Electrical pollution is not something you can see, smell, taste, or touch.
Electrical pollution, otherwise known as dirty electricity is a term used to describe a type of electrical phenomenon occurring worldwide. However, the phenomenon is not widely known, and can be complex to understand. Research and case studies have shown that consumers should learn about electrical pollution, how it is controlled and measured, the health effects, and public protection against electrical pollution.
Electrical pollution is not something you can see, smell, taste, or touch. It is not something you can sense, making it difficult for one to be aware of the presence of electrical pollution. With this in mind, it is important to understand what causes electrical pollution and what to look for in your everyday environment.
The Exploding Problem of Dirty Electricity
The sheer volume of modern electronics and appliances in homes and other settings has increased at a dizzying rate. While, this proliferation of electrical devices has made our lives more efficient and convenient, it has also contributed to a potentially harmful form of electro-pollution known as dirty electricity.
Dirty electricity is unusable electromagnetic energy that is created by many electrical devices as they operate. It is caused by interruptions in the flow of normal 60-Hertz AC (alternating current) power traveling through wires and electrical systems in homes and other buildings. These interruptions result in voltage spikes, or surges, as well as frequency variations (also called high frequency voltage transients) that combine to form a complex and potentially harmful electromagnetic field.
Biological Impacts
Electrical pollution has known biological effects on people in environments effected by this invisible environmental toxin.
Dirty Electricity Research
Research and case studies showing the effects and causes of electrical pollution, including possible health effects of prolonged exposure.
What to Do About It
There are many easy to implement strategies to improve your life and decrease dirty electricity in your environment.
Effects of Modern Life
In 1984, the World Health Organization reported that up to 30% of newly-built buildings may cause acute illness in individuals residing in them for long periods of time. Today it is even worse. The stresses of modern life have significantly increased in the past 2 decades, not just in job stresses, but in unhealthy environments around them at work and also at home. Think of all of the devices, screens, electronic equipment, chemical pollution and unnatural living we experience everyday.
We as humans must reduce these stressors for the sake of our health and well-being.
The World Health Organization states through their EMF project "EMF exposure now occurs to varying degrees to all populations of the world, and the levels will continue to increase with advancing technology. Thus, even a small health consequence from EMF exposure could have a major public health impact."
Over 80% of countries in the world have legislation on exposure to electromagnetic fields!
The increase in electronics, solar power systems and fluorescent lighting in schools may be putting children in harm’s way. Children are becoming increasingly exposed to these devices both at home and in the school and their smaller size and developing immune systems potentially make them more vulnerable than adults.
It may surprise you to hear that the biggest health threat to the US may be electropollution. The explosion of iPhones, Blackberries, WiFi, WiMax, video game consoles and even remote-control toys has fundamentally changed our lives and our electrical environment. You can’t see it, you can’t taste it, you can’t touch it; but the air all around us is increasingly filled with electromagnetic radiation (EMR) that is penetrating our bodies and potentially disrupting our body chemistry – perhaps forever.
Dirty Electrictity Research
A dramatic rise in chronic disease, medical conditions and stress symptoms have arisen in the US. Between 1990-2015 Americans experienced a surge of more than 400 million cases of just 36 fast growing germ-less chronic conditions. Environmental factors such as chemicals, pesticides, heavy metals and electromagnetic radiation (EMR) are suspected. One growing form of EMR, dirty electricity, is discussed here and causally linked to many of the exploding health and stress symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune condition influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Dirty electricity generated by electronic equipment is one of the environmental factors that may directly or indirectly impact MS susceptibility.
The field of electromagnetic sensitivity is the new epidemic of the 21st century, and can cause disease of the automatic nerve system in any part of the body. This is as a result of chemical sensitivity, in which over 80,000 chemicals are involved, resulting in innumerable combinations.
Complaints on sensitivity to electromagnetic field levels far below the established exposure limits are unremitting. Although the symptoms are real, a clear causal link to EM-fields has not been established. Our coincidental observation of cows being startled by low amplitude high frequency transient electric fields generated by a new photo-voltaic installation may change this situation.
The epidemiology of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) has a number of facets that do not fit with sunlight and ultraviolet light as the primary etiologic agents. Indoor workers have higher incidence and mortality rates of CMM than outdoor workers; CMM occurs in body locations never exposed to sunlight; CMM incidence is increasing in spite of use of UV blocking agents and small changes in solar radiation.
Due to the constant exposure to the electromagnetic radiations, the issues related to the radiations affecting the human health are increasing. With the continuous improvement in the modern science and technology we have seen a huge escalation in the growth of radiation generating equipments.
Electromagnetic fields (EMF) permeate the built environment in different forms and come from a number of sources including electrical wiring and devices, wireless communication, ‘energy-efficient’ lighting, and appliances. It can be present in the indoor environment directly from indoor sources, or can be transmitted through building materials from outside sources.
Letter to the Editor
The direct targets of extremely low and microwave frequency range electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in producing non-thermal effects have not been clearly established. However, studies in the literature, reviewed here, provide substantial support for such direct targets.
The epidemics of obesity and diabetes most apparent in recent years had their origins with Thomas Edison’s development of distributed electricity in New York City in 1882. His original direct current (DC) generators suffered serious commutator brush arcing which is a major source of high-frequency voltage transients (dirty electricity).
Public Utility Commissions (PUC) in several states adopted 0.5 volt rms (root mean squared) or 1.0 milliampere as the actionable limit for utilities to respond to complaints of uncontrolled voltage. This study clearly shows that the actionable level should be reduced to 10 mV p-p (peak-to-peak), which is 140 times less than the current standard. Dairy farmer complaints that animal behavior and milk production were affected by electrical shocks below adopted standards were investigated on 12 farms in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota.
Dirty electricity, also called electrical pollution, is high-frequency voltage transients riding along the 50 or 60 Hz electricity provided by the electric utilities. It is generated by arcing, by sparking and by any device that interrupts current flow, especially switching power supplies. It has been associated with cancer, diabetes and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in humans.
Mobile phones are becoming increasingly important in our everyday lives. The rising number of mobile phones reflects a similar increase in the number of base stations. Because of this rapid evolution, the establishment and planning of new base stations has become mandatory. However, the rise in the number of base stations, in terms of human health, is potentially very harmful.
Electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell phone towers is a form of environmental pollution and is a new health hazard, especially to children and patients. The present studies were taken to estimate the microwave/RF pollution by measuring radiation power densities near schools and hospitals of Chandigarh city in India.
People who live near wind turbines complain of symptoms that include some combination of the following: difficulty sleeping, fatigue, depression, irritability, aggressiveness, cognitive dysfunction, chest pain/pressure, headaches, joint pain, skin irritations, nausea, dizziness, tinnitus, and stress.
Electromagnetic fields are present everywhere in our environment but are invisible to the human eye. Exposure to electromagnetic fields from cell phones and other appliances may hurt our health.
The concept of dirty electricity has been the focus of studies with respect to its possible association with certain diseases, for example cancer and diabetes [Milham and Lloyd Morgan (2008)] [Havas (2008)].
Environmental exposure to high-frequency voltage transients (HFVT), also termed dirty electricity, has been advocated among electro(hyper)sensitive interest groups as an important biological active component of standard electromagnetic pollution.
The slow spread of residential electrification in the US in the first half of the 20th century from urban to rural areas resulted by 1940 in two large populations; urban populations, with nearly complete electrification and rural populations exposed to varying levels of electrification depending on the progress of electrification in their state.
A number of papers dealing with the effects of modern, man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on the immune system are summarized in the present review. EMFs disturb immune function through stimulation of various allergic and inflammatory responses, as well as effects on tissue repair processes. Such disturbances increase the risks for various diseases, including cancer.
Electromagnetic fields from electronic equipment are detrimental environmental factors. Recently, a new type of electromagnetic pollution referred to as “dirty electricity” was discovered to affect human health.
Transient electromagnetic fields (dirty electricity), in the kilohertz range on electrical wiring, may be contributing to elevated blood sugar levels among diabetics and pre-diabetics. By closely following plasma glucose levels in four Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics, we find that they responded directly to the amount of dirty electricity in their environment. In an electromagnetically clean environment, Type 1 diabetics require less insulin and Type 2 diabetics have lower levels of plasma glucose.
Poor power quality (dirty electricity) is ubiquitous especially in schools with fluorescent lights and computers. Previous studies have shown a relationship between power quality and student behavior/teacher health. The purpose of this study is to determine the ability of power line filters to reduce dirty electricity in a school environment and to document changes in health and behavior among teachers and students.
In 2003 the teachers at La Quinta, California middle school complained that they had more cancers than would be expected. A consultant for the school district denied that there was a problem.
he energy efficient compact fluorescent lights that are commercial available generate radio frequency radiation and ultraviolet radiation, they contain mercury-a known neurotoxin, and they are making some people ill. Instead of promoting these light bulbs governments around the world should be insisting that manufactures produces light bulbs that are electromagnetically clean and contain no toxic chemicals.
Several publications in the scientific literature have raised concern about the individual and public health impact of adverse non-ionizing radiation (a-NIR) from electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure emanating from certain power, electrical and wireless devices commonly found in the home, workplace, school and community.
Dirty electricity is a ubiquitous pollutant. It flows along wires and radiates from them and involves both extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields and radio frequency radiation. Until recently, dirty electricity has been largely ignored by the scientific community.
Deteriorating power quality is becoming increasingly common in developed countries. Poor power quality, also known as dirty electricity, refers to a combination of harmonics and transients generated primarily by electronic devices and by non-linear loads. We have assumed, until recently, that this form of energy is not biologically active.
DirtyElectricity.net is an educational initiative of the Living Electricity Institute. The Living Electricity Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to creating healthier living and work environments through the reduction and awareness of toxic environmental stressors which are detrimental to human well-being. We support people towards creating healthy and productive homes and workplaces that enliven them.
