While the term electrical pollution is not a scientific term, there has been a lot of research and case studies done to understand the connection between electrical pollution and human health.
Dr. Robert O. Becker, author of Cross Currents and the Body Electric stated that "I have no doubt in my mind that at the present time that the greatest polluting element in the earth's environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic fields. I consider that to be far greater on a global scale that warming" (The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution by The National Foundation for Alternative Medicine, Washington, D.C. pg 2).
With the worldwide increased consumer demand of electricity, those who study electrical pollution maintain that the modern electrical environment is dangerous to human health. With the abundance of computers and other electrical appliances, exposure to "dirty" electricity has increased significantly. Researchers of electrical pollution explain that the current electricity distribution infrastructure cannot properly handle the increased electricity dependence and demand of modern appliances. Therefore, millions of people are being exposed to harmful electrical phenomena. The wires and transformers are not only delivering the juice to run electrical devices, but are also the carrier of dangerous high frequency currents.
The high frequency currents most commonly created by computers and other electronic devices are circulated by various wires and systems, emitting the high frequency currents into home or office environments. Many cases have been documented where decreasing the amount of "dirty" electricity has lessened the effects of health problems and complications. Some of those health problems being attributed to electrical pollution include fibromyalgia, attention deficit disorder, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, and asthma. There are also cases that detail that electrical pollution aggravates other preexisting conditions like multiple sclerosis and migraine headaches.
The faculty and staff at Mindro Elementary School in Melrose, Wisconsin could not figure out why its students and teachers had various health problems during the school year. The story of this school's experience is documented in The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution by The National Foundation for Alternative Medicine, Washington, D.C.
One teacher at the school reported that since becoming an instructor there she had chronic fatigue and developed a migraine headache problem disabling her to instruct her students. Two other teachers in the story reported that there allergy problems significantly worsened during the school year. The school could also not explain various behavior problems of students, not experienced outside of the school year. In the story, a teacher relates that during the school year, she experienced fatigue, headaches, stress, and malaise which end at the conclusion of the school year.
The school installed the GS filters in the school to reduce electrical pollution in the building. Teachers reported a significant improvement in the behavior of the students and the well being of teachers. Before the filters were installed, the affected teachers could not find reasoning for the health problems and strange behavior in students. After two months, the affected teachers experienced improvement in their health. One of the teachers stated, "I have not changed my work habits, or anything in my personal life that would contribute to these changes I have noticed," said teacher Constance M. Alvin (The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution by The National Foundation for Alternative Medicine, Washington, D.C. pg 5.)
Similarly, Shivani Arjuna, whose story is also detailed in The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution (page 6), started experiencing unexplained health problems including peaks in high blood pressure and heart arrhythmias. After $18,000 in testing, her doctors simply said she was experiencing panic attacks. She was not satisfied with this diagnosis and continued to analyze other possible conclusions. She continued to suffer with poor sleep, intestinal problems, and tension. In The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution, Arjuna is quoted saying, "I was so weak I felt as if I was made of paper. I was nearly an invalid. My husband cared for me."
Dave Stetzer, an industrial engineer with Stetzer Electric, co-creator of the GS filters came to Arjuna's home. Stetzer reported that the levels of radio-frequency currents in Arjuna's home were the highest he had ever seen. A typical home requires 20 filters to rid the environment of the high frequency currents. It took 37 filters to reduce levels in Arjuna's home (The Health Effects of Electrical Pollution by The National Foundation for Alternative Medicine, Washington, D.C. pg 6.) Arjuna now leads educational sessions on the effects of electrical pollution.
Catherine Kleiber, who began the Web site electricalpollution.com, started experiencing health problems in 1996. She and her new husband had moved to a farm in southern Wisconsin. Kleiber had not experienced any significant health problems up till her move to the farm at age 23. She started experiencing fatigue, chills, fever, and dry throat among other problems on a consistent basis. For three years, the doctors could not determine the source of her sudden health problems. Doctors finally diagnosed Kleiber with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Kleiber started recognizing that her symptoms worsened at certain times of the year and during weather patterns. Her symptoms would get worse when it rained or was particularly dry. She tried to figure some type of rhyme or reason to the patterns for her symptoms. Kleiber discovered that her symptom patterns matched up with period peak electrical demand and changes in soil conductivity. She investigated the patterns and discovered the phenomenon called electrical pollution in a story in an agricultural publication that discussed problems with stray voltage on farms in Wisconsin. After reading more, she disconnected all electricity in her home to see if it made any difference in her health. She soon noticed that she was sleeping better and her symptoms were reducing.
Kleiber also began using the filters in her home to reduce the amount of electrical pollution entering her home. While it may be impossible to completely rid a home or office of electrical pollution, the filters have proven effective for those affected, like Kleiber. She launched electricalpollution.com, one of the main sources for information on electrical pollution found on the World Wide Web. She encourages legislative bodies and other officials to further investigate the effects of electrical pollution. She wants stricter regulations on utility companies to improve the electrical infrastructure to reduce the amount of high frequency currents running into homes and offices.
Not everyone is "electrically sensitive" like Kleiber or some of the staff and students of the Wisconsin school. Electrical pollution researchers maintain that everyone is exposed to electrical pollution, but some are more affected by its presence and at varying degrees. It may also be impossible to rid the environment of electrical pollution, but the filters have proven to help those who have discovered they are sensitive to the high frequency currents.
Instances of health problems related to electrical pollution are not limited to Wisconsin or rural farm areas. Instances have been discovered all over the country and worldwide. According to Arthur Firstenberg and Susan Malloy, authors of the article "Electrical Sensitivity," posted on latitudes.org, officials Near Fort Dix, New Jersey in a town called Brick, were trying to understand why eight out of every 1,000 children born in Brick since 1994 are autistic. Medical professionals could not figure out the cause of the significant cases of autism. A 750,000-watt Doppler weather radar instrument had been installed in 1994 in nearby Fort Dix. The authors of the article believe that the reason for the increased cases of autism is could possibly be attributed to electrical sensitivity to the emissions from the Doppler radar equipment.
While neither the Environmental Protection Agency nor the Center for the Prevention of Disease Control have published studies or policy on electrical pollution, there is a lot of unofficial research being done on the topic of electrical pollution and its potential health effects. Electrical pollution could be considered a modern day problem, coming along into society because of the increased demand for electricity in today's world. With this in mind, those worried about electrical pollution have been lobbying for stricter regulation and legislation to curb the problem. They are fighting for solutions to possibly alleviate health problems associated with electrical sensitivity to high frequency currents
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