The Risks Of Electromagnetic Fields
from the we're-all-gonna-die dept
Here’s an optimistic article for you today. SF Gate is running an article detailing the likely dangers of electromagnetic fields, and pointing out that you’ve probably been frying important parts of your body every day. Meanwhile, of course, the power companies continue to insist (a la the tobacco companies) that there’s simply no evidence whatsoever that EMFs are even remotely harmful to anyone.
Comments on “The Risks Of Electromagnetic Fields”
Counter-argument
Looks like once again, ignorant politicians were fooled into supporting fraudulent researchers.
There is a good counter-argument available at
http://www.quackwatch.org/cgi-bin/mfs/24/home/sbinfo/public_html/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/emf.html?4#mfs
“In experiments on animals, mice have lived for several generations in 60 Hz magnetic fields as high as 10,000 milliGauss, thousands of times higher typical power line fields, without any adverse effects.
…
During the last few decades, the use of electric power and electric appliances has increased the 60 Hz powerline magnetic fields to which we Americans are exposed by roughly a factor of twenty. If power line fields were a significant cause of leukemia, there should have been a dramatic rise in leukemia. Leukemia rates, however, have slowly decreased. “
Re: Counter-argument
Total agreement: there’s more quackery and fear-mongering going on here than ever before. The danger of EMF – living under power lines, etc. – is urban myth. Check out the American Physics Society – http://www.aps.org, sign-up to Bob Park’s weekly What’s New?, he often tackles the misinformation about this field.
Fact: there’s no definitive mechanism for how exposure to EMF can effect any chemical change in the body – hence, no possible way for EMF fields to cause you damage!
That article was another example of reporters picking up a “hot” press release without fully exploring the results, or touching on that fact that’s one study where many others have found nothing.
Also: not one single case regarding EMF causing cancer has ever been successfully prosecuted.
Re: Re: Counter-argument
If someone wants to live in fear, then there are some genuine problems that may be caused by our modern suburban lifestyle.
The “hygiene hypothesis” of immunology states that the dramatic rise in allergies, asthma, or other autoimmune disorders over the past half century is due to the excessive hygiene in our lives. The immune system is not properly stimulated by the “normal” enemies of bacteria or parasites, therefore it keeps itself busy by attacking inappropriate stimuli such as pollen or the body’s own organs.
Another disease that is undergoing dramatic increases is autism; both Britain and California have reported a tripling of cases in the past decade. It could be that our computerized lifestyle that favors logical thinking, less socializing, or less physical activity is triggering autism in people who would otherwise not have developed it.
Here’s an article about California’s case:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/4311559.htm
No Subject Given
Check out http://www.renyuan.com/battery-renqingfu/clothing2.htm for a electromagnetic-shield brassiere (!) and http://www.spiritofnature.org/bioelectricshield.htm for a pendant (!!) that not only shields you from bad EM but helped someone who said “I previously experienced incredible fatigue after going to a mall or flying in an airplane.” Who would have guessed?
Here's a greater danger...
Stress.
Worrying about everything around you and its ability to kill you WILL shorten your life (unless you’re Hollywood. Then you sue everything and live forever.) What good is a long life if you have to life if you have to live in fear? I don’t care where you life or what you eat. YOU WILL DIE! Take a deep breath (of chemically saturated air) and try to enjoy yourself (as the free radicals rampage your already weakened body.)