The Dark Side of Technology
Electromagnetic fields are a type of low-level radiation generated by computer terminals, microwave ovens, and other electronic devices. The Earth itself produces some energy fields that are detrimental to human health as well, commonly referred to as geopathic stress. While the intensity of these fields is small, studies continue to show that they may be a factor in a number of chronic illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, and sleep disorders.
An electromagnetic field can be likened to an invisible energy web (shaped somewhat like the contour lines on a topographical map) produced by electricity that, in turn, creates a magnetic field. While EMFs are part of nature and in fact are radiated by the human body and its individual organs, the quality and intensity (called respectively frequency and gauss field strength) of the energy forming this contoured web can either support or destroy health. As a general rule, EMFs generated by technological devices tend to be much more harmful than naturally occurring EMFs.
Researchers once thought EMFs, especially very low frequency and extremely low frequency EMFs, were safe because they were of such low strength compared to other forms of radiation, such as those from a nuclear reactor or X rays. But now, as technology proliferates and people are using more electronic devices, some researchers suspect EMFs are contributing to a subtle assault on people's immune systems and overall health.
Electromagnetic changes in the environment can adversely affect the energy balance of the human organism and contribute to disease. We are surrounded by stress-producing electromagnetic fields generated by the electrical wiring in homes and offices, televisions, computers and video terminals, microwave ovens, overhead lights, power lines, and the hundreds of motors that can generate higher than normal gauss strengths (magnetic energy measuring unit). EMFs interact with living systems, affecting enzymes related to growth regulation, pineal gland metabolism (regulation of the sleep hormone, melatonin), and cell division and multiplication.
In 1979, Nancy Wertheimer, Ph.D., and Ed Leeper, Ph.D., epidemiologists at the University of Colorado, found that children who had been exposed to high-voltage lines in their early childhood had a two to three times higher than normal risk of developing cancer, especially leukemia.3 That was the first study to establish the direct link between EMFs and cancer. In 1987, a large-scale study conducted by the New York State Department of Health confirmed Dr. Wertheimer's findings and added that the EMFs from the high-voltage power lines also affected the neurohormones of the brain.4 Since then, various studies have linked electromagnetic fields to increased incidence of heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, high blood pressure, headaches, sexual dysfunction, and blood disorders -- the latter including a 50% increase in white blood count.5
At the same time, however, some researchers and medical professionals see promise in using very low currents of electromagnetic radiation to heal the body instead of harm it. Dr. Becker discovered that a small electrode implanted inside the body next to an unhealed bone fracture could speed healing.6 Becker also has explored the possibilities for using electrical current to heal other conditions, including cancer, but cautions that more work needs to be done to establish solid scientific evidence.7 Other medical professionals, such as physical therapists, acupuncturists, physicians, and chiropractors, use various kinds of devices, such as the TENS (transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation) unit or electro-acupuncture machine, that send a very small electromagnetic current into an injured part of the body, usually to reduce pain.
The EMFs, because they are on the weak end of the radiation scale, are categorized as non-ionizing radiation. That means the fields are not of sufficient energy to change atoms into charged particles called ions. Ionizing radiation, on the other hand, such as that generated by nuclear bombs or X rays, is strong enough to change the atoms into ions. No one who has seen the aftermath of a bomb explosion, or read reports about the health problems suffered by neighbors of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant after its 1979 accident, needs to be convinced that ionizing radiation is harmful.
As to X rays, Dr. John W Gofman, a noted physician and researcher in the field of radiation, has calculated that even relatively minor exposures increase the cancer risk.8 Gofman has estimated that one million people could be spared death from cancer if medical and dental X-ray radiation doses were lowered. But as to the potential for harm from non-ionizing radiation, such as EMFs, emitted by your toaster or hair dryer, the rules and guidelines are still being established.
Sources of EMFs
The greatest concern about EMFs is not from a one-time use of a hair dryer or an hour in front of a computer, but from cumulative exposures: hour after hour, day after day, continuous high levels of EMFs. For example, people who travel extensively in airplanes can have high exposure rates, up to 85 milligauss in the airplane cabin. The EMF exposure from hair dryers, heaters, electric shavers, and other appliances can be injurious to health over time. Food mixers, hair dryers, and vacuum cleaners emit EMFs that are 30 to 100 times greater than the suggested safe limit.10 Ordinary household appliances tend to generate larger cumulative EMF exposures than power lines. The reason is proximity: most people do not live close enough to power lines to be greatly affected by their EMFs, but the situation is different with kitchen appliances, computers, cellular phones, televisions, even electrical outlets if they're located behind the head of a bed. Although the EMFs from appliances drop off at a distance of about 16 feet, people often stand or sit closer than this to the source of EMFs -- typically 18 inches from computers, a few feet from televisions, and almost no distance from cellular phones.11
A unique type of EMF exposure is from electric blankets, which give you close-up exposure at high levels (50-100 milligauss) all night long. According to noted brain researcher Russel J. Reiter, Ph.D., electric blankets are dangerous because they expose the whole body to EMFs, they are close to the body, and they are thought to lower melatonin levels. Because electric blankets are used at night, when the pineal gland is producing its highest amount of melatonin, they have the greatest chance of disrupting melatonin production and sleep.12
Melatonin is the hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the center of the brain. Melatonin does the pineal gland's work of controlling sleeping and waking cycle and regulating the body's internal time clock, or circadian rhythm. The pineal gland adjusts its melatonin output based primarily on the body's exposure to light, although many other factors, including EMFs, can influence melatonin production.
Another concentrated source of EMFs is the fuse box where the electric power line branches off from the neighborhood utility pole to your house. That fuse box -- which connects the outside line with the inside wiring -- generates large amounts of EMFs on a continual basis. EMFs are able to penetrate through normal building walls, but they decrease in force dramatically as you move further away from the generating source. Another potential EMF source is the wiring in your home. Older wiring sometimes generates high amounts of EMFs at the electrical outlets where you plug in your appliances. Check the outlets with a gauss meter and, if necessary, either install new wiring or have a professional reconfigure the existing wiring pattern.
Outside the home, electric power lines can also be a major EMF source. Some scientists allege that exposure to electric and magnetic fields generated by electric power lines is reponsible for certain cancers, reproductive dysfunction, birth defects, neurological disorders, and Alzheimer's disease. Some activist groups believe the hazard to be so great that they are calling for closure of schools and other public facilities near power lines and restructuring of the entire electric power delivery system.13 Dr. Becker says we are constantly exposed to a background level of EMFs generated by the electric power delivery system. In urban areas, this so-called ambient field level, which is inside and outside the home, could exceed three milligauss. In the suburbs, the ambient field ranges from 1-3 milligauss. Dr. Wertheimer and others said in their studies on power lines that constant surrounding levels of three milligauss or more were significantly related to increases in the risk of childhood cancer. Dr. Becker advocates one milligauss as a safe limit for continuous exposure to 60-hertz fields (the usual kind generated by electric power systems).14
Continued on the next page:
Electromagnetic Fields and Sleep Disorders
This article is excerpted from:
The Alternative Medicine Definitive Guide: Sleep Disorders
(Clinically Proven Alternative Therapies to help you get a good night's sleep.)
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, AlternativeMedicine.com. Visit their website at www.alternativemedicine.com
For more info or to purchase this book.
About The Author
Herbert Ross, D.C., is an internationally known authority on alternative solutions to sleep disorders and founder of the Aspen Sleep Institute, in Colorado. Dr. Ross is a certified acupuncturist and a neuro-emotional (NET) therapist. He lectures extensively on sleep disorders on television and in person throughout the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Ross is personal chiropractor to motivational speaker Anthony Robbins. Keri Brenner, L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist and writer based in Fairfax, California. Keri holds a master's degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. She began her journalism career as a reporter for newspapers on both the East and West coasts, and currently provides editorial content for a self-help-oriented website in San Francisco.
