Health complaints due to EHS
The sun, the cell tower, the telephone, the microwave and the Wi-Fi router; all of them emit electromagnetic radiation. Phone and Wi-Fi use, in particular, has increased dramatically over the past twenty years. Is all that radiation actually still safe?
People with electrohypersensitivity (EHS) think not. They attribute all kinds of health problems to electromagnetic radiation: ringing in the ears, headaches, dizziness and depression, for example. The only way to get rid of these complaints is to start a radiation-free existence, far away from telephones, WiFi, microwaves and high-voltage pylons.
Ionizing and Non-ionizing
It has been known for years that X-rays and UV light, both also forms of electromagnetic radiation, can be harmful to the human body. These forms of radiation are called ionizing; they contain so much energy that they can bring about changes at the molecular level. In too high a dose they can make you sick and cause cancer, for example.
Nevertheless, there is always a small amount of ‘background radiation’ around us, which the body can handle very well. Expert use in lower doses can also be very helpful; think of radiation, precisely to fight cancer, and X-rays to, for example, demonstrate bone fractures.
Phones, Wi-Fi routers, microwave ovens and utility poles all emit non-ionizing radiation in the form of microwaves and radio waves. They contain too little energy to cause direct damage like ionizing radiation can.
Non-ionizing, but harmful?
Is non-ionizing radiation completely harmless to the body? Many scientists have puzzled over this question. Unfortunately, this has so far resulted in mostly conflicting messages.
For example, a number of scientific studies have been published that found a link between regular use of a mobile phone and getting brain tumors. The difficulty with this type of research is that finding a connection does not mean that there is also a causal relationship. There may be many other (invisible) factors that explain why people who regularly use mobile phones are also more likely to develop brain tumors. In addition, there are also studies that have not found such a connection, and the number of people who develop brain tumors has not increased, despite the rise of the mobile phone and Wi-Fi. So to date, researchers have not been able to provide a definitive answer as to whether such a link exists or not.
Even with laboratory research, scientists have not yet found conclusive evidence whether mobile phones or other sources of non-ionizing radiation would be harmful to humans. The only effect of microwaves and radio radiation that has been proven so far is that they can heat tissues. It is exactly this property that microwaves use to heat up food. Their radiation power for this is as much as 100,000 to millions of times higher than that of mobile phones and WiFi routers. A mobile phone is therefore a bad heater: during a call, your main temperature does not even rise by one degree. Despite the high radiation power, the microwave itself is also safe: the protective door ensures that almost all radiation stays inside.
Studies of other biological effects, such as whether non-ionizing radiation can damage DNA or alter proteins, have also yielded few worrisome results. If scientists did observe an effect, this often required a much higher radiation dose than the law currently allows. Moreover, our daily exposure is many times lower than that legal limit, which makes the chance of health effects very minimal.
What about EHS then?
EHS has been researched since the 1990s. For example, there are several studies in which researchers tried to find out whether people with EHS could ‘feel’ electromagnetic radiation or not. For example, participants were given a bag with a mobile phone in it and had to indicate whether the phone was on or not without looking in the bag. As it turned out: in about half of the times they got this right, and only a few people gave the correct answer every time. Coincidences, the researchers conclude; you would also get such results if the people had tossed a coin each time. Individuals without EHS symptoms achieved similar results. Whether EHS’ers really get sick from radiation is doubtful.
However, these people have serious health problems and are sometimes unable to lead a normal life. Scientists also saw that people with EHS were more likely than non-EHSers to report feeling radiation, even when they didn’t. This could mean that just thinking about the radiation is enough to make EHS’ers feel sick. However, it also suggests that the symptoms could disappear when the possible radiation source is no longer nearby.
Therapy
Because there is no clear explanation for the EHS complaints, there is also no standard treatment. Patients could benefit from limiting exposure to radiation sources or from learning to deal with the complaints through psychological help. More information about radiation sources and EHS can be found at www.kennisplatform.nl.
