Electrical equipment and high-tech devices are everywhere, and while they may make life easier, research finds they can cause harm to your heart by emitting electromagnetic frequency (EMF) in the radio frequency range.
Many people don’t realize their cardiac symptoms could be the result of EMF. Still, research continues to find a correlation between the debilitating illnesses some people are suffering from and the mass amount of electromagnetic “smog” clogging the atmosphere today.
Dr. Nathan Goodyear, a medical doctor and integrative cancer expert, told The Epoch Times, “Electrical and magnetic fields, known as EMF, are invisible to the naked eye and are, in fact, the result of radiation. This radiation spans the electromagnetic spectrum and increases from non-ionizing to ionizing radiation.”
Ionizing radiation is known to cause damage to tissues and organs. Familiar sources of ionizing radiation include medical diagnostics like X-rays and computed tomography/CT scans. A natural source of ionizing radiation is radon gas, which can seep into the cracks of building foundations.
Exposure to ionizing radiation at high doses or for extended periods of time is known to cause many health problems.
Nonionizing radiation, a low frequency, long wavelength form of radiation not visible to the naked eye, has become very important to the day-to-day operation of the world around us. It’s found in power lines, computers, radio, TV, Wi-Fi, and cell phones.
The cumulative effects of nonionizing radiation in the environment around us aren’t clear, and additional ongoing studies are needed to determine how it can directly impact the heart.
“The problem with electromagnetic radiation and its effect on the heart is exposure and time,” said Goodyear. “Because of the lower nonionizing radiation, more time and exposure are required to accumulate impact than ionizing radiation, which can almost be immediate at higher doses.”
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently analyzed several animal and human studies that focused on EMF, considering how the body absorbs the radiation emitted and how it affects the heart. Both human and animal research studies show the heart is sensitive to EMF radiation and it can affect heart rate variability, cause cardiac arrhythmias, affect blood pressure, and even increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL), leading to atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease.
“Human studies analyzed by the EWG should be concerning because heart rate variability may be a litmus test not only for the health of the heart but the health of the human being,”Susan Foster, an EMF consultant told The Epoch Times. Foster provides outside counsel through McCollough Law Firm to Children’s Health Defense (CHD) on wireless matters.
Goodyear believes that animal studies tend to give more information since tissues can be evaluated both immediately and after death to provide more insight into the effects of EMF radiation. For example, a study of albino rats with long-term cell phone exposure showed changes in electrical activity resulting in heart arrhythmias and negative effects on blood pressure (hypertension) and heart rate.
Regarding EMF and its effect on LDL cholesterol, Goodyear states there is a correlation between EMF and the depletion of antioxidants in the blood. When there is an increase in LDL oxidation and depletion of antioxidants, there is an increase in atherosclerosis, cardiovascular risk, and cardiovascular disease.
Foster has interviewed several individuals who started experiencing symptoms when close to highly utilized smart meters. “Smart meters communicate data to utility companies using several different radio frequency air interfaces, modulation schemes, and network architectures. They typically pulse strong signals to the collecting device hundreds to hundreds of thousands of times a day,” she said.
One woman with a smart meter on the side of her home had no previous cardiac history, said Foster, but after the meter was installed, her health changed almost instantly. She went into cardiac arrhythmia, had severe chest pain, and her blood pressure was significantly elevated. Another person had acute onset chest pain near two potential wireless sources—a cell tower utilizing higher frequencies in the 5G range, and a transmitting Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI).
Foster continued, “This woman was driving at the time, thought she had a heart attack, was hospitalized, had no history of cardiovascular disease, and was diagnosed with a suspected coronary spasm, which can trigger a heart attack or even sudden death.”
A valid question many ask is why these people think smart meters and cell towers could be causing these cardiac events. In Foster’s experience, the temporal element is often a key indicator that the recently built and activated cell tower or installed smart meter is causing cardiac symptoms. “When someone is asymptomatic before the carrier activates a cell tower and experiences an acute cardiac event such as atrial fibrillation for the first time in his or her life two weeks later, the cell tower becomes suspect.”
Foster believes that the cell tower becomes the undeniable culprit when atrial fibrillation occurs during high telecommunication traffic times, then reoccurs repeatedly, even after cardioversion (a procedure to restore a normal heart rhythm), eventually resulting in surgical intervention to stop the atrial fibrillation.
She told us that most people reaching out to CHD or McCollough Law firm about cardiac events related to wireless exposure are in their 40s and 50s. However, her greatest concern is the impact of EMF on developing children from the early fetal stage throughout childhood.
“Children today are developing in utero and growing up in homes where cell phones are carried by parents, Wi-Fi is left on 24/7, and wireless baby monitors are inches from a baby’s thin skull and rapidly developing brain and nervous system. Children are inherently more vulnerable and will live with these exposures for a lifetime,” said Foster.
Goodyear cited a study by Debra L. Blackwell and colleagues that found a strong association between cumulative exposure to infectious diseases and environmental toxins as children and in utero, and the likelihood of experiencing chronic health conditions throughout life, including cancer, heart and lung issues, and arthritis. He added, “In the same light, the lifetime exposure of EMF to the cardiovascular system is likely the more significant connection point of impact.”
According to Foster, the impact of EMF radiation on children and the failure of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update EMF guidelines for a quarter century is the main reason CHD sued the FCC in 2020. Scott McCollough argued the case for consolidated lawsuits filed by CHD and Environmental Health Trust.
The Aug. 13, 2021, decision by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit remanded the EMF radiation guidelines to the FCC with critical instructions to address the impact of EMF radiation on children, including the health implications of long-term exposure to EMF radiation, and consideration of newer wireless devices and the ubiquity of wireless devices. However, the FCC has yet to comply with this court order and was again petitioned by McCollough to “quit stalling” and explain how it deems the current guidelines for EMF to adequately protect humans and the environment against the harmful effects of EMF radiation exposure.
The impact of EMF on children may only be fully realized in adulthood and some people may never feel the effects, explained Goodyear. However, others seem to be highly sensitive. Individuals who are depleted of antioxidants, have chronic inflammation or pre-existing cardiovascular disease, are at greater risk for cardiac dysfunction and disease from EMF, he said.
Foster describes it as electromagnetic sensitivity (EMS), which includes many symptoms, including cognitive impairment, headaches, lethargy, sleep disruption, tinnitus, vertigo, depression, anxiety, heart palpitations, chest pain, arrhythmia, and infertility.
The U.S. Access Board, an independent federal agency that advises the federal government on the accommodation of disabled people, held that electromagnetic sensitivity could cause severe symptoms that give rise to the level of disability.
Foster explained that EMS is a condition that begs for wider recognition and accommodation because we live in an increasingly thick environment of what EMF biophysicist Dr. Dimitris Panagopoulos described as “electrosmog” (EMF pollution). Since then, we’ve gone from 2G to 5G and sub-6G, she said.
It’s estimated that between 3.2 to 30 percent of the U.S. population (pdf) fall on the EMS spectrum, including between 10 to 99 million people with some kind of adverse reaction to wireless radiation.
Unfortunately, the public remains uninformed about EMS, said Foster. “This is because EMS is an invisible disability. Those who suffer from it have to remain secluded. Microwave radiation goes through walls and has few boundaries. Those with coronary spasms, tachycardia, or atrial fibrillation can’t advocate for themselves by going to City Hall because the Wi-Fi threatens their lives,” she said.
Whether you believe you are sensitive to EMF or want to protect your children, knowing how to limit your exposure is important. There are devices to block or shield EMF exposure, but both Foster and Goodyear suggest an avoidance strategy may be safer and more effective than shielding.
According to Foster, “Devices and chips may have ‘some’ benefit, but people are lulled into a false sense of safety. The so-called protective product may very well prove to be a scam.”
Foster suggests some simple ways to limit exposure:
Goodyear suggests a different approach:
“Our culture is saturated with EMF and has passed the point of no return as our society has become addicted to and reliant on EMF devices. We must realize that the ongoing EMF exposure will only continue; likely, it and its impact will only accelerate. Our parents’ EMF exposure and its epigenetic impact on our legacy of pathology require a different approach to EMF exposure.”
Goodyear believes a pivot in approach requires supporting a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced organic diet with vegetables high in antioxidants, low-glycemic fruits, and evidenced-based vitamin supplementation under a physician’s guidance. He also advocates for exercise and good sleep hygiene to reduce the harmful effects of EMF.
“Take a walk outside in nature. It’s time to get outside, to the desert, the mountains, the forests, the woods, and to divest from EMF exposure. Don’t just do it once; schedule it as part of your daily or weekly healthy living.”