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03-Mar-07, 11:05
Many of us have filled our homes with hi-tech gadgets such as plasma-screen televisions, wi-fi and mobile phones.But could these gizmos be damaging our health? There is growing evidence that household appliances are contributing to a debilitating condition called electrosensitivity.
Troy Knight says it started with a cluster of large, painful red swellings on the side of his temple. Later, he would get the feeling that his skin was burning, like sunburn, even when he hadn’t been outside. His face would itch and tingle, and his skin would break out in blisters. It was alarming, but at first there seemed no obvious cause. And then he noticed something odd: every time he stopped using his computer for a day or two, the symptoms started to clear up.
Not that anyone believed him. His doctor “thought I was fairly crazyâ€, he says. Other people told him in no uncertain terms that computer screens couldn’t make you ill. “Thankfully,†he continues, “a Swedish organisation had some very good information available on their website and I was able to 'self-diagnose'.â€
And what he self-diagnosed was electrosensitivity (ES), a controversial condition that points the finger at electrical gadgets and household appliances for a range of debilitating symptoms. If electrosensitivity is real, and many people believe it is, our love affair with electricity could be making many of us sick.
From hairdryers to televisions
“Electrosensitivity is a term used to describe a sensitivity to any form of electrical equipment, including mobile phones, computer monitors, wi-fi and so on,†says Knight, who now runs the website www.electrosensitivity.org (http://www.electrosensitivity.org/)
“Common symptoms are burning and itching skin, migraines, heart palpitations, fainting and fatigue, although they vary greatly from person to person.â€
Graham Philips, of Powerwatch, a public information organisation that focuses on the health effects of electromagnetic fields, says that anything from hairdryers to televisions can cause ES symptoms, which can also include, “nausea, dizziness, lack of concentration, sleep problems, irritability, short term memory loss and difficulty in balance.†In the most severe cases, he goes on, “hypertension and other related problems have been reported, though these are very rare.â€
But the extent of the problem is impossible to gauge, for one simple reason. In the UK, electrosensitivity is not officially recognised as an illness.
“It doesn’t officially exist in this country, meaning no-one gets diagnosed with it,†says Philips. “However, in Sweden, where it is accepted as a form of disability, there are over a quarter of a million people registered as electrosensitive, and a number of available household instruments specially designed to give off low electromagnetic fields. The figure in Sweden is rising steadily.â€
Hard to avoid
The idea that electromagnetic fields might make us ill is not a new one. It’s behind recent fears over mobile phone masts, and longer term worries about the health effects of living under power lines. But the experiences of Troy Knight and thousands like him brings the debate into our homes, and focuses it on the sort of everyday electrical appliances most of us take for granted.
That doesn’t mean we should all start blaming dizzy spells and lethargy on the toaster, however. Philips defines ES as sensitivity to electromagnetic fields “the majority of the public seem to have little or no reaction to.†But for the minority who might be predisposed to ES, the causes of their discomfort are becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.
The latest source of concern is wi-fi, the invisible â€کhotspots’ that let computers connect wirelessly to the internet. Wi-fi zones are cropping up everywhere, from homes, cafes and stations to entire streets or districts. You might work in a wi-fi zone, or walk through one every day, and have no idea it exists.
“Wi-fi hotspots are very similar to the exposure you would expect from phone masts, and have also been attributed to electrosensitive responses,†says Philips. “A couple of well-publicised stories have given accounts of teachers being effectively forced from their jobs after wireless networking systems were installed in their classrooms.â€
The author Kate Figes claims to suffer from electrosensitivity brought on by wi-fi zones. She says that after she installed wi-fi in her house, walking through the front door was like “walking into a cloud of poison,†and “being prodded all over your body by 1,000 fingers.†When she got rid of her wi-fi, she felt better.
Not recognised
All of which begs a question: why is ES not recognised in the UK? Well, even sufferers admit that while anecdotal evidence exists in abundance, the hard science is sketchy. As far as wi-fi is concerned, Chris Guy, head of The University of Reading's School of Systems Engineering, has said: “The fields that are induced by wi-fi transmissions are well below those that could cause problems to humans."
Some experts believe that the symptoms ES sufferers display are real, but not necessarily attributable to household appliances or electromagnetic fields. A major report in 2004, for example, concluded that ES is a real condition with real symptoms, but with, as yet, unknown cause. Others argue that the symptoms of ES tend to be vague, and could be caused by a number of other factors.
What everyone agrees on is the need for more research. And just because there isn’t a scientific consensus on ES now, doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future. In the meantime, a growing band of ES sufferers remain convinced that computers, phones and TVs are making them ill. As Troy Knight says: “every disease was once a new disease, and the same scepticism has surrounded chronic fatigue, asbestosis, smoking and gulf-war syndrome in the past.â€
Troy Knight says it started with a cluster of large, painful red swellings on the side of his temple. Later, he would get the feeling that his skin was burning, like sunburn, even when he hadn’t been outside. His face would itch and tingle, and his skin would break out in blisters. It was alarming, but at first there seemed no obvious cause. And then he noticed something odd: every time he stopped using his computer for a day or two, the symptoms started to clear up.
Not that anyone believed him. His doctor “thought I was fairly crazyâ€, he says. Other people told him in no uncertain terms that computer screens couldn’t make you ill. “Thankfully,†he continues, “a Swedish organisation had some very good information available on their website and I was able to 'self-diagnose'.â€
And what he self-diagnosed was electrosensitivity (ES), a controversial condition that points the finger at electrical gadgets and household appliances for a range of debilitating symptoms. If electrosensitivity is real, and many people believe it is, our love affair with electricity could be making many of us sick.
From hairdryers to televisions
“Electrosensitivity is a term used to describe a sensitivity to any form of electrical equipment, including mobile phones, computer monitors, wi-fi and so on,†says Knight, who now runs the website www.electrosensitivity.org (http://www.electrosensitivity.org/)
“Common symptoms are burning and itching skin, migraines, heart palpitations, fainting and fatigue, although they vary greatly from person to person.â€
Graham Philips, of Powerwatch, a public information organisation that focuses on the health effects of electromagnetic fields, says that anything from hairdryers to televisions can cause ES symptoms, which can also include, “nausea, dizziness, lack of concentration, sleep problems, irritability, short term memory loss and difficulty in balance.†In the most severe cases, he goes on, “hypertension and other related problems have been reported, though these are very rare.â€
But the extent of the problem is impossible to gauge, for one simple reason. In the UK, electrosensitivity is not officially recognised as an illness.
“It doesn’t officially exist in this country, meaning no-one gets diagnosed with it,†says Philips. “However, in Sweden, where it is accepted as a form of disability, there are over a quarter of a million people registered as electrosensitive, and a number of available household instruments specially designed to give off low electromagnetic fields. The figure in Sweden is rising steadily.â€
Hard to avoid
The idea that electromagnetic fields might make us ill is not a new one. It’s behind recent fears over mobile phone masts, and longer term worries about the health effects of living under power lines. But the experiences of Troy Knight and thousands like him brings the debate into our homes, and focuses it on the sort of everyday electrical appliances most of us take for granted.
That doesn’t mean we should all start blaming dizzy spells and lethargy on the toaster, however. Philips defines ES as sensitivity to electromagnetic fields “the majority of the public seem to have little or no reaction to.†But for the minority who might be predisposed to ES, the causes of their discomfort are becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.
The latest source of concern is wi-fi, the invisible â€کhotspots’ that let computers connect wirelessly to the internet. Wi-fi zones are cropping up everywhere, from homes, cafes and stations to entire streets or districts. You might work in a wi-fi zone, or walk through one every day, and have no idea it exists.
“Wi-fi hotspots are very similar to the exposure you would expect from phone masts, and have also been attributed to electrosensitive responses,†says Philips. “A couple of well-publicised stories have given accounts of teachers being effectively forced from their jobs after wireless networking systems were installed in their classrooms.â€
The author Kate Figes claims to suffer from electrosensitivity brought on by wi-fi zones. She says that after she installed wi-fi in her house, walking through the front door was like “walking into a cloud of poison,†and “being prodded all over your body by 1,000 fingers.†When she got rid of her wi-fi, she felt better.
Not recognised
All of which begs a question: why is ES not recognised in the UK? Well, even sufferers admit that while anecdotal evidence exists in abundance, the hard science is sketchy. As far as wi-fi is concerned, Chris Guy, head of The University of Reading's School of Systems Engineering, has said: “The fields that are induced by wi-fi transmissions are well below those that could cause problems to humans."
Some experts believe that the symptoms ES sufferers display are real, but not necessarily attributable to household appliances or electromagnetic fields. A major report in 2004, for example, concluded that ES is a real condition with real symptoms, but with, as yet, unknown cause. Others argue that the symptoms of ES tend to be vague, and could be caused by a number of other factors.
What everyone agrees on is the need for more research. And just because there isn’t a scientific consensus on ES now, doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future. In the meantime, a growing band of ES sufferers remain convinced that computers, phones and TVs are making them ill. As Troy Knight says: “every disease was once a new disease, and the same scepticism has surrounded chronic fatigue, asbestosis, smoking and gulf-war syndrome in the past.â€