Electric blankets create a magnetic field that penetrates about 6-7 inches into the body. Thus it is not surprising that an epidemiological study has linked electric blankets with miscarriages and childhood leukemia.
This pioneering work was performed by Dr. Nancy Wertheimer and Ed Leeper, who originally discovered that magnetic fields were linked to childhood leukemia. Similar health effects have been noted with users of many electric blankets and waterbed heaters will emit EMFs even when turned off.
The devices must be unplugged to delete the EMF exposure Additionally, there is the issue regarding the vibrations that are generated by sleeping on standing water. There is less hard data in this area but some experts are concerned about the consequences.

Many people suffer discomfort after working long hours on the computer. This is in part due to the fact that computers produce an Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF radiation) which is considered to be harmful to the human body’s own electrical field. Over the past few years the popular press has increased public awareness of this concern, so nowadays there is increased interest in the effects upon health of EMF exposure. It is widely accepted that constant exposure to the kind of radiation emitted by computers leaves us feeling drained and fatigued.

Microwave ovens are a great time saver in the kitchen. In just a few minutes, we can heat up our dinner, even make a bowl of porridge for breakfast or make popcorn for a snack.
However, the controversy over the safety of microwaves has been growing for years. Some people believe that microwaved food is not quite the same as food cooked with a conventional heating source.

And that’s a concern for an HSI member named Deloris who starts off an email titled “Microwave Ovens” with a reference to an article she read by US natural medical physician, Dr. Joseph Mercola. Deloris writes: “I’ve been using one [a microwave] for over 25 years, as I imagine many folks have. If he’s [Dr. Mercola] right then its only my vitamins and supplements that have kept me alive as I’ve lost a lot of nutrition in reheated food, not to mention possibility of getting cancer. Any comments on this subject?”

There are so many it is a question of where to start. Given how common microwave usage is Dr.Mercola’s article is just one of several he and others have written about microwaves, and the information usually discussed can be generally summed up with this comment from US HSI Panellist Dr Allan Spreen:

“What studies exist are all bad news for microwaving – they universally describe some type of damage. One study showed breakdown of vitamin B-12 to inactive degradation products in microwaved foods. There’s also a problem with release of potentially toxic molecules into the food from packaging designed to help brown food during microwaving. This includes items such as pizza, French fries, waffles, popcorn and breaded fish.”

These unsettling details about microwaves generally go from bad to worse.

Argument #1: Microwaves cause a significant loss of nutrients in food.
Microwaves are thought to destroy and deform food molecules. In fact, one study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli “zapped” in the microwave with a little water lost up to 97 percent of the beneficial antioxidant chemicals it contains.

By comparison, steamed broccoli lost 11 percent or fewer of its antioxidants.

Other research has found that microwaves destroy the nutritional value of protein in meat.

Besides the loss of nutrients, microwaving forms new compounds (radiolytic compounds) that are unknown to humans and nature. It’s not yet known exactly what these compounds do in the human body.

Instead of cooking your vegetables in the microwave, why not steam them instead. It would appear that steaming is the best way to avoid losing valuable nutrients.

Argument #2: Microwaves leak.
In the book, “Health Effects of Microwave Radiation – Microwave Ovens” by Dr. Lita Lee, she states that every microwave oven leaks electromagnetic radiation, harms food, and converts substances cooked in it to dangerous toxic and carcinogenic products.

There has been contradictory research linked to EMFs (electromagnetic fields) produced by appliances like microwave ovens.
Dr. David Carpenter, Dean at the US School of Public Health, State University of New York believes it is likely that up to 30% of all childhood cancers come from exposure to EMFs. In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns “There is reason for concern” and advises prudent avoidance.

EMFs can be measured with an instrument called a Gauss meter. In fact, here is what one reader has to say when he used a Gauss meter to test microwaves: “Measuring with a Gauss meter, every microwave I tested leaked, and was detectable up to six feet away.”
So just to be on the safe side, it is best to stand back from your microwave when its running.

Alternatives to microwave ovens
Unfortunately, there has not been an abundance of research done on the subject of microwaves. But if you are concerned about using your microwave:
*Get rid of it. That way you won’t be tempted to use it.
*Try eating a lot of your food, like vegetables, raw. Ideally, at least one-third of the food in your diet should be raw, since this is the form that will give you the maximum amount of nutrients.
*If you do want to cook some food or heat up leftovers, use your oven or stove.

Radiation from mobile phones, computers and microware ovens could be damaging your health.
House hold item such as these could be causing headaches, joint pains, depression and fatigue in some users who have developed a sensitivity to electricity.
Tens of thousands of people in the UK are thought to suffer from condition, called electro sensitivity, yet it is not formally recognised by medical profession.
Some sufferers even become affected by the radiation in electromagnetic fields surrounding everyday items such as hairdryers and televisions.
However, their complaints are often dismissed by GPs as being purely psychological. Patients also claim mobile phone masts have made them ill.
Rod Read, of the charity Electrosensitivity UK, said: “It’s very difficult for people to get a diagnosis because it’s not officially recognised as an illness.”
“Doctors have no training in it whatsoever. Some are more sympathetic than others but most try to look for interpretations such as work stress. They treat individual symptoms rather than the underlying cause.”
More women than men suffer from electro sensitivity, which is often triggered by intensive mobile phone or computer use.
Over time, sufferers who often have other allergies find they become increasingly affected by electrical equipment such as televisions, fridges and cookers. Symptons include headaches, tingling of the joints and ringing in the ears.
Many people also experience extreme tiredness, memory and concentration problems and depression. Sufferers claim they are being effected by the electro-magnetic fields emitted by electrical devices.
The campaign group Powerwatch believes up to 5% of the population is severely affected by electrosensitivity. And up to a third of people could be suffering some ill effects of our hi-tech society.
If electro sensitivity is diagnosed at an early stage, sufferers can make changes to their lifestyle which could stop them developing reactions to other electrical goods. For example if they realised their mobile phone was the root of the problem, they could stop using it.
Radiation from mobile phone masts can be screened out by lining walls with a layer of aluminium foil and hanging special silver-plated curtains over windows, while a thinner form of the same material can be slung over beds.
In Sweden, where electro sensitivity is recognised, sufferers receive grants to replace electric cookers with gas stoves. In the workplaces, electrical flexes are replaced with highly-insulated cables to reduce the emission of radiation.

Research into the low-power microwaves used in calls every day discovered they can damage body cells and permanently alter DNA, leaving a potential health timebomb for millions of mobile phone users. The EU-backed study also found the risk of harm increased when phones are used in areas with poor signal because the hand-set needs higher-powered radiation to maintain contact with the network. Campaigners said the study provided further evidence of the dangers of mobiles and warned of the potential health crisis that could mirror the BSE/CJD timebomb.

Traditionally, DECT cordless phones emit high levels of EMFs. The base unit transmits all the time, whether the phone is in use or not, and the handset transmits at full power when in use, regardless of how far the handset is from the base unit. For people who are electrosensitive, or those who wish to take a precautionary approach towards EMFs, clearly this is not a good thing! If you ARE electrosensitive, then a cordless phone of any variety is unlikely to be suitable.

To view the Research visit:http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/emf/docs/emf2002.pdf

To view the Research visit: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/emf/docs/niehs-report.pdf

In a controversial analysis, scientist Alasdair Philips argues that many everyday gadgets are filling our homes with electromagnetic fields - and doing untold damage to us all:

Picture a typical British household at tea-time on a weekday evening. The children are sitting in the lounge, multi-tasking, which means they are simultaneously watching a DVD on a gigantic flat-screen TV, wrestling with a GameBoy, and frantically texting on mobile phones.

Upstairs, Dad is sitting, face screwed-up, in front of a flickering screen, sending a few business e-mails via a high-speed broadband connection. In the kitchen, Mum is bringing a pan of pasta to the boil on her spanking new ceramic hob.

It’s hard to imagine that less than 100 years ago, the man-made energy that powers such labour-saving devices, communications equipment and entertainment systems was simply not available to the ordinary person.

Sinister side

But there is a more sinister side to the relentless winking lights, hum and high-tech glamour of the machines that have become such an essential part of our 21st-century lifestyle.

For those much-loved electronic appliances see not only that we are well looked after, but also that we are surrounded by a potent sea of electromagnetic fields (EMFs), a kind of ‘electrosmog’ that swirls invisibly around and through us every day.

This does not come just from domestic appliances, but also power lines, the wiring in our home, and telephone, mast and radio signals - and I believe it is getting more aggressive, more dangerous and harder to avoid every day. In fact, our exposure to electrosmog - the fields of force associated with electric charges in motion - has risen to a point where we are now experiencing levels that are millions of times higher than those encountered by anyone living at the start of the 20th century.

Back then, people had to contend only with natural electromagnetic fields - such as the earth’s geomagnetic field, which causes compass needles to swivel north. As a result, all of us have become guinea pigs in a great electromagnetic experiment that I believe is the cause of much of our daily stress, and may also be responsible for serious health problems for you and your family.

I first began thinking about electromagnetic fields in the context of human health in the Eighties when, as an electronics engineer and scientist, I was asked to look into claims that antinuclear war protesters on Greenham Common were being zapped with pulsed microwave radiation from prototype ‘non-lethal’ weapons then under development by the US military.

By 1989 it had become clear that there were questions being asked all over the world about the safety of EMFs, and so I set up the independent lobbying organisation, Powerwatch, to look into it.

Wed discovered that some of the first warnings about EMFs were made as early as 1972, when scientists in the Soviet Union reported strange health effects in railyard workers who were exposed to high levels of electromagnetic fields. The workers experienced increased heart disease, nervous disorders, unusual changes in blood pressure, recurring headaches, fatigue, stress and chronic depression.

Now the phenomenon is much more widely recognised, particularly when it comes to mobile phone technology. There are mounting claims, for example, that people who use their mobile phone frequently or over long periods develop symptoms ranging from headaches and mild disorientation to cancers of the brain and neck. These claims have been disputed, but do we really know for sure?

And Sir William Stewart, the Government’s chief adviser on mobile phone safety, has called for a ban on erecting phone masts near schools and warned of the risks of allowing children, whose thin skulls can more easily be penetrated by radiation, to use mobile phones.

But it is not simply mobile phones of which we should be wary. One of the more alarming developments of the past few decades is the rise of microwave EMFs:

Microwaves which are very high - frequency and rarely found in nature - are used not just in microwave ovens and mobiles, but also for cordless telephones (often erroneously thought to be a safe alternative to mobiles because they are run off landlines) and video and data transmission, and I believe they are pulsed out in a way that can adversely affect your health.

Household equipment that carries a risk rated from 1 to 5 and how to reduce your exposure:

CORDLESS LANDLINE TELEPHONES
DANGERS: Cordless phones are now the standard in most households and, like mobile handsets, they emit microwave radiation - from both the base unit and the handset itself - that is alleged to cause brain tumours, breast cancer, dementia, DNA damage, concentration problems, memory loss, mood and behavioural changes and fertility problems.
SOLUTIONS: Install a landline telephone that plugs into the wall-socket and remains attached to it by a wire and try to use it for most calls. If you can’t do without a cordless phone, buy an analogue model, as their base units emit radiation only when the phone is active.
Avoid the newer digital phones (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephones, or DECTs) as their base units emit radiation 24 hours a day, whether you are using them or not.
RISK RATING: 2 to 5 (analogue cordless phone score 2, older digital handsets 3, DECT 5)

MOBILE TELEPHONES
DANGERS: Mobile phones have long been the subject of claims that they are a health hazard. While conclusive evidence has yet to be produced to prove this, I believe they are a danger when used frequently or for long periods of time. They emit radiation even when they are on standby.
SOLUTIONS: Mobiles transmit at maximum power when you switch them on and off, when connecting and disconnecting a call, and while ringing, so hold the phone away from your body while dialling out, and don’t put it to your ear until the person you are calling has answered. Use a hands-free kit with air tubes whenever possible and keep calls short.
When texting, hold the phone away from your body when sending the message. Store a phone in your handbag or briefcase, not in a pocket and not in a baby’s pushchair. Don’t keep your phone on a bedside table at night, particularly if it is charging - because the charger unit gives off high levels of EMFs.
Avoid using music players built into mobiles at all costs. The signals produce microwaves while you are listening to music.
RISK RATING: 5

COOKERS
DANGERS: The magnetic fields from a ceramic or glass-topped hob can be lower than those from a traditional electric hob, but some halogen rings can give off particularly high levels.
SOLUTIONS: I recommend that as well as avoiding halogen rings, you avoid magnetic induction hobs because, although they are very energy efficient and fast to use, they produce significant levels of EMFs. Safest of all are gas cookers, or slow cookers which use very low power.
RISK RATING: Ceramic or glass-topped hobs 1, magnetic induction hobs 5.

MICROWAVE OVENS
DANGERS: There have been claims of serious biochemical changes to the structure of proteins and amino acids in microwaved food and I believe that, for safety’s sake, it is important to avoid meals cooked in this way if possible.
SOLUTIONS: Increasingly, there are allegations that the packaging of microwave-ready foods may release harmful toxins, so if a microwave must be used, put the food onto a plate before cooking it.
Be aware that radiation leaks from the seal of the microwave oven door, so children should not be allowed to stand nearby when it is on.
RISK RATING: 5

LIGHTING
DANGERS: Fluorescent lights, energy-saving bulbs and halogen lights all carry a risk.
SOLUTIONS: Use ordinary bulbs and non-halogen spotlights, which do not cause an EMF problem. Beware of cheap and old dimmer switches because their wiring can significantly raise the levels of electromagnetic pollution.
RISK RATING: 3 to 5, with dimmer switches being the biggest danger.

COMPUTERS
DANGERS: Computers and their monitors give off fairly low levels of EMFs, but if you are still worried, look out for the 2005 DELL Inspiron range of laptops which come with a three-pin mains cable and earthed adaptor and do not emit electric fields.
The biggest risk to computer users comes from broadband systems that allow ‘wireless access’ and in doing so fill your house with pulsating microwave radiation at all times.
SOLUTIONS: All VDUs - including TVs and office computers - give off a higher level of EMFs from the back and sides, so at work, it is important to make sure you are at least 3ft away from the rear of the monitor of the colleague who sits opposite you.
RISK RATING: computers 1, wireless internet connection 5

ELECTRIC BLANKETS
DANGERS: These can create a magnetic field that penetrates throughout the body. Most also produce an electric field.
SOLUTIONS: If you are concerned about EMF exposure, do not use one at all. If you must use one, always switch it off at the wall before you get into bed.
RISK RATING: electric underblankets 1, overblankets 4

DEEP FAT FRYERS
DANGERS: These pose a high risk because a deep-fat fryer will give off high EMFs as the oil is heated. Regularly reheated oil is likely to contain carcinogenic compounds generated at the high temperatures, which will then attach themselves to the fried food.
SOLUTIONS: You should avoid deep-fat frying.
RISK RATING: 5

PLASMA SCREEN TELEVISIONS
DANGERS: TVs with a plasma screen give off high magnetic and electric fields that reach a 6ft radius around them. However, battery operated remote controls are quite safe.
SOLUTIONS: Always sit at least 6ft from the screen - and remember that EMFs travel through walls. If you have a plasma screen TV in your bedroom, it should be at least 6ft from your pillows.                                                                                                                        RISK RATING: plasma screen TVs 4

The Sunday Times 22nd April 2007

By Daniel Foggo

SEVEN clusters of cancer and other serious illnesses have been discovered around mobile phone masts, raising concerns over the technology’s potential impact on health.

Studies of the sites show high incidences of cancer, brain haemorrhages and high blood pressure within a radius of 400 yards of mobile phone masts.

One of the studies, in Warwickshire, showed a cluster of 31 cancers around a single street. A quarter of the 30 staff at a special school within sight of the 90ft high mast have developed tumours since 2000, while another quarter have suffered significant health problems.

The mast is being pulled down by the mobile phone after the presentation of the evidenceoperator O2 by local protesters. While rejecting any links to ill-health, O2 admitted the decision was “clearly rare and unusual”.

Phone masts have provoked protests throughout Britain with thousands of people objecting each week to planning applications. There are about 47,000 masts in the UK.

Dr John Walker, a scientist who compiled the cluster studies with the help of local campaigners in Devon, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and the West Midlands, said he was convinced they showed a potential link between the angle of the beam of radiation emitted from the masts’ antennae and illnesses discovered in local populations.

“Masts should be moved away from conurbations and schools and the power turned down,” he said.

Some scientists already believe such a link exists and studies in other European countries suggest a rise in cancers close to masts. In 2005 Sir William Stewart, chairman of the Health Protection Agency, said he found four such studies to be of concern but that the health risk remained unproven.