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Published in The Independent, May 31 2007,

My war on electrosmog: Julia Stephenson sets out to clear the airwaves (or to muddy the water!)

Note: This woman is clearly ill. Whether this is physical or otherwise is for you to decide; I know what I think. Annotations in red are mine.

Ron.

How one woman fought back after being diagnosed by her naturopath with overexposure to Wi-Fi and mobile phone frequencies.

A few months ago I noticed I was feeling dog-tired and drained all the time. Usually a good sleeper, I'd suddenly begun waking up early in the morning and finding myself unable to go back to sleep. Suddenly-changed sleep patterns, like this, can be indicative of depression.

It wasn't only me that was drooping. My once-lush plants had lost their lustre too. Ridiculous (yes, indeed), considering how well I look after myself - and my plants.

I am well-doctored, to put it mildly. I probably consult more doctors than Woody Allen, who has separate screenings of his movies for his doctors. Everyone is entitled to a hobby; mine just happens to be my health, and what a fascinating hobby it is. Note that she makes no claims whatsoever for any physical illnesses to account for this - a conclusion of hypochondria seems reasonable.

When at a loss to explain my new malaise, I visited my naturopath. Synonym, usually, for medically-unqualified quack. It may sound unorthodox, but if it works, who cares? Well, any responsible adult whose critical faculties are intact, for a start.

She insisted that my exhaustion was caused by electromagnetic "smog" in my flat. The problem, she explained, is that our dependence on office and communications equipment (especially mobile phones and the masts needed to power them, as well as microwaves, computers and electrical equipment), exposes us to frequencies that can have a detrimental effect on our well-being, especially if we are run-down, or if our immune system is compromised in some way.

This made sense, as my symptoms had begun soon after installing wireless technology in my sitting room. Wireless (Wi-Fi) technology allows you to access emails and the internet anywhere in your living space. It's convenient but I could live without it if meant having more physical energy. So I immediately turned off my wireless network and replaced it with broadband. Complete bollocks - you cannot replace Wi-Fi with broadband.Why? Because Wi-Fi is simply a means of connecting your computer to your broadband service.

My naturopath is not alone in her concern. There is growing evidence that Wi-Fi technology is harmful (no, there isn't - not at all; see here). When the Swedish town of Götene activated their new Wi-Fi system in May 2006, within hours the local hospital emergency services were receiving calls from residents complaining of a number of symptoms: difficulty breathing, blurry vision, headaches and even cases of heart arrhythmia. On 23 May 2006, Sweden's STV followed up the story on their current affairs programme "Debatt". There is zero evidence that Wi-Fi causes anything, and Indy hacks don't have a monopoly on hysterical illness.

The worldwide centre of the mobile phone industry, Sweden, (actually, it's Finland), is where much of the research on environmental illness has been carried out. It was the first country to recognise electromagnetic hypersensitivity as a valid medical condition, and has set up a federal body to assist sufferers of those affected (www.feb.se). There have been calls for the Swedish government to close down the nation's Wi-Fi networks, pending further investigation. Sweden is currently revising its position on this.

Those concerned about possible side-effects believe that our unprecedented exposure to electrical equipment, mobile phones and Wi-Fi mean that we are surrounded by a soup of electromagnetic smog at all times. In effect, we live in an electro-dictatorship: even if you haven't voted for this technology by say, owning a mobile phone, you may still suffer the same effects as those who have. For example, although I've turned off my wireless access I can still tap in to my neighbour's Wi-Fi downstairs. Again, no evidence that this is in any way harmful - hell's bells, I sit inches from my Wi-Fi setup - have done for over three years - it has yet to do me the slightest harm.

Research being carried out by industry, the Government and academics has so far failed to find a persuasive link between mobile phone masts and health problems. The Department of Health and the Mobile Operators Association insist that British masts conform to international safety standards. A research group commissioned by the government-funded Health Protection Agency reported: "Exposure levels from living near to mobile phone base stations are extremely low and the overall evidence indicates they are unlikely to pose a risk to health." But it continued: "Research has limitations and the possibility remains open that there could be health effects from exposure - hence continued research is needed." Yes, indeed, and this cannot be interpreted, as it often is by people like this woman, as "Oh shit! We're all gonna die!!"

Many doctors are now convinced that this powerful technology is storing up huge problems for our future health. To date, 1,200 physicians in Germany, and 2,000 worldwide, have signed the Freiburger Appeal, a petition for severe restrictions on wireless technology. The doctors say they are seeing a dramatic increase in certain diseases and symptoms in their patients. Dear god, this is staggeringly vague. What illnesses, in what concentration, and has mental illness been ruled out? In tests, people who claimed to be hypersensitive to electrosmog were sat in a  room where a Wi-Fi item was hidden. The subjects had to tell, by how they felt, whether the device was on or off - most failed to do so, as in this extract from a Bad Science article:-

In 31 studies, 24 found that electromagnetic fields have no effect. But 7 did find some measurable effect, and because I have a reputation for pedantry to uphold: in 2 of those studies with positive findings, even the original authors have been unable to replicate the results; for the next 3, the results seem to be statistical artefacts (details below); and for the final 2, the positive results are mutually inconsistent (one shows improved mood with provocation, and the other shows worsened mood).  The full Bad Science article can be found here, download full details of the research here It's a PDF file so, in IE, right-click the link, click Save Target As and put it on your Desktop so you can find it again.

"Any imbalance in our electromagnetic field creates a disturbance in cell structure and function, which can lead to illness in sensitive individuals," says London-based complementary health practitioner Dr Nicole de Canha. Words fail me - Dr. de Canha, a Google search revealed, is qualified in the following:-

Diploma Reflexology, Doctorate in Homoeopathy, Sports and Therapeutic Massage Diploma, Indian Head Massage, Ear Acupuncture Diploma - not exactly best-placed, I'd have thought, to potificate on such an intensely technical subject. And not a medical doctor, either.

Even cordless hands-free home telephones - such a boon to multitaskers, enabling one to patiently listen to friends and family for hours while cleaning cupboards, re-potting house plants and reorganising the CD collection - are now off-limits. Their electrical force-field is nearly as powerful as that of a mobile phone. Since I'm now chained to a phone on a lead, my cupboards are filthy and my friends are neglected. But at least I'm less radioactive. This fruitcake has NEVER been radioactive - the fact that she doesn't know that throws all this tripe into perspective - she hasn't the faintest idea what the hell she's talking about. David Icke, it seems, has company!

It's much harder to avoid mobile phone masts, however. Over the past 10 years they have sprouted all over the country to power the mobile phones owned by over 95 per cent of the population (wow! babies and toddlers with mobes - who'd have thought it!). To find out how close you live to a mast go to www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk The results may shock you: (possibly, but they won't contain the rat/mast-distance cobblers though!), there are now 35,000 mobile phone masts in the UK, and chances are that several are in your immediate vicinity. It's supposed that you are never more than 10 feet away from a rat in London; you may find yourself even closer to a phone mast. You may find yourself closer to a bendy bus, a Post Office, or a Big Issue seller too - that statement is utterly meaningless. 

Despite being implicated in a number of health problems (the word "alleged" before "health problems" has somehow been omitted; mendacity or accident? - something that alarms parents of the one in 10 schools located close to masts - these masts need no planning permission and are often disguised in trees (No!! As trees - a huge difference.), petrol stations, shop signs, even church steeples. For instance, the support pole for the golden angel weathervane on Guildford Cathedral is actually a mobile mast, supporting several antennas. In return for access to the coveted hilltop site, the golden angel was regilded. It seems that even God cannot offer protection from this insidious pollution. God cannot protect anyone from something that not been proven to exist.

Fortunately there are steps that concerned individuals can take to reduce the amount of "electro-smog" to which they are subject. Like many people, I'm mobile-dependent, but I now use a headset that delivers sound through an air-filled wireless tube similar to a doctor's stethoscope (but much smaller, so you don't look like you're on call). Conventional headsets transmit sound to the earpiece through a wire, but as wire is an electrical conductor it may also deliver radiation directly to your head (Again, no it doesn't - and many doctors use electronic stethoscopes anyway.). Since I've started using the tube I no longer experience headaches or a slight ringing in my ears.

Here's a thought - this woman, despite all her unfounded ranting here, uses a mobile phone. In that case, how dare she complain about masts, or alleged radiation, or anything else! And, of course, hearing aids transmit sound to the ear by a wire - modern devices live entirely within the ear, or just behind it. There are no reports of any illness, deaths or anything else as a result of this, but considering the length of time electrical/electronic hearing aids have been in use, if there really was a hazard, you'd expect that it would have come to light by now.

You could also try the Q-Link pendant, which employs "sympathetic resonance technology," something that the makers declare "repairs and tunes your biofield". Friends who wear a Q-Link report that they feel healthier and more energetic. What a stupid, gullible, idiotic woman!! See why here.

The homeopathic medicine company, New Vistas, and the Australian flower essence company, Bush Flower Remedies, both make drops that claim to reduce the amount of radiation stored in the body. Throughout, this witless woman missuses the term "radiation". Nuclear radiation accumulates in the body, and then you die. Electro-magnetic radiation, from electrical equipment and wires, does NOT!

Also, for the past two months I've been using an electro-magnetic field protection unit plugged into a wall at home. The device was created by engineer and homeopath Gary Johnson. Disturbed with the increasing number of patients coming to him with skin problems, exhaustion, blurred vision, and symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome, he suspected that they might be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR). There really is no limit to her gullibility, is there?

"The heart of the unit is a programmed microprocessor unit that produces a holograph field that is amplified through an internal aerial system. This protection field protects the human system from the negative effects of EMR," says Johnson. He says he has had great success in alleviating patients' symptoms, and claims the unit offers unlimited protection from any negative electromagnetic emissions in a 700-square metre radius. Complete, utter crap. Useless gadgets for the technologically paranoid. And, of course, there's no such thing as a "700-square metre radius". A radius is a straight-line measurement of the distance from the centre to the edge of a circle or globe (i.e., half the diameter).

Professor Leif Salford, of Sweden's Lund University, has been researching the effects of phone masts for 15 years. He says that exposure to radiation emitted by mobile phones and masts can destroy cells in the parts of the brain responsible for memory, movement and learning, and calls mankind's dependence on mobile phones "the world's largest biological experiment ever".
As yet, no one knows what price we will pay for our dependence on modern technology. That last line is true enough, as far as it goes, but there's no evidence that there will be any price to pay, and no evidence to support his claim that mobes and masts destroy brain cells. God, I hate these fakes, and their alarmist quackery. The human body did not evolve to consume double espressos, or skinny lattes, but no-one (yet - there's bound to be a nutter out there somewhere), has suggested that drinking them may, 100 years down the line, bring about the end of mankind. The claims made for the non-existent electrosmog have about as much validity.

See this page for further coverage of the above article. Ben Goldacre makes some of the points I've made above (he could hardly not), but expands on the subject at length. Ben also says "Symptoms are real, they are subjective (i.e., not detectable by anyone else), some people experience them very severely, and this is real distress that deserves our compassion." As ME sufferers, we should agree wholeheartedly - hypochondria is a genuine illness, it's just not physical - but I find it extremely hard to feel compassion for anyone who can write such utter drivel.

Look, you don't have to believe me. Believe Ben, though - he's way more qualified than me - or you can do your own research. Do not, though, do that research on alternative-therapy websites, as these people have a vested interest in boosting public paranoia - they will NOT tell you the truth. They WILL sell you useless, ludicrously expensive, gadgets, and quack nostrums, though. If these people truly believe in what they sell, then there really are more lunatics loose than locked up, and if they don't believe, they are the worst sort of scumbag.

Finally, as hospitals are so immensely high-tech these days, and full of equipment that Ms. Stephenson would no doubt consider a dreadful hazard to health, I have to wonder how these places continue to function without staff and patients collapsing in twitching heaps. That they don't surely gives the lie to this alarmist, paranoid, electrosmog twaddle.