Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

What is electromagnetic hypersensitivity? It’s an alleged condition in which a person is especially sensitive to weak radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, such as those emitted by a cell phone or other wireless technology. All sorts of symptoms are claimed to be associated with electromagnetic hypersensitivity, such as headaches, fatigue, anxiety, and sleep disturbances. An example of a person who says he has electromagnetic hypersensitivity is Arthur Firstenberg, author of The Invisible Rainbow, a book about his trials and tribulations. Many people purportedly suffering from electromagnetic hypersensitivity flock to Green Bank, West Virginia, because a radiotelescope there requires that the surrounding area being a “radio quiet zone.”

Is electromagnetic hypersensitivity real? Answering this question should be easy. Take people who claim such hypersensitivity, sit them down in a lab, turn a radiofrequency device on (or just pretend to), and ask them if they can sense it. Ask them about their symptoms. Of course, you must do this carefully, avoiding any subtle cues that might signal if the radiation is present. (For a cautionary tale about why such care is important, read this post.) You should do the study double blind (neither the patient nor the doctor who asks the questions should be told if the radiation is or is not on) and compare the patients to control subjects.

The effects of
radiofrequency
electromagnetic fields
exposure on human
self-reported symptoms.

Many such experiments have been done, and recently a systematic review of the results was published.

Xavier Bosch-Caplanch, Ekpereonne Esu, Chioma Moses Oringanje, Stefan Dongus, Hamed Jalilian, John Eyers, Christian Auer, Martin Meremikwu, and Martin Röösli (2024) The effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields exposure on human self-reported symptoms: A systematic review of human experimental studies. Environment International, Volume 187, Article number 108612.

This review is part of an ongoing project by the World Health Organization to assess potential health effects from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. The authors come from a variety of countries, but several work at the respected Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. I’m particularly familiar with the fine research of Martin Röösli, a renowned leader in this field.

The authors surveyed all publications on this topic and established stringent eligibility criteria so only the highest quality papers were included in their review. A total of 41 studies met the criteria. What did they find? Here’s the key conclusion from the author’s abstract.

The available evidence suggested that study volunteers could not perceive the EMF [electromagnetic field] exposure status better than what is expected by chance and that IEI-EMF [Idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields, their fancy name for electromagnetic hypersensitivity] individuals could not determine EMF conditions better than the general population.

The patients couldn’t determine if the fields were on or off better than chance. In other words, they were right about the field being on or off about as often as if they had decided the question by flipping a coin. The authors added

Available evidence suggests that [an] acute RF-EMF [radiofrequency electromagnetic field] below regulatory limits does not cause symptoms and corresponding claims in... everyday life are related to perceived and not to real EMF exposure status.

Let me repeat, the claims are related “to perceived and not to real EMF exposure.” This means that electromagnetic hypersensitivity is not caused by an electromagnetic field being present, but is caused by thinking that an electromagnetic field is present.

Yes, there are some limitations to this study, which are discussed and analyzed by the authors. The experimental conditions might differ from real-life exposures in the duration, frequency, and location of the field source. Most of the subjects were young, healthy volunteers, so the authors could not make conclusions about the elderly or chronically ill. The authors could not rule out the possibility that a few super-sensitive people are mixed in with a vast majority who can’t sense the fields (although they do offer some evidence suggesting that this is not the case).

Are Electromagnetic Fields
Making Me Ill?

Their results do not prove that a condition like electromagnetic hypersensitivity is impossible. Impossibility proofs are always difficult in science, and especially in medicine and biology. But the evidence suggests that the patients’ symptoms are related “to perceived and not to real EMF exposure.” While I don’t doubt that these patients are suffering, I’m skeptical that their distress is caused by electromagnetic fields.

To learn more about potential health effects of electromagnetic fields, I refer you to Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology (especially Chapter 9) or Are Electromagnetic Fields Making Me Ill?