Radiation is the New Tobacco
Electromagnetic radiation is an important part of our civilization. But it comes with risks we need to understand.
This article introduces topics that some people are unwilling to accept, or unable to understand. I encourage you to consider them. It’s more important for your health and those around you than most people realize.
Tinnitus, cataracts, Alzheimer's, sleep disorders, leaky gut, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, leukemia, ADHD, autism, birth defects, suicide, infertility, headaches, fatigue, muscle weakness, panic attacks, dizziness, ear pain, paralysis, seizures, irritability, hostility — these and other conditions have been attributed to electromagnetic field radiation (EMF). EMF pollution has proliferated like smog in the twentieth century. It’s everywhere, so it’s ignored. But it has pernicious effects on our health just as much as airborne pollution.
Some people are affected more than others, sometimes feeling pain or other symptoms whenever they enter a room with WiFi routers or other radio transmitters, especially cell and wireless phones. There’s a name for this condition — electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome, or EHS. Most of us don’t feel the effects immediately, only later when the damage accumulates enough to cause medical symptoms.
Most doctors are unfamiliar with these effects, so the symptoms are usually diagnosed routinely and treated with medicines that often don’t help.
Some countries have taken steps to reduce EMF exposure, especially for children, who are more susceptible to EMF damage than adults. Many Substack readers live in countries that haven’t yet done so. They will, eventually. Maybe you can help.
EMF also affects animals, insects, plants, and microbes. It is attributed to a sharp decline in bee colonies. Bees are essential for plant production. Without bees, we could starve.
Everyone knows the dangerous effects from X-rays, cosmic rays, gamma rays from nuclear materials. The EMF we encounter routinely is similar, but common EMF has lower energy so the effects accumulate more slowly. Our bodies try to repair radiation damage, but if overwhelmed we can’t keep up.
I recently posted an article describing electromagnetic fields in our environment. I was intrigued by an article claiming saunas emit radiation that can be harmful. I have also discussed my enthusiasm for the health benefits of saunas, and use one several times a week. So I bought a simple tester and checked my sauna. The tester indicated the electric heater there does not emit dangerous levels of radiation where people sit. But I decided to learn more.
I found a book by Dr Joseph Mercola titled EMF*D which provides an introduction to electromagnetic fields and wades deeply into the biological effects. He also describes the corruption of federal regulators and legislators that tolerates these risks. It is much like the tobacco industry, which was very powerful in the last century, and engaged in highly effective lobbying to suppress action on risks which were known as early as the 1950s, and not acknowledged until the end of the century.
Today, there is considerable evidence of lethal harms from the proliferation of electric products, which has been systematically suppressed. Yet, no action has been taken by regulators to control these risks, or even acknowledge them. Most of the public remains unaware.
The same process is underway now with the pandemic reactions. Millions of avoidable deaths and untold suffering resulted from those failures. It seems our government doesn’t care much about us.
So, what’s the problem with a little ol’ radio wave? Cell phones are radios, and operate by transmitting and receiving electromagnetic energy — radio waves — between our phones and cell towers. We use them all the time, and are also exposed to radiation from others around us who use them, and few notice the connection between constant irradiation and the proven damage it causes. We can’t see them, or even feel them. Usually. Many people are more sensitive to EMF exposure than others. Some of them are aware of that sensitivity, but most are not. They’re diagnosed with many vague conditions, including psychological. Doctors don’t know. They follow the script. My prior articles, and Dr Mercola's book, provide lists of conditions. You will probably recognize some of them. We need to consider that they may not be the random malfunctions we’ve been led to accept, but might have unnatural causes. If you or your family have these afflictions, it’s reasonable to reduce your EMF exposure and see if it helps you.
There are four types of offending EMF:
Electric fields, created by voltage in wires and devices
Magnetic fields, caused by electric currents in wiring or equipment
Radio frequency (RF) waves from radio transmitters or defective wiring
Dirty electricity, caused by corrupted “pulsed“currents superimposed on low frequency (60 cycles per second) power systems that produce high frequencies that can cause biological damage.
We evolved to tolerate, and even need, some radiation naturally occurring in the Earth and the Sun. But the frequencies and power we have artificially introduced to our environment are unnatural, and we weren’t built to tolerate them, just like constantly inhaling tobacco smoke or toxic spike proteins. We can filter or repair some of it, but we get sick if overloaded.
Dr Mercola encouraged me to explore more practical details. I picked up EMF Practical Guide by Lloyd Burrell, a French author who developed hyper sensitivity to EMF, recognized his problem, and became an enthusiastic student of EMF mitigation technologies. He explores many options, far more than anyone is likely to use. His theme throughout the book is to measure your environment, implement a mitigation, and measure again to determine the benefit. You’ll find that some don’t help much, others help more. Burrell describes a range of options in each chapter, from free and easy, up to complicated and expensive.
I described my simple EMF tester in a prior article. It measures the electric and magnetic fields from the voltage and current, respectively, of our environment. It does not measure RF nor dirty electricity. And at the price I paid, it might not be sensitive enough or even accurate enough to provide useful insight. It does show where there are problems that warrant further investigation.
I bought a new tester (Cornet ED-88TPlus5G, $168) a little more expensive than the first (Erickhill RT-100, $40) because it includes RF measurement, including the lower frequencies being deployed with initial 5g cell phone systems. It also provides more information about the measured EMF, possibly more than some people prefer. Mercola provides reviews of several devices in his book, and Burrell does on his web site.
I also wanted to have a comparison to provide a basic calibration. The new one seems a little more sensitive, but they both vary a little depending on orientation of the antenna. They both give similar readings up close to an EMF source, so both seem reasonably accurate for purposes of identifying EMF sources and risks. And our WiFi and cellular devices don’t radiate continuous power, but vary, so the RF readings are continually changing.
As Dr Mercola suggests, one way to find and remediate EMF sources is to hire a professional. I did a quick search for “emf electrician (my county)“ and found what appears to be a pretty good one near me, near San Diego. Their site describes their test device, which I found costs $27,000, so if you want professional quality, hiring someone with the equipment might be more economical. Also consider that the raw readings really need some interpretation for the most efficient solutions. But the Burrell book describes a process of (1) measure to identify problem areas, (2) install one of his suggested solutions, and (3) measure again to determine the effect. I suspect my “un-professional“ meters will provide most of what I need. If I get stuck on something, I might hire an electrician to resolve it, and to double check my work. As with doctors, we’re likely to get better results from electricians with partnership, not dependence.
One of the nice things about my local electrician is the web site has several articles describing their solutions. One was for reducing electric fields in a bedroom by applying metallic wall paint, grounding the wall, and repainting the wall to cover the odor (!) From the EMF paint and match the room. Many solutions are much simpler, some are even more complicated, so if you’re feeling adventurous, you can probably do a lot to reduce your exposure with what you have at home.
Its ironic that I learned about the risks of EMF by reading books on an IPAD with WiFi and 4G cellular. And I wrote this article on a Samsung tablet with WiFi internet. I’m just beginning to learn to manage these risks. I’ll continue my experiments and will report my observations when they seem useful. I encourage everyone to begin learning about this. It seems to be pretty important, and is a fascinating challenge.
I remember as a kid, any time I went to Radio Shack, I would hear a very high-pitched sound that no one else seemed to hear. I've always had a really good ear for music, a very slight form of synesthesisia, and I just assumed the two things were related. Now decades later, I have bad and worsening tinnitus.
I wonder if it's EMF damage. I can't afford the testing much less any of the mitigation efforts you describe, so I guess it doesn't matter, but interesting to ponder (and something to add to the long list of things we need to solve as a species that I won't live to see).
I was a skeptic on this topic. Too much data points to the fact that this is real and causing real harm. Good article.