OT: is stray voltage making us sick?

December 10, 2006

this article was in our local newspaper about school near here. in my

opinion, there are multiple factors at play in our illnesses, and this may

be a contributing factor.

kendra

-----Original Message-----

http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2006/12/10/news/00lead.txt

Activists are convinced that electrical pollution is making us sick

By TERRY RINDFLEISCH / La Crosse Tribune

MINDORO, Wis. Olstad is convinced her school once harbored an

unseen menace that made her so ill she was diagnosed with multiple

sclerosis. Dirty electricity.

The Mindoro Elementary School principal and teacher said she was sick for

three years while doctors struggled to pinpoint the cause.

When I was diagnosed with MS, I thought at least I had an explanation for

my symptoms, Olstad said.

By fall 2002, she thought she wouldnt be able to teach anymore. I was

hanging on for my dear life, and I was so desperate, she said.

Then Bob Hardie, Melrose-Mindoro School Board president, called in Dave

Stetzer of Stetzer Electric in Blair, Wis.

Stetzer, known for testing farms for stray voltage, had been taking home

readings as well for dirty electricity. Also referred to as electrical

pollution, it is caused when currents of a higher frequency than what the

wires can carry create electric fields Stetzer contends can harm humans.

Dirty electricity can be produced by fluorescent lights, computers and other

electronics, Stetzer said.

He found it in wires at the elementary school, leading the school board in

Nov-ember 2002 to approve installing 100 of his high-frequency filters.

Staff were not told about the filters. But when they were in place, Olstad

said, her health immediately improved. Within a few months, her MS symptoms

went away.

After the filters were put in, I was back in the world living, she said.

I havent seen a doctor in four years for any medical problems.

Despite a growing number of similar stories, not everyone is as convinced as

Olstad that dirty electricity exists.

The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and Xcel Energy maintain no

credible scientific evidence has been raised that suggests the electrical

system in Wisconsin is unsafe or causes any health problems in humans.

But the PSC does recognize stray voltage small amounts of electricity that

leak from power lines or farm wiring, sometimes affecting livestock.

The debate

Dirty electricity has been a homegrown kind of movement, said Mark Cook,

PSC senior manager. The science community has not put its arms around this

either, and its hard to draft rules or guidelines, or to fix something,

when we dont know what were dealing with.

Cook said the PSC receives about a half-dozen dirty electricity complaints a

year. Most problems have an electrical solution, he said. We try to stick

to the fundamentals of electricity, and usually there is an answer to the

question of too much current, Cook said.

The PSC has one of the most comprehensive programs in the country for stray

voltage,

he said, one that has helped reduce dairy livestock exposure by 75 percent.

While he contends the problem hasnt been defined, others were willing to

explain what they considered to be dirty electricity.

Magda Havas, professor of environmental and resources studies at Trent

University in Ontario, Canada, said dirty electricity is an electrical

signal that deviates from a normal 60 hertz (cycles per second) sine wave.

Dirty electricity is a ubiquitous pollutant that has been known to damage

sensitive electronic equipment, Havas said. Its effects on human health

are just emerging.

Stetzer said dirty electricity refers to higher frequency electric currents

than the power line frequencies, forming electrical fields that can cause

currents to flow in humans.

For some people with a hypersensitivity to electricity, its like being in

a microwave on low power, Stetzer said.

Modern technology, such as computers and other electronics, tends to produce

these higher frequencies that are not filtered out.

Were basically using 21st-century technology on 19th-century distribution

lines, he said.

The 1972 oil embargo forced the U.S. to become more energy efficient, he

said. Equipment is now being designed to operate using short pulses of

current instead of continuous current.

Most electrical loads were linear, operating on normal utility-supplied 60

hertz sine waves, but then with modern technology we had nonlinear loads,

Stetzer said. The neutral wire is now overloaded with modern technology.

The groundswell

The only thing that had changed at Mindoro Elementary School in the past 10

to 15 years was the amount of technology and electronics, said

Melrose-Mindoro Superintendent Ron .

So the district bought into Stetzers dirty electricity argument to the tune

of $17,000.

What happened next amazed Char Sbraggia, the districts nurse for more than

15 years.

Many of the schools 37 asthmatic students no longer needed nebulizer

treatments to improve breathing. No asthmatics needed emergency treatment,

she said, and all felt better and had more energy.

Students diagnosed with migraines had less trouble and teachers who

complained of fatigue felt better, Sbraggia said. Absences and illnesses

dropped.

The big difference was in , Sbraggia said. She was one sick woman

who suddenly was back to her healthy self.

The district put filters in all three of its buildings.

The results were immediate, said. People felt less fatigued and

quit getting headaches.

said many people are skeptical when he talks about dirty electricity

and filters.

This worked for us, said. Im not a scientist or a doctor, but I

tend to believe there is something to it. It hasnt hurt putting the filters

in. If we had not done this, wed still be looking for a solution, and I

would have lost some good teachers.

The districts experience has been chronicled in newspapers and magazines.

And Sbraggia and others at Mindoros school have since placed filters in

their homes.

Dawn Rand, a teachers aide, said she and her husband, Greg, got out of the

dairy business because of poor milk prices and stray voltage. She and a

daughter had migraines. Another daughter developed insulin-dependent

diabetes.

We didnt have a lot of health improvements until we put filters in our

home, Rand said. I was so happy when they put filters in at school.

Her 20-year-old daughter, , installed the filters at college and

reported fewer headaches and better control over blood sugar levels, Rand

said.

You can be skeptical, or dont think there is such a thing as electrical

pollution, but we have experienced the difference, Rand said. There is

something to this, and we should get to the bottom of this.

Olstad, who also has filters in her home, sells filters in a side business,

2Care. She said she wants to help others who are sensitive to electricity.

I know these filters gave me back my life, and people deserve to know about

this, Olstad said.

Still, Olstad has to be careful where she goes such as church or the grocery

store buildings that are not filtered.

But my life has still changed, she said. I have to be very conscious of

my environment all the time.

The solution

While the problem could be fixed one house at a time, Stetzer said, an

overall solution would be better.

He said utility companies can create a five-wire distribution system with

two neutral wires to help resolve the problem.

But you cant blame the utilities for everything, Stetzer said. The

solution to this problem requires a cooperative effort.

Consumers also need to reduce the amount of frequency they are putting on

electrical wires, he said. Electronic manufacturers could install filters in

equipment, as some other countries have insisted, Stetzer said.

Politics is at the heart of this, when we have an engineering solution to

an engineering problem, and people should not have to be hurt, Stetzer

said. Not much of this stuff is my opinion.

Engineers from Xcel declined to be interviewed for this story, but the

company sent a statement by e-mail:

Wisconsin utilities, including Xcel Energy, and the regulatory agencies

that oversee the electrical system in the state, closely follow any research

regarding the adequacy of the system and its potential impacts on human

health.

To date, there is no credible scientific evidence that suggests the

electrical system used in Wisconsin is unsafe. Xcel Energys engineers

continue to monitor this issue. If there is evidence and a scientific

consensus that some yet unknown aspect of the delivery or use of electrical

energy is harmful, reasonable and responsible action will be taken.

Xcel officials also referred to a brochure, Electricity and You, by the

PSC and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer

Protection. It states that congressional committees have determined exposure

to electrical and magnetic fields is not a health hazard, and the American

Physical Society has found no link between cancer and 60 hertz electrical

and magnetic fields.

La Crosse physicians contacted about dirty electricity declined to be

interviewed.

Stetzer said he has studies showing links between dirty electricity and

health problems.

He said the World Health Organization has recognized the effects of dirty

electricity, or what it calls electronic fog. The WHO has been looking at

electrical sensitivity as part of a larger investigation into the health

effects of electromagnetic fields, from power lines to cell phones, Stetzer

said.

The WHO states exposure to electromagnetic fields represents one of the

most common and fastest-growing environmental influences, about which there

is anxiety and speculation spreading.

Sweden recognizes electrical sensitivity as a physical impairment, Stetzer

said. In 2005, Great Britains Health Protection Agency acknowledged people

can have nausea, headaches and muscle pains when exposed to electromagnetic

fields from mobile phones and computers.

Legislation to require utilities clean up electrical pollution twice was

introduced by state Rep. Barb Gronemus, D-Whitehall, but failed in committee

both times.

Gronemus said she might again propose the legislation.

Electrical pollution is still a problem, theres no doubt in my mind,

Gronemus said. The sooner the utilities fix the problem, the better off

well be.

For more information about electrical pollution, click here.

December 11, 2006

Thanks for sharing this fascinating article Kendra. I didn't get to read the

whole thing but what I did read makes a lot of sense to me since I recently

became aware of my own EMF sensitivity after buying a radiant ceramic

heater. I became so nauseous and brain foggy around it. And developed

lethargy, apathy and severe depression even while I had the heater off but

was using it at night. When I stopped using the heater, all the symptoms

went away. I had become reactive to my computer and phone and tv and

refrigerator as well, but once I got rid of the heater, all those symptoms

reduced so I am not aware of them physically. But I know the problem is

there and I have taken some steps to reduce my exposures. I contacted an EMF

specialist who said that radiant heat is particularly bad for those with

EMF. Who knew!?

Once you become aware of how EMFs can affect your body, it really makes you

think about how our world is wrapped in wires. Between the chemicals and the

wires, we don't stand a chance, do we?! No wonder I felt my best while

traveling in third world countries where perfume and electricity were much

less common!! I've always been a night owl but when I was on some remote

islands in Laos and Cambodia, the electricity went off at nightfall. I was

going to sleep at 8pm no problem and waking up with the sun. I can't do that

here!! Interesting to think about...

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December 11, 2006

, Kendra and all,

I have EMF sensitivity as well. It is interesting about radiant heat as I have 2

super effecient heaters of this type. I may relunctanty give these up I

agree that EMF's are extremely hard on those who's immune system are down and

more-so for those of us who have lyme. One of the heaters in our main living

room is an infrared Sun-Twin. It may just me but whenever I try to read with it

on my eyes go blurry and have to re-read practically every paragraph twice from

just not comprehending. Does anyone have information on these type of heaters?

My son and dughter also have these in their houses as well. My son has one in

his bedroom and the poor kid simply cannot sleep and is only 23. My daughter has

one too and struggles with health problems as well. It would be interesting to

find out how much EMF's these type of heaters actually output.

It does seem like we are fighting an uphill battle with the chemicals and EMF's

etc. but I think the healthier we become the less stress these will have on our

health. I have a business that has 8 computers hooked to digital engravers and

all wireless internet. I can only assume that I am being bombarded with major

EMF's for 50+ hours a week. Would love to sell it as I know it is affecting my

whole family but of course they all think I am nuts so will just have to grin

and bear it until my health can deal with the overload, or am I only wishfully

thinking?. Any comments welcome.

Thanks for all the enlightening conversations here.

Sam in MO

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