was try to make a mockery of the serious concerns many scientists have a about EHS” Dr Davis commented. Introducing Conflict of Interest…SNIP

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    • 03 SEP 19

    Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Sleep Disruption: Evidence that both powerfrequency and radiofrequency magnetic fields may be a co-factor to investigate in treatments.

    Practically all of the ongoing controversy over the possible biological effects of human exposure to both power frequency and radiofrequency fields has focussed on thermal effects and the risk of cancer. However, during a conversation with Yuri Grigorev, from the Russian National Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (RNCNIRP) he mentioned that the ‘West’ had taken the wrong tack by focussing on cancer. He (and the RNCNIRP) considered that the main effect was effects on the immune system, which could lead to any number of illnesses. This paper looks at chronic exposures to both Power-frequency and Radio-frequency emissions. Titled: “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Sleep Disruption: Evidence that both powerfrequency and radiofrequency magnetic fields may be a co-factor to investigate in treatments”, it is aimed at medical practitioners and organisations working with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/or insomnia patients. Optimum treatment of these conditions should include the possibility that EMF/EMR may be a possible factor in some cases.

    Excerpts:
    Power Frequency magnetic fieldsIn 1994, Australian Democrat Senator Robert Bell (Tasmania) tabled a report in the Australian Senate that examined the evidence that the then current National and international exposure standards for human exposure to electromagnetic fields were insufficient to provide an assurance of safety. Part of this report examined the condition of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and suggested that prolonged exposure to 50 Hz power frequency fields may be one of the causative factors in the condition. [1]This hypothesis was later strengthened with a number of patient case studies compiled with the assistance of several doctors connected with the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) in January 1998. These case studies indicated that prolonged exposure to environmental level powerline frequency electromagnetic fields apparently were impairing immune system function resulting in CFS symptoms and insomnia.[2]In February 1999 a Victorian Workers Compensation Case from 1991-1992 was obtained by this writer from office manager at Ross House, located at 247-251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. This case examined a number of workplace illness diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The workcare investigation found that excessive office building electromagnetic fields from a large electrical substation directly below the office building where the women worked was the common factor in all the symptoms reported by the women. The report also examined the work done to mitigate the EMFs in the area.[3] Some of the symptoms reported were:Chronic tiredness/fatigue; Insomnia: waking around 3 am with an inability to go back to sleep; Stress Inability to concentrate; Fluctuating hormone levels; Anaemia; facial rash, depression, severe premenstrual tension; a feeling of listlessness; light headedness ;”a permanent severe case of jet lag”…SNIP

    Study on Health Effects of the Shortwave Transmitter Station of Schwarzenburg, Berne, Switzerland (Major Report)Background:A short wave transmitter was installed at Schwarzenburg, near Berne, Switzerland, in 1939. Another antenna was added in 1954 with three 150 kW outputs (6.1-21.8Mhz). and a 250 kW antenna was added in 1971. Since the Seventies, health complaints have been reported by the population in the surroundings of the transmitter, and the effects have been associated with its activity. On the 2nd March 1990, a petition seeking a scientific evaluation of the health damage allegedly cause by the transmitter was handed by a group of inhabitants to the Swiss Federal Department of Traffic and Energy (SFDTE). In October 1990, the Head of SFDTE commissioned a study. It was carried out by 15 doctors and scientists, primarily from the University of Berne, but also from 4 other agencies. Their report was published in August 1995 and found significant changes in various indicators which increased with proximity to the mast (Zone A in the study) and which were significantly worse in elderly people. Symptoms included nervosity, inner restlessness, difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in maintaining sleep, general weakness and tiredness and joint pains, Sleep difficulty was especially disturbing as this can lead on to increasing fatigue and reduced feelings of well-being. Observed nocturnal sleep changes occurred in association with increased nocturnal RF exposure levels. The study interim conclusion was as follows:”Insomnias and joint pains, especially in the elderly, were more frequently reported in Zone A than in Zones B and C. They showed a dose-response relationship with the logistic regression and they were not related to a health-worry personality. Further studies are of need to establish a biophysical mechanism…. “Our results indicate a higher frequency of disorders of a neurovegetative nature among residents up to about 1000 m from the transmitter, and are highly suggestive of a direct effect of the radio shortwave transmitter on sleep quality. The other complaints appear to be mediated by the sleep disorder.”…SNIP

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    • 31 MAR 19

    Misunderstanding the factors in the modern day plague of burnout.

    In the below Washington Post article, the one glaring omission to factors leading to “burnout” is exposure to electromagnetic fields and chemical emissions from our muriad of wireless devices now used today. The problem of workplace burnout and EMR and chemical emissions as a contributing factor was recognised in Sweden back in the 1990s by the Swedish Union of Clerical and Technical employees in Industry (see: https://www.emfacts.com/norisk/) . It was also examined in a 1999 report by the Swedish Public Health Committee. Written by Prof Robert Olin and titled “New Diagnosis: an explanatory model for neurological illnesses”. Also, the book “The Invisible Disease: The Dangers of Environmental Illnesses Caused by Electromagnetic Fields and Chemical Emissions” by Gunni Nordstrom is an essential read for people concerned with burnout”..SNIP

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    • 27 MAR 19

    A historical revisit to ACEBR’s very questionable provocation testing

    Excerpt: In 2013 CSIRO scientist Dr. David McDonald won a COMCARE compensation case for crippling headaches, nausea and dizziness caused by using Wi-Fi and computers at work. Dr McDonald, was a mathematician who worked as a principal research scientist at the CSIRO for 15 years. He moved to the Victorian countryside to avoid electromagnetic radiation but later died from cancer. In 2011, as part of the case McDonald was asked to undergo a provocation study being designed for use in Australia by ACEBR (called ACRBR at the time) McDonald asked to see the testing protocol and it was provided under a request for confidentially. McDonald’s analysis makes for interesting reading indeed but his conclusions are telling and illustrate the dismal state of EHS research in Australia. To quote: …SNIP

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    • 26 MAR 19

    Scientific “groupthink” in Australia seeking to redefine EHS as unrelated to EMR exposure.

    The below article has been published on Dariusz Leszczynski’s blog, Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Essential reading on how scientific inquiry can be captured and by a select group of supposed experts with a predetermined goal to protect vested interests. As defined by Merriam-Webster, groupthink is a pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values and ethics.- And the dismal state of EHS research in Australia is a prime example of that. Read on…

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    • 26 OCT 18

    Submissions to the Parliamentary Sleep Health Awareness inquiry are now online

    From the Australian Parliamentary Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in Australia

    Following a referral on 13 September 2018 from the Minister for Health, Aged Care and Sport, The Hon Greg Hunt MP, the Committee will inquire into and report on Sleep Health Awareness in Australia. The Committee invites interested persons and organisations to make submissions addressing the terms of reference by Thursday, 18 October 2018. Information that may assist in preparing a submission to the Committee may be viewed here. 113 Submissions to the inquiry are now available online…SNIP

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    • 13 FEB 18

    BRIEF REPORT on the EHS provocation studies from Darius Leszczynski

    Dariusz Leszczynski / Finland. Updated February 11, 2018

    BRIEF REPORT on the EHS provocation studies prepared by Dariusz Leszczynski,
    Excerpt:
    Part of the population considers themselves as sensitive to radiation emitted by the wireless communication devices and networks. Different studies have indicated that ca. 0.5–11% of the population might be experiencing sensitivity symptoms. This ailment, called either electromagnetic hyper-sensitivity (EHS) or idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields (IEI-EMF), is currently not considered by the World Health Organization as being caused by the exposures to electromagnetic fields (EMF). While the symptoms experienced by some persons are acknowledged as health impairment, the cause of these symptoms is considered to be unknown. SNIP

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    • 05 FEB 18

    Open Letter on the Electromagnetic Hyper-Sensitivity Research by Dariusz Leszczynski

    Open letter: The end of the road for EHS (IEI-EMF) provocation studies by Dariusz Leszczynski, PhD, DSc
    Comments on the open letter: The dependence of using provocation studies for research into electromagnetic hyper sensitivity (EHS) is fast becoming the preferred way to downplay the connection between telecommunications emissions and illness. It’s a convenient way to say its all in the sufferer’s mind. In Australia, Rodney Croft and his crew at ACEBR look like getting further funding from the NH&MRC to continue with yet more useless provocation research. However, where they get volunteers willing to undergo the inevitable – its just all in their mind, the nocebo effect, remains to be seen. So far they have had only 4 subjects who stayed to the end. Hardly sufficient numbers! I certainly recommend anyone who thinks they suffer from EHS to have nothing to do with this research. I find relevant here Leszczynski’s “Drawback #3. Bias introduced by fear and by reputation of the research group”. Well worth a considered read and I hope the NH&MRC research funders take note. Read on.
    Don

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    • 06 DEC 17

    Pilot Study Shows Dramatic Difference In Brain Activity With EHS (Electrohypersensitive) Cases As Compared To Controls (Non EHS).

    Excerpt
    LOS ANGELES, Dec. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The Peoples Initiative Foundation has announced the conclusion of a pilot study they organized, headed up by Dr. Gunnar Heuser, showing EHS on an fMRI. This study was originally published by Degruyter in July of 2017, but was absent pictures of the controls. The company waited until the pictures were placed in the study to issue this press release, as the visual difference between the cases and controls is quite dramatic.

    Below are 2 sample pictures from the study. The large white area on the left side of the left picture shows hyperconnectivity in the brain of a case (EHS person). The same small white area in the picture to the right shows normal brain activity in a control (non EHS person). SNIP

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    • 08 NOV 17

    EHS [provocation] research is scientifically worthless for two reasons…

    Dariusz Leszczynski has written an interesting article on his blog which examines the limitations of EHS provocation studies and it is well worth a read. Follow the money to see where the push for the nocebo effect as the sole cause for EHS is coming from. Perhaps understandable if you consider the trillions of dollars at stake if a replicable biological link was ever established between EHS and telecommunications technologies. In the Australian context, Telstra and the folks at ACEBR know this risk all too well… A Pandora’s Box that must be kept tightly closed at all cost.

    Excerpt:

    On October 14th, 2017, Finnish newspaper ‘Helsingin sanomat’, in its science pages, has published a story on the electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), with a lengthy title: “Nocebo effect explains why some people get symptoms from electromagnetic fields or wind power: in experimenting, mere worry of side effects, caused the volunteers to get symptoms” …In short, the article in the ‘Helsingin sanomat’ made readers to understand that EHS is just a “delusion”…Snip

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    • 08 NOV 17

    The Sad State of Affairs with EHS Research in Australia

    On June 23, 2017 a public meeting was held at the Wamuran sports complex hall in Queensland as a result of community concerns over possible health impacts of a proposed NBN transmission tower to be built in the area. Approximately 45 local residents were present. Speaking in favour of the tower were about 7 representatives from NBN, Ericsson and Aurecon.

    Speaking on the possible health issues was Dr. Vitas Anderson, Honorary Principal Fellow with the University of Wollongong and an associate investigator at the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research (ACEBR). Anderson is also an investigator in ACEBR’s current provocation study (1). At the meeting Dr. Anderson essentially gave the apparent scientific viewpoint of ACEBR over the controversial condition of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS) alleged to be a result of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) from radiofrequency/ microwave emissions as well as power frequency fields.

    According to interviews with a number of people who attended the meeting Dr. Anderson told the audience that his research, which he has been doing for more than 20 years, showed that there was no disease or condition known as EHS but that any ill-effects were the results of the Nocebo effect. He went on to explain that many people he examined/tested genuinely believed they were EHS sensitive but they were not…. SNIP

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    • 06 APR 17

    Poster presentation on ElectroHyperSensitivity (Recommended)

    Mary Redmayne PhD has just sent in her digital poster presentation given at the 15th World Congress on Public Health.

    Mary Redmayne PhD, is from Monash University, Melbourne and Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

    Titled: Past, present and future ElectroHyperSensitivity: History, definition and proposed diagnostic criteria.

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    • 13 JAN 17

    Krakow’s bold step to curb electromagnetic pollution reflects growing evidence of harm

    From the Ecologist

    Krakow’s bold step to curb electromagnetic pollution reflects growing evidence of harm
    Lynne Wycherley
    12th January 2017

    Excerpt

    As Kraków, Poland’s second city, takes steps to protect its citizens from rising electromagnetic ‘smog’ from mobile phones, wifi, Bluetooth, smart meters and other devices, Lynne Wycherley summarises 2016’s news highlights on the emerging bio-risks of rising exposure to non-ionisiong radiation. For how much longer can governments continue to ignore the growing evidence of harm?

    The first mayor of Kraków to be elected by popular ballot, law professor Jacek Majchrowski is tackling an environmental issue most governors avoid: the electromagnetic pollution in his city.

    Following work on air pollution, and in response to growing demand, he is initiating forums for citizens to discuss the growing ‘smog’ of electro-magnetic fields (EMFs).

    In a world first he is also initiating the provision of meters to detect radio-frequency (RF) / extremely low frequency (ELF) EMFs so people can collect objective data on their exposure….
    SNIP

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