Center for Forskning og Uddannelse i Almen Medicin Vicinity to wireless radiation sources and the prevalence of various health problems Siersma V, Nicolaisdottir DR, Vivian LMH, Johansson O Center for Forskning og Uddannelse i Almen Medicin

Electromagnetic radiation Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) Both electric and magnetic energy Pulsatile/phasic Radiates from a source1 Examples: cell phone masts, data centres, Wi-Fi access points, cell phones 1Which sets it apart from a more general electromagnetic field (EMF)

Effects of EMR exposure Exposure duration Short-term Long-term Thermal effect (relatively well-regulated) High Exposure level Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) (35% moderate, 3% severe)1 Possible adverse health effects in general population Low 1Austrian Medical Association consensus paper 2012

Non-thermal EMR effects Electrohypersensitivity (EHS) Disability condition1 Associated with a range of minor to more chronic symptoms, e.g.: Tinnitus Anxiety Skin rashes Sleep disturbances Cancers Cardiac events 1Only the Swedish authorities have acted on this with specific regulations regarding EHS

Electrosmog The unanticipated and unregulated global expansion of the cell phone industry in the last two decades has saturated the atmosphere in industrialised cities, and increasingly also across rural and natural landscapes, with EMR Industry applying EMR has been known to hamper research into EMR harms

Survey An on-line questionnaire asking about EMF exposure sources and subjective symptoms was posted to the contact lists of the original research team and on the website of the Electromagnetic Radiation Research Foundation in South Africa (EMRRFSA) where it remains 60 usable responses (from all over the world) probably with an artificialy high prevalence of symptoms

Analysis Five EMR sources: Cell phone Wi-Fi Occupational exposure Energy-saving lightbulbs Cell phone towers Association with seventeen health problems, e.g.: Sleep Cognitive problems Eye problems Logistic regression models, adjusted for sex, age, urbanicity and smoking status

Logistic regression analysis Measure of association: odds ratio (OR) Similar to relative risk if the prevalence of the outcome is low Independent of the outcome prevalence, so the present results may be extrapolated to a population that does not have an artificially high prevalence of symptoms

Results

Results Most problematic: cell phone masts Protective (!): Wi-Fi Possible attribution bias; one is more inclined to know about nearby cell phone masts if one has problems that you suspect are related to these masts Protective (!): Wi-Fi EHS sufferers tend to use cable-based internet solutions Results on cell phone type may also be influenced by similar bias

Conclusion Even in a relatively small sample, associations between EMR exposures and a broad palette of symptoms could be detected Several assessments of EMR exposure (Wi-Fi, cell phone) may be unlucky as the exposure may be influenced by the presence of symptoms; these assessments have to be rethought