Electrical Pollution:
What's
it doing to you and yours?
by Shivani Arjuna
I recently took a crash course in electrical pollution. I
crashed, so of course I had to find out why in order to remedy
the situation! What I have learned and experienced have
convinced me that electrical pollution is a major cause of
our health problems.
Electrical pollution, invisible, silent, odorless, tasteless,
is the perfect pollutant. We have not evolved any methods
of sensing its presence. A few people, like me, have become "electrically
sensitive" and are able to know when we are being exposed
due to immediate symptoms that we experience, but most people,
even if exposed to levels and wave lengths that are literally
killing them, remain unaware. Even when they do experience
palpable sensations, the cause simply does not occur to them.
Everyone living in areas of the world with electricity is
being negatively affected. It is only a question of degree. (Dr.
Neil Cherry, Evidence that Electromagnetic Radiation is Genotoxic:
the implications for the epidemiology of cancer and cardiac,
neurological and reproductive effects. His presentation
to New Zealand Parliament in May 2000, European Parliament
in June, 2000. Look for link at ww.electricalpollution.com/ Dr.
Cherry’s work is monumental.)
Electricity is termed “dirty” or polluted when
the normal 60 cycle sine wave carries with it various high
frequencies, which damage electronics and living beings. Industry
and large corporations spend billions to protect their electronic
equipment from this, but nobody is looking out for humans.
The present pollution is created as electricity passes through
anything electronic, which “chops up” the sine
wave and then dumps these high frequencies into the current
as it is passed on. This RF (radio frequency) energy causes
neurological, cardiac, respiratory, ophthalmological, dermatological
and other conditions ranging in severity from headaches, fatigue
and ADD to pneumonia, psychosis and strokes. (“No
Place To Hide” Volume 3, Number 1, April 2001, “Special
Issue on Russian and Ukrainian Research” by Arthur Firstenberg. Article
can be obtained at (718) 434-4499 or see at www.electricalpollution.com/) Childhood
leukemia is markedly higher in areas with electrical pollution. (Savitz,
D.A. et al. 1988. Case Control Study of CHILDHOOD CANCER and
Residential Exposure to 60(c)Hz Magnetic Fields. American Journal
of Epidemiology 128(1):21(c)38.)
In “the old days” before electronics, electrical
power was polluted at the source, by brushes in the generators. A
monumental epidemiological study using childhood leukemia as
a marker found an absolutely correlating increase in this
disease in areas of the USA, Africa and Europe as they sequentially
became electrified. (Samuel Milham & E.M. Ossiander,
Historical evidence that residential electrification caused
the emergence of childhood leukemia peak, Medical Hypotheses,
vol. 56, #3, 2001, pp. 290-295) Generators now produce
clean power but modern pollution levels are much higher due
to electronics.
For every electron that leaves a substation, one must return. As
electricity polluted with high frequencies likes to spread
out in what is called the skin effect, the presently inadequate
utility wiring system causes 70% of the return current to flow across
the surface of the earth. Most people think the earth
soaks up electricity like a sponge. It does not. Electricity
just flows over the surface, like water over a brick. This
ground current is attracted to, and enters your home on, water
pipes, gas mains and phone lines, greatly increasing the amount
of high-frequency exposure you already have from your own electrical
service. Various metal structures in your home, from wiring
and lamp cords to fins in electric baseboards and the metal
springs in your bed actually broadcast these harmful frequencies
right through your body 24 hours a day, whether or not any
electrical appliances in your house are turned on. In
many places attempts to ground bring in more current than they
take out!
You may have read that strong EMF is created by your refrigerator,
hair dryer, etcetera. This is true, but the electronics
in your house are really quite a small part of the picture
as electricity is already extremely RF-polluted when it enters
your home, from everybody "upstream." It is
not commonly known even by those who write on this subject,
nor by many who do professional remediation, that the RF is
the main culprit.
Doctors are as unaware of this situation as everyone else,
so the best way to determine whether someone's health problems
are related to RF is to lower the RF levels and see what happens. In
schools and homes where RF remediation has been done, many
kids with Attention Deficit Disorder suddenly don't have it
any more, and teachers with mysterious maladies that kept them
from working a full work week now don't miss a day. Many
chronic headaches and complaints of chronic tiredness melt
away. (Melrose Chronicle, Melrose, WI, U.S.A. 2/26/03) Kids
who had such severe asthma they needed nebulizer treatments
no longer do. Many diabetics find that their need for
insulin drops dramatically or even ends when they avoid RF,
and conversely that it increases when they are exposed. (My
friend and mentor Dave Stetzer’s blood sugar skyrockets
within minutes when he is exposed to RF, which seems to be
the sole causative factor. To date, the blood sugar of
every person he has tested is affected within minutes.)
Animals are equally affected. Cows give up to 10 more
pounds of milk per day on the days when the RF in their environment
is low (Donald Hillman et al, Relationship of Electric Power
Quality to Milk Production of Dairy Herds, Shocking News, 9/11/02
Also avail. at wwww.electricalpollution.com), and 20 pounds
more if power quality is remediated and remains clean. (Conversation
with power quality expert Dave Stetzer.) If your dog sits
on the roof of his dog house, this may be why!
My own story illustrates both the effects of RF exposure and
the challenges of dealing with them in a meaningful way. We
live in rural Wisconsin, U.S.A. in a Winnie-the-Pooh three-acre
beech and maple woods surrounded by farm fields and more woods. Deer
and an occasional wild turkey wander through the yard and organic
garden and the loudest noise is made by crows. Not a place
where you’d expect to find dangerous environmental pollution,
so that was not a suspect when I began to have "spells." Although
I have always had low blood pressure, I began experiencing
spells of a sudden and sharp rise in blood pressure with skyrocketing
pulse rate and frightening cardiac arrhythmia. I was taken
to the ER by ambulance twice, but by the time I got there pronounced
normal. $18,000 worth of medical tests found nothing to
account for these and other bizarre symptoms, so doctors finally
pronounced that I was having "panic attacks" and
prescribed beta blockers, which force the heart into a regular
72 beats a minute and turn you into a zombie, in my experience. I
refused them. Insomnia increased to the point where I was sleeping,
in broken bits, from 3-5 hours a night. I felt as if I
was made out of paper. Sometimesl just breathing and walking
were very taxing. My anxiety level was extreme, my adrenals
were exhausted and my thyroid needed help from hormone replacement. Already
slender, I became a shadow. I wasn't sure I was going
to survive.
I had read a bit about EMF a few years before, and it occurred
to me to try some experiments, such as sleeping in different
places in the house. I noticed immediate symptoms if I
went near a TV, a telephone, a car fan, the water pipes in
our house.... (Later I would discover I had become “electrically
sensitive,” a sort of walking EMF meter, affected by
dimmer switches, electric heating systems, computers in banks
and post offices, the chair at the dentist’s office,
.... )
At least now I had a clue. I was very fortunate to be
put in touch with power quality engineer Dave Stetzer, who
graciously taught me about power quality and what I needed
to do to clean up my immediate environment and save my life. We
did experiments and took readings with a variety of meters
and gizmos, indoors and out. We put in shielded phone lines,
moved water pipes, replaced the first 4 feet of our water pipe
with PVC (Helps 50%. RF still comes in via the water itself.),
gutted old electric baseboards that though disconnected were
broadcasting RF over large areas including our bedroom. We
installed RF filters, took out dimmer switches and fluorescent
lights, sold the aquarium, got me a speaker phone and a laptop
computer I use on battery only, and I avoid the high-field
parts of the yard.
With each of these steps results were immediate and dramatic. The
cardiac symptoms ceased. I was able to sleep. My anxiety
level dropped. My recovery has been steady and I am now
much better. Only, however, to the extent to which I am
able to avoid RF! I remain electrically sensitive to date,
and my activities are severely circumscribed. I am almost
entirely a stay-at-home. Even here, the RF is not totally
unavoidable when the power is on. I am better on days
when I spend a lot of time away from the house in areas free
of ground current, and in warm weather when we can turn the
main off at night.
This article is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Toxic
electricity is a chronic, severe stress, affecting virtually
everyone, that only increases as the pollution proliferates. I
offer the following points and ideas for your further consideration.
I know health practitioners who wonder why many of their clients,
in spite of doing "all the right things" still have
such serious problems. No one has thought to check what
RF they are living in.
I used to give Polarity sessions to a woman who lived across
the street from a hefty electric cable. No matter what
I did, nothing happened! It was so bizarre, as if something
was canceling out the energy. Finally I became aware and
took meter readings. Her apartment had EMF high enough
to cause childhood leukemia. What was that doing to her? To
me? To the Polarity sessions?
Under this stress, it seems that people develop different
conditions due to their own inherent weakest links, so to speak,
one getting diabetes while another develops Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome.
The particular wavelengths one is exposed to are relevant,
as is the strength of the field. As these two vary, different "windows" are
created, with varying effects. US military research shows
that particular wavelengths cause different symptoms. (Charles
Polk & Elliot Pastow, Handbook of Biological Effects of
Electromagnetic Fields, 2nd ed. 1996) (The military knows the
specific wave lengths to cause depression or rage or incite
crowds to riot.) Also, each individual is a unique receiving
antenna. For instance, one' s height affects which wavelengths
one receives most easily. ( Polk, ibid. chapter 9) Weight
and fat/water content play roles, as do metals in the body. (
C. Polk & J.H. Song, Electric fields induced by LF
magnetic fields in inhomogenous biological structures... Bioelectromagnetics
vol. 11, 235-249, 1990)
I and many others experience much more affect from broad area
RF when lying down than when standing. This is not so
strange, as research shows ants realign the way they hold their
antenna and bodies when they are exposed to EMF. (B. Blake
Levitt, Electromagnetic Fields, Harcourt Brace, 1995) Not
only is our "antenna” tilted at a different angle
why we are horizontal, but we also have greater electrical
potential the further apart our "poles" are. This
is one reason livestock suffer so much.
Another factor is that the loads on the electric lines are
different at different times of day and different days of the
week. The RF at your house will also vary depending on
what the people “upstream” from you are using current
for.
The belief that only ionizing (heating) radiation can harm
living organisms has been absolutely disproven, yet persists
as the basis for “official” exposure guidelines.
The current induced in the body is a product of field strength
and frequency. A field oscillating at 180 Hz induces three
times the current in you as a 60-cycle field does. In
such a field, every cell in the body will experience a shift
in polarity 180 times a second!
Living organisms are sensitive electromagnetic systems that
run on millivolts. Vanishingly small charges far below
the threshold of awareness affect them. (Exposure guidelines
set by utility-supported "experts" are still based
on voltage. Remember that the frequency of the field or
current is the key factor!)
Our natural body currents are DC. Earth itself has a
very strong DC field with which we evolved. AC is damaging
to living systems, inducing currents within them which DC does
not.
The Earth's field fluctuates with time of day. Different
organ systems of the body are more energized at different times
of day. In fact, sensitivity to the minute fluxes in the
Earth’s natural magnetic field is the most important
component of our circadian rhythms. (Levitt, ibid., 118-120) How
are these affected by EMF?
If the electrical pollution is riding on the Earth’s
natural electromagnetic grid lines, what are the ramifications?
We are particularly sensitive to EMF during sleep, the time
when various healing activities take place in the body. (It
is interesting that the front-to-back polarity of our brains
reverses during this time,) (Levitt, ibid. 133) The effects
of spending eight hours asleep in toxic electrical field are
very serious.
The polarity of cells is disrupted by EMF and currents, with
profound effects. Healthy cells have: polarized walls
with positive charge outside, negative inside; few and small
pores in cell walls; calcium ions mostly outside cells; ability
to communicate with other cells via molecules; ability to attract
attaching information-bearing molecules. Their ability
to choose what to allow in and out depends on electrical charges
on ions like calcium, sodium, proteins, sugars, hormones, etcetera,
as well as pore size and cell wall polarity. Cells affected
by EMF and currents: lose polarity; have calcium ions equally
inside and out; lose ability to manufacture enzymes; have cell
walls with more and larger pores; allowing waste molecules
to penetrate the cell. If the field or current is of long
duration, the cells die. This is called electroporation.
(J.C. Weaver, Molecular basis for cell membrane electroporation,
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Vol. 720,
pp. 141-152, 1994. Several more references listed in CURE
booklet.)
Melatonin production is decreased by exposure to EMF. Though
most known as the hormone necessary for good sleep, melatonin
has such numerous functions that health is not possible when
it is insufficient. Besides regulating our internal clock,
it affects gonadal hormones, moods and behavior and the immune
system and exerts direct effects on the growth of cancers in
the breast, prostate and colon. (R.P. Liburdy et al,
ELF magnetic fields, breast cancer and melatonin, Journal of
Pineal Research,vol. 14, p. 89, 1993)
Safety standards are based on exposures considered safe for
the average adult male, however children are more affected
by EMF than adults. The greater the cell division rate,
the more chances for something to go wrong, and the growth
processes themselves are affected by EMF, babies in utero being
most affected. Field-created defects are permanent and
are passed on to succeeding generations, for instance the inheritance
of brain-tumor tendency in children of men with high occupational
exposures. ( Dr. S Nordstrum, "Effects of paternal
EMF exposure on offspring, Bioelectromagnetics, vol. 4,
pp. 91-101, 1983) "There may also be frequency-specific
windows for different organ systems, meaning that certain exposures
may be particularly detrimental at fixed times during fetal
growth." (Levitt, ibid.)
Resonance occurs when an aspect of a force, such its wave
length, matches a characteristic of an object receiving the
force. This allows the power inherent in the force to
be maximally transferred to the object, causing it to vibrate. (The
crystal goblet when the opera singer hits high C, for instance.) Within
the object, the resonance is self-perpetuating! You and
I are objects being thus affected. Similarly, trees resonate
extremely well to microwaves, leading to deforestation, particularly
in mountainous regions where the microwaves bounce off the
angles of the slopes. (Wolfgang Voldtrodt, Electromagnetic
Pollution of the Environment, Environment and Health: A Holistic
Approach, ch. 8. Avebury Press, 1989)
Dr. Robert Becker theorizes that healers can sense a disease
site in a person's body through radiating an electromagnetic
field from their hands which induces EM resonance in the patient,
the return signal then being felt by the healer. A resonant
action occurs between the fields given off by the healer and
the intrinsic electrical-control systems within the patient's
body. "While these currents have a vanishingly small
flow, they would nonetheless produce local DC magnetic fields
within the tissues. These fields, in combination with
a frequency given off by the healer, could result in resonance
with other charged particles." As the theory rests
on complex resonance, the Earth's magnetic field must be involved. Therefore,
Dr. Becker reasons that healers will have greater diagnostic
and healing ability during times of quiet geomagnetic field
conditions and those abilities will be adversely affected by
magnetic storms and locations in which man-made magnetic fields
or extra low frequency (ELF) fields are present. (Becker,
Cross Currents, 240-241) An important issue for Polarity
therapists to consider and research!
Cyclotron resonance enables very low-strength EM fields, acting
in concert with the Earth’s steady-state magnetic
field, to produce major biological effects by concentrating
the energy in the applied field upon specific particles, such
as the biologically important ions of sodium, calcium, potassium,
and lithium.” This resonance is produced by frequencies
between 1 and 100 hertz. European electricity is 50 hertz
and N. American is 60 hertz! Yet safety standards have
been based on power, not frequency. (Becker, ibid. 235)
Dr. Becker believes "That humans interact so fundamentally
with the earth's magnetic fields...may be the most important
biological discovery of the 20th century." It may
also be a hidden variable in all research.
The effect of microwaves is also vital to understand. One
point to be aware of is that microwave exposure breaks down
the blood/brain barrier. (Bertril R. Persson, Blood-brain
barrier permeability in rats exposed to EM fields used in wireless
communication, Wireless Networks, Vol. 3 #5, pp. 455-561, 1997.
Also learn more at www.microwavenews.com/ ) Regarding
effects of eating microwaved food, see article at www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm For
example, habitual eating of such food causes long term permanent
brain damage by "shorting out" electrical impulses
in the brain due to depolarization of the brain tissue. Microwaving
food also destroys nutrients and creates carcinogens.
Dreadfully fascinating is the military use of electricity
and microwaves. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons technology
used in the Gulf War may be responsible for a good deal of
the damage to veterans resulting in Gulf War Syndrome. The
symptoms are almost exactly those of RF toxicity. The
GWEN and HARP ground wave transmissions are another silent
and imperceptible exposure for Americans. "GWEN is
a superb system, in combination with cyclotron resonance, for
producing behavioral alterations in the civilian population." The
military has also developed high-power pulsed microwave weapons
that penetrate all bodily systems. These couple with the
central nervous system and yield "prompt debilitation." (Becker,
ibid. 303-304)
The human body is a highly sensitive electromagnetic energy
system. We need to learn as much as possible about how
this system is affected by external electric fields entering
the body!
Presently, no one is looking out for individuals regarding
EMF. Both military and utility establishments exercise
their undemocratic freedom in ways very harmful to the citizenry. We
must educate ourselves and take protective measures on our
own.
Go to following site to see drawings and charts that accompany
the following text. The particles become quite large when
charged. -Shivani
http://www.electric-fields.bris.ac.uk/Layman's.htm
The primary way in which electrical power is transmitted and
distributed around the country is by means of cables suspended
between pylons. These cables usually carry a very high voltage,
for example in Britain, 132,000 or 400,000 volts.
The high voltage carried by these cables is sufficient to
break up the air, separating electrons from individual air
molecules. This is the buzzing noise that is often heard from
powerline cables. This process is known as ionisation, and
it results in the creation of electrically charged particles
near to the powerline cable but which may be carried well away
from the cable by the wind. [A current loss of just 0.1 mA
per metre from powerlines corresponds to 6.25 x 1014 ions per
metre per second potentially emitted into the atmosphere.] These
electrically charged particles have the ability of sticking
to surfaces in the same way that dust particles may stick to
a television or computer screen. In air, however, these electrically
charged particles, known as corona ions (Figure 1) or more
technically as small ions, usually attach themselves to microscopic
particles which are present in the air and which make up the
air pollution around us. These microscopic particles now have
an electric charge which enables them to stick to surfaces
more easily.
[Aerosols in the proximity of power line electric fields become
polarized. The polarity of the particles reverses in concert
with the alternating current, setting up an oscillatory movement.
The particles become “stickier” and are more likely
to adhere to skin or to lung tissue.]
In outdoor conditions these microscopic particles of air pollution
which have been electrically charged by the attachment of small
ions can be carried well away from the powerline by the wind
(Figure 2). Electrically charged particles are commonly found
up to 400 metres from powerlines although in exceptional cases
they have been found several kilometres away. [Aerosols are
drawn up the field gradient. This causes increased concentration
in the vicinity of power lines—up to 80% increase measured
at the center of ROW (right of way) at 1 meter above ground
level.]
When particles in the air are inhaled not all of them are
trapped in the lung. For example, if you watch a cigarette
smoker, they may breathe in the cigarette smoke but some of
the smoke may be breathed out again. For some particles, only
one third (30%) of what is breathed in is trapped in the lung.
It is known that when you breathe in electrically charged particles,
they have a greater chance of being trapped. Therefore if you
breathe in particles that have been electrically charged by
small ions then these particles too will have a greater chance
of being trapped in the lung. This is the way in which small
ions emitted from high voltage powerlines act to increase exposure
to air pollution, by increasing the amount of air pollution
we retain when it is inhaled.
We are investigating the way in which powerlines emit small
ions, how they attach themselves to particles of air pollution
and the level of increased amount of air pollution that is
trapped in the lung of people living near powerlines. We are
then investigating the consequences of this increased exposure
to air pollution. Given that a number of illnesses are known
to be linked to air pollution, people living near powerlines
might be at greater risk of these illnesses.
[Near transmission lines there is also much more deposition
on exposed skin of radon decay particles, causing a 40% increase
annually in skin cancer in those living within 40 meters of
such lines.
RESOURCES: Get a good introduction and read about the
RF filters at www.electricalpollution.com., or at Dave Stetzer’s
site, www.stetzerelectric.com. (Click on "power quality.") See
also Dave's concise and powerful testimony in the case of MI
vs. their electric utility. See also http://emfacts.com/, www.ortho.lsumc.edu/Faculty/Marino/EMF.html and (through 2003
only) www.emfguru.org. Follow links to related web sites.
B. Blake Levitt's book, ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS, is a treasure
chest of information, including much not elsewhere readily
available on the effects of EMF on animals and plant life.
Dr. Robert O. Becker's book, CROSS CURRENTS, is a "must
read" as well.
C.U.R.E. (Citizen's United for Responsible Electricity, a small
group of dedicated folks in WI, U.S.A.) puts out a packet that
includes an information-packed 17 page booklet with 200 references. Call
715-564-3362. ( I suggest a $5 donation.) Out of print
but still available is Lucinda Grant’s HANDBOOK OF ELECTRICAL
SENSITIVITY.
copyright 2003 by Shivani Arjuna
sarjuna@aol.com
920-994-4082
This article may be copied and shared if reproduced in entirety
and not used for profit.
Invitation to dowsers:
What are the health effects when manmade electricity and electrical
pollution ride on the Earth’s electromagnetic grid
system, or underground water, minerals, etcetera? If
dowsers and those working with electrical pollution share
their knowledge and experiences, and do experiments together,
I believe we will have great breakthroughs in our understanding
and be able to develop common techniques to benefit many
more people. If you are interested, please contact me.
Regards,
Shivani
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