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August - September 2009

24 family matters

HEALTH

DIRTY ELECTRICITY

It sounds like something you should get your hands on and clean up, and there’s the catch; what you don’t see could be making you sick. Electricity is a force of energy within us and around us, silently humming, emitting radiation, while impacting our health and well being. Connie Moser investigates the buzz and what should be done.

More and more, we are sur-rounded by non-ionizing electromag-netic radia-

tion, mainly caused by the increasing quantity of electrical equipment in our living environment. Computers, microwaves, TVs, and appliances - we are multi-wired, wireless and perhaps clueless as to the impact. Electro hypersensitivity (EHS) or radio frequency sickness, which was first documented among radar workers

during the Second World War, is a sometimes debilitating experience created by these and other deregulat-ing effects of electromagnetic fields. Linked to many acute and chronic illness conditions, electrical sensitiv-ity is a serious emerging public health issue globally and a subject in which most doctors have no training.

Something in the airOffices, schools, homes and shopping centers are all emitting electromag-netic frequencies on the electrical network and grid. Dave Stetzer,

co-inventor of the Microsurge Meter that measures the high frequency pollution on electric circuits and of the STETZERiZER Filters (Graham-Stetzer Filters) that reduce or remove the radio frequency energy that is on the building’s wires, spoke in the Netherlands during the International Radiation Day Conference to raise awareness. “Problems such as ADD/ADHD, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, asthma and concentration problems to name but a few, have been dramati-cally improved after installation of the filters. When you change your electri-

cal environment, the symptoms go away. Additionally, the body’s balance goes from acid to alkaline within a few hours. We have documented case studies and independent published medical research viewable on www.stetzerizer.eu/en/health.php as to the positive effects on health and behavior after the filters were installed.

According to Antoon Moonen, managing director of GS Filters BV in The Hague, people need to be made aware of the health risks. “Although almost everyone is at first unaware of the term ‘dirty electricity’, many are

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HEALTH

familiar with the existence of electro-magnetic fields and radiation, or even the term ‘electro-smog’. The published medical research is clearly indicating that many of the modern illnesses, for which there appears to be neither cause nor cure, can be measurably linked to the rise in electrical appli-ance usage, our exposure to electricity and other sources of electromagnetic fields and radiation.”

“The most important point is about the frequency of the electro-magnetic fields. Any frequency above 1.7 kHz dissipates internally to the human body, but the most ‘biologi-cally active frequencies’ are between 4 kHz and 100 kHz. Exposure to those frequencies is far more harmful than any other frequency range as, ‘biology reveals that brains, hearts and cells use electromagnetic signals, charged ions, voltage-gated ion channels, ion regulated gap junctions, all of which can be interfered with by external electromagnetic fields in subtle but vital ways in relation to health’ (Cherry, N. 2000). The STETZERi-ZER Filters were designed specifically to protect people from those ‘biologi-cally active frequencies’ and as such, specifically cancel out or significantly reduce the electromagnetic field frequencies on the building electrical wiring between 2 kHz and 150 kHz to the safest possible levels.”

Sick schools = sick kidsThomas Rau, Medical Director of the world-renowned Paracelsus Clinic in Lustmühle, Switzerland says he is convinced ‘electromagnetic loads’ lead to cancer, concentration problems, ADD, tinnitus, migraines, insomnia, arrhythmia, Parkinson’s and even back pain. Exposing children in schools to radiation, known to impair brain function and learning, Rau describes as “criminal”. He says, “It is unethical to expose children to electromagnetic load in this way. We know that power stations for electromagnetic waves like mobile phones are hurting the brains of children, so to put such stations into schools is really…very, very, very bad. Rau says, the question is, “Does the school, or does the society, really want to have intelligent, well-educated children, or not?” He says, “If you install mobile phone towers, which radiate to the children, their intel-ligence, their brain capacity, decreases. You will have more ADD children, you will have less function of the

brain, which, in the long term, reflects on the intelligence of the children, on the possibility to really teach children; the more this overcomes society, the more we will have dumb children.”

Associate professor Dr. Magda Havas of Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University, Ontario, Canada is one of the leading experts in dirty electricity research, and her studies with Dave Stetzer are increasingly reporting that dirty electricity is:

interfering with education in schools and contributing to behavioural prob-lems among students

exacerbating symptoms for those suffering from tinnitus and multiple sclerosis contributing to electro hyper-sensitivity (sensitivity to electromagnetic radiation), the most widely reported symptoms being fatigue and mental impairment (poor memory, reduced concentration and lowered clarity of thought); complaints also include severe headaches, altered sleep, blurred vision, and skin rashes and pain.

Electro magnetic hypersensitivity symptomsIt must be made clear that Filters do not profess to be a panacea for people who are affected or suffer from any of the health issues. However, the research indicates that there has been substantial improvement in the quality of life of those people who are sensitive to excessive levels of electromagnetic radiation energy.

Symptoms of (radiation) radio wave sickness first documented among radar workers during the Second World War resemble those now associated with electromagnetic hypersensitivity and include:Neurological – headaches, nausea, lack of concentration, irritability, fatigue, insomnia, muscle and joint pain, muscle spasmsCardiac – palpitations, arrhythmia, low or high blood pressure, shortness of breathRespiratory – sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthmaDermatological – skin rash, itching, burning, facial flushingOphthalmologic – pain or burning in eyes, pressure in or behind eyes, deteriorating vision, floaters, cataractsOthers – digestive problems, dehydration, immune abnormalities, pain in teeth, impaired sense of smell(Source No Place to Hide, by Arthur Firstenberg, April 2001)

“ANY FREQUENCY ABOVE 1.7KHZ DISSAPATES INTERNALLY TO THE HUMAN BODY"

AutismFisher also takes a look at autism. “The autistic-child syndrome, first described in 1943, has had an astonishing 6,000 per cent increase in recent years, which parallels the staggering increase in these silent and invisible fields. American advocacy groups call autism ‘the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States’. Twenty years ago, only 1:10,000 children were diagnosed with some form of autism; United States government data show the rate in 2002 was 1:150; in 2008 this figure was estimated to be 1:50. Dr Robert O. Becker, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, cautioned back in 1990: ‘… the apparent onset of autism as a clinical condition in the early 1940s does coincide with the marked increase in our usage of electromagnetic energy’.”

In the book The Brain that Changes Itself, the author, Nor-man Doidge M.D., discusses the research of Michael Merzenich into

26 family matters

HEALTH

Author Donna Fisher wrote Silent Fields: The Growing Cancer Cluster Story: When Electricity Kills to draw attention to cancer clusters occurring within the workplace and the increasing health problems attributed to electromagnetic fields, with impactful research and numerous case studies. “Explanations of ‘random’ and ‘coincidence’ occur far too frequently in an age where integrity must be a willing partner with science in addressing the growing cancer cluster story.” Fisher stated, “It is not only the fields from power lines and substations that are a concern: the fields from the wiring in our homes, workplaces, schools and hospitals are just as much of a concern. Lessening our exposure to these fields must become a way of life, as exposure to the silent fields combined with other toxic agents has the ability to produce a deadly cocktail.” In September, her second book, More Silent Fields - Cancer and the Dirty Electricity Plague The Missing Link...will be available in the Netherlands via www.stetzerizer.eu.

Common sources of radio waves (wired and wireless) In December 2008, the World Cancer Report, issued by the World Health Organization, reported that cancer is expected to surpass heart disease as the world’s leading cause of death by 2010, killing more people than the combined death toll of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Our modern-day electrical appliances and equipment all generate the most dangerous frequency: 4 kHz–100 kHz. Virtually all of today’s modern appliances and energy-efficient electronic devices are drawing their needs at this higher frequency, creating distortion inside a building’s electrical system, thus creating dirty electricity. These include:

OUTDOORS: broadcast and mobile phone antennae, radar, broadcast masts (if not properly filtered) mobile phones, mobile phone masts, pagers, two-way radios, power lines that are loose or in contact with trees.INDOORS: cordless telephones and their base units, wireless computers and their base units, wired computers, photocopiers, printers, televisions, microwave ovens, security systems, remote controls, fax machines, answering machines, assistive listening systems and devices for the hearing impaired, wireless microphones, variable-speed motors, transformers, cordless baby monitors, electric utility smart meters, signal-broadcasting smoke alarms, energy-efficient appliances, medical equipment, power tools, some electronic games.LIGHTING: dimmer switches, fluorescent lighting, energy-efficient lightingVEHICLES: CB radios, ignition systems, mobile radar units.

Resourceswww.stetzerizer.euwww.ElectroMagneticHealth.orgwww.electricalpollution.comwww.neilcherry.comwww.who.int/topicswww.icems.euwww.emrpolicy.org

brain plasticity. “Merzenich has found that many of the symptoms of autism can be explained by the developing brain getting locked into an undifferentiated brain map prematurely. The book cites a study that found that continuous expo-sure to white noise could contribute to this happening in susceptible children. The way that this happens is unlikely to be specific to noise and likely to be responsive to any exposure to large amounts of high frequencies (such as electrical pollu-tion and transmitters).”

Dr. Robert C. Kane, Ph.D. states, “It is generally accepted in the

scientific community that radiofre-quency radiation is a biologically active substance. It is also readily acknowledged that human exposures to radiofrequency radiation have become pervasive during the past twenty years, whereas such exposures were uncommon prior to that time. It is suggested that fetal or neo-natal exposures to radiofrequency radiation may be associated with an increased incidence of autism.”

Unhealthy workplaceCertainly, you can test your own home and install filters, which just plug into any wall outlet, but what

about measuring levels in the work place? Moonen was adamant about the need. “Companies who are not informed about this electromag-netic radiation issue can surely not be held liable. However, I recently spoke to the director of a large company who is aware that the readings we took together in his own office several months ago were 23 times safe levels. This problem has not been corrected. Within a recent two-week pe-riod, amongst his staff, there has been one brain tumour, one sui-cide and one miscarriage reported. The staff is not aware that these measurements were taken. Liability might surely become an issue for this company if the staff find out or if they purchase and bring their own Microsurge Meters into work to take their own readings. I don’t think that anyone should be scared of the negative health effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields. Put energy instead into correcting the situation at home, school and work. Insist on measurements being taken and harmful electromagnetic frequencies eliminated.”

Stetzer is convinced that sig-nificant and lasting changes can, and must, be made. “It is not a lack of intelligence but a lack of knowledge. Filters are an engineer-ing solution to an engineering problem.” The reality of the health consequences of electromagnetic radiation eventually will have to be faced, and this will only happen with active pressure on govern-ments. Consumers also need to be aware. It is estimated that 3-8 per cent of populations in devel-oped countries experience serious electro hypersensitivity symptoms today, and 35 per cent experience mild symptoms. With increasing electromagnetic field exposures, these numbers, along with the suf-fering involved for people who are impacted and the health care costs involved, are bound to go up. “

This has been described as a dirty electricity plague; bigger than the cig-arette smoking issue and asbestos cri-sis combined.” concluded Moonen. “You should not be scared, you should be angry and actively sharing this knowledge with your friends and family. The time has come to protect ourselves and our children before more irreversible damage is done.”

Author Donna Fisher wrote

ork outnot-nottly

s-ed.

Donna Fisher

Antoon Moonen and Dave Stetzer