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Effects of Electropollution On Hormones and Breast Cancer
Effects of Electropollution On Hormones and Breast Cancer
Author: Dr. Sherill Sellman, ND November 2007 Source
A defining moment in world history occurred in 1879 when Thomas Edison switched on the first light bulb.
The flick of that switch radically transformed our world forever. The Age of Electricity was born.
Our love affair with all things electrical means that we now live in a dense sea of electro-magnetic energy
waves, called electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) which are estimated to be 100 - 200 million times greater
than they were a hundred years ago!
Compounding the problem is the explosion of wireless technology like cell phones, Bluetooth, PDA's,
wireless internet, WiFi and the powerful microwave emitting towers that are required for their transmission.
This pervasive wireless world emits a particular spectrum of EMR that has its own damaging effects on
living systems.
Within just two decades, wireless technology has exploded onto the global scene. Today, over 236 million
Americans, 20 million Canadians and 19 million Australians own cell phones and over 80 per cent of the
entire planet is connected to the wireless internet (by 2010, it will be 90 per cent). The hot spot
phenomena, which allows for internet access in airports, hotels, coffee shops, schools and other public
areas will grow to 12,400 in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2007 and 78,000 by 2008.
Our homeostasis is now being thrown into turmoil by unprecedented levels of all forms of EMR – which
seriously compromises the body’s ability to properly function.
Anatomy of Electropollution 101
The 100 trillion cells of the human body communicate with each other by subtle low electromagnetic signals
and through biochemical reactions. These signal pathways carry the information that becomes translated
into all the biochemical and physiological processes of the body. Continuous exposure to electromagnetic
radiation can drastically distort and disrupt these cellular communication pathways resulting in abnormal
cellular metabolism and ultimately, disease.
Electropollution-induced biological stress profoundly compromises normal physiology and intercellular
communication. Imagine the chaos that results when communication systems go down in a city. In the body,
on a cellular level, a similar chaos is created when normal processes shut down and intercellular
communication is disrupted. Cell function deteriorates, cell membranes harden, free radical damage
occurs, nutrients can’t get in and toxins can’t get out. The breakdown of healthy cellular processes leads to
biological chaos in our bodies.
Hundreds of studies have shown the harmful effects of EMR on the immune system (12), enzyme
syntheses (13), nervous system (14), learning, moods and behavioural patterns. All aspects of life at the
molecular, cellular, biochemical and physiological levels can potentially be damaged by EMR exposure.
Hormones, Cell Phones and EMRs
Hormones are powerful substances. They pack a big wallop considering the tiny amounts that are
produced by the endocrine glands. Most hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin
and melatonin are made in parts per billion or parts per trillion. Even small hormonal fluctuations can
create major physiological changes. As profound orchestrators of all of life’s processes, maintaining
hormonal balance is imperative for optimum health. When delicate hormonal balance and rhythms are
altered, the body's ability to regulate fundamental systems goes haywire.
Our modern lifestyle poses many threats to optimal endocrine function. Stress, toxicity, poor quality food,
lack of sleep, and pharmaceutical medications are all known hormone disruptors. However, there is one
particular kind of hormone disruptor that has been seriously overlooked – electromagnetic radiation.
Embedded deep within the brain is a light sensitive endocrine gland called the pineal gland which is about
the size of a pea. Since ancient times, it was associated with the mystical all seeing “Third Eye”. Once
dismissed as a useless gland, the pineal, which is actually a light sensitive organ, is now considered to be
one of the most significant glands in the body.
The pineal gland is the primary source of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin was discovered 50 years ago
and is now hailed as a miraculous hormone regulating many key functions of human growth and health and
providing anti-cancer protection. Melatonin is produced about 90 minutes after falling asleep. Studies have
shown that blood concentrations of the hormone rise after dark from low daytime values and usually peak
in the middle of the night.
Researchers are increasingly surprised at the extent of the physiological processes that are either
controlled or influenced by melatonin: it regulates the circadian rhythms governing our waking/sleep cycle,
and it is one of the most efficient destroyers of free radicals which ensures normal DNA synthesis and cell
division. Melatonin not only inhibits the release of estrogen but also suppresses the development of breast
cancer. It’s other anticancer property is its ability to increase the cytotoxicity of the immune system’s killer
lymphocytes. It is even is able to enhance the immune system and counteract stress-induced
immunosuppression.
Melatonin’s breast cancer-fighting ability also addresses two other threats that can increase cell division in
the breast – the hormone prolactin and the growth factor known as “epidermal growth factor”. Melatonin
also enhances the tumour-fighting power of vitamin D and increases its ability to stop tumour growth. In
fact, it increases vitamin D’s tumour fighting abilities by 20-100 times. It also acts as an aromatase inhibitor
– a powerful protection against estrogen-dependent cancers.
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION AND CANCER
Needless to say, it is vital to ensure our body’s ability to produce regular and adequate levels of melatonin
on a daily basis. Unfortunately, sleeping in a room in which we are surrounded by all our favourite devices
like cordless or cell phones, digital clocks, CD/radio players, computers and televisions can seriously
suppress our nightly melatonin production.
In 2001, Masami Ishido at Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies showed that breast cancer
cells treated with melatonin would resume growing when exposed to power-frequency EMRs. (15) He found
that magnetic fields disrupt the cells’ signaling system – their internal communications network which
determines how they respond to their environment.
In the process, Ishido also challenged one of the central tenets of mainstream toxicology: less is better and
more is worse. The EMR effect he observed at 12mG was pretty much the same as the one he saw when
he used a field a hundred times higher – at 1G, Ishido found indications that the effect was even stronger
at the lower EMR dose than the higher one. (16)
This mechanism has helped to explain why reduced melatonin levels from EMR has been shown to cause a
number of cancers including breast, prostate, colorectal, melanoma, ovarian malignancies and childhood
leukemia.
It now known that melatonin suppression occurs at frequencies not far above those of the common
household ranges of 50-60 hertz. If we sleep next to a cordless phone base station, and/or digital clock, or
we have faulty electrical wiring, enough continuous EMR exposures are emitted to suppress night time
melatonin production.
The connection between breast cancer and EMR only gets stronger. Dr. Patricia Coogan at the Boston
University of Public Health reported a 43 per cent increased risk in women with a high likelihood of
occupational exposure to magnetic fields such as those given off by mainframe computers. (17) In fact,
women who work in electrical jobs, including electricians, telephone installers, power line workers and
electrical engineers have a greater risk of dying from breast cancer. This increased incidence has been
directly linked to the suppression of melatonin from EMR.
It’s not just women who should be concerned about EMR’s causal link to breast cancer. In five studies,
elevated EMR have been implicated in an increased incidence of male breast cancer. Men who worked as
telephone linemen, in switching stations, and in the utilities industry were found to have as much as a
sixfold increase in breast cancer. (18)
More Hormone Disruption
Experimental physiologist Dr. Charles Graham’s research found that magnetic fields had an effect on two
other hormones. Overnight exposure of women to elevated levels of EMR in the laboratory significantly
increased estrogen levels which is a known risk factor for breast cancer. (19) In men, EMR exposure
reduced levels of testosterone – a hormone drop that has been linked to testicular and prostate cancers.
Graham notes that a field's steady magnitude matters less than its intermittency or other features, such as
power surges called electrical transients. These surges can pack a big burst of energy into a short period
of time. They occur whenever lights or other electric devices are turned on, when motors or compressors
(such as those in refrigerators and air conditioners) cycle on, or when dimmer switches operate. Transients
are hard to avoid because they may stem from surges elsewhere – in a neighbour’s house or even power
lines up the street.
He also believes that EMR may actually fit the definition of an endocrine disruptor better than many
hormone mimicking environmental pollutants because magnetic fields appear to elicit their effects by acting
on and through hormones, rather than as hormones.
Neurotransmitters, a special class of hormones which include serotonin and dopamine, play a major role in
moods. Changes in serotonin levels are known to be associated with depression. For example, lowered
levels of this chemical in the brain have been linked to an increase in suicide frequency. (22) One study
examined the brain functions of monkeys exposed to 60 Hz magnetic fields. It found that the levels of
serotonin and dopamine (affects brain processes that control movement, emotional response and ability to
experience pleasure and pain) were significantly depressed immediately following exposure, and that only
the dopamine returned to normal levels several months after. (23)
Cell Phones and Your Cell Membranes
In recent years, exposure to radio frequencies emitted from cell phones and wireless communication
devices have taken front and centre stage as the cause of serious physiological damage to our cells.
Initially the Wireless Industry and the U.S. government did not consider radio frequencies from cell phones
a health risk. Despite massive evidence to the contrary, the wireless industry still maintains that position. In
the early days of this technology, it was believed that only a thermal effect, the heating of tissues, (such as
what occurs in a microwave oven) resulted in damage to tissues. Since cell phones do not have enough
power to heat tissue, the U.S. government did not require any studies investigating the potential health
problems.
However, emerging science has found that the problem with cell phones does not come from power output
(thermal effect) but rather from the information piggybacking on the so called ‘carrier waves’ emitted from
and received by the antenna. This is called an information carrying radio wave (ICRW). It is a frequency
that conveys specific packets of information which allows for the transmission of various features of cell
phones like voice, text graphics and others. (35)
Herein lies the problem. This ICRW is a frequency that has never before existed in nature. Our cells are
totally unfamiliar with it and perceive it as a dangerous, foreign invader.
The latest research has clearly identified the biological mechanisms of harm caused by ICRWs. We have
special receptor sites, called microtubules, on our cell membranes that can sense frequencies. The
receptor sites interpret the ICRW as an unknown, threatening energy. Instantaneously the cell membrane
will go into a protective lock down mode. This means that nutrients cannot get into the cell and toxins and
waste products cannot get out. It also prevents vital cell-to-cell communication. (36) This effect is
immediate and lasts as long as a person is exposed to ICRWs. The longer this condition persists the
greater the biological damage, often resulting in free radical damage, genetic mutation, loss of cellular
energy, premature aging and ultimately degenerative diseases.
If anyone should know about the harmful effects of cell phones and wireless technology it is Dr. George
Carlo, MD, Ph.D. As a respected professor of epidemiology, Dr. Carlo was hired by the Cellular
Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), as the chief research scientist, to lead a $28 million five
year research program investigating the potential harmful effects of cell phones. The CTIA was confident
that no health effects would be discovered. However, Dr. Carlo and his team of 200 research scientists
found otherwise. Upon presentation to the CTIA of his findings, he was fired and the damning results were
shelved. Dr. Carlo has now become one of the most reputable and vocal critics of the wireless industry.
Dr. Carlo says: “We understand that these information-carrying radio waves trigger protein membrane
responses at the cell membrane level leading to disruption of intercellular communication and build up of
free radicals inside the cell. This is very important because it now explains the wide diversity of symptoms
that we are seeing in patients who are reporting electrohypersensitivity and also other conditions such as
headaches and unexplained anxiety that henceforth we'll know will be associated with these information-
carrying radio waves." (37)
Three Pieces of the Intervention Puzzle
Resolving the electropollution problem necessitates technologies that address three distinct interventions:
primary, secondary and tertiary. Dr. Carlo is adamant that all three levels of intervention are required in
order to be adequately protected against electropollution. He refers to this as the Public Health Paradigm.
Primary intervention technologies are those that act to prevent the cell membrane protective response
from being inappropriately triggered. These act on the “cause” of the problems and include: headsets,
active noise field technology (developed by the U.S. military) and passive noise field technologies.
Secondary intervention technologies are those that act to restore intercellular communication and thus can
ameliorate the “effects” of the exposure to EMR. These are most effective in conjunction with primary
interventions and include: subtle energy technologies, diodes, and some pendants.
Tertiary intervention technologies are those that act to rehabilitate and correct cell damage. These work
only in conjunction with primary and secondary intervention technologies and include: a nutrient rich diet
and nutritional supplements like antioxidants.
To ensure the greatest protection, all three “layers” must be initiated simultaneously: protect the cells from
direct harm, re-establish healthy cell-to cell communication and provide the body with the essential
nourishment so it can repair itself and stay healthy.
Dr. Carlo is adamant that all three levels of intervention are necessary. “The combined effects of
Electropollution covering all three effect windows is the most serious health risk we have ever faced
because it is an overlay health risk that is now working insidiously in our lives. These exposures
compromise fundamental biological processes including immune response and other physiological
compensation systems. Thus, electropollution makes the population more susceptible and vulnerable to
other environmental insults such as air and water pollution, poor nutrition, exposures to viruses and
bacteria, as well as physical stressors such as extreme heat or cold and stressful life events.” (42)
As we rush headlong into our exciting high tech world, we must also understand that we are all participating
in a massive experiment. Electropollution is a very real threat to present and future generations. Effective
interventions are not a luxury but simply a necessity. Like it or not the ever expanding and intrusive EMR
world is here to stay. The responsibility lies with each one of us to take proactive steps that will protect us,
our families and future generations.
Sherrill Sellman is a naturopathic doctor, psychotherapist, international lecturer, radio host, writer, Certified
Electro-magnetic Radiation Safety Advisor (CERSA) and best-selling author of Hormone Heresy: What
Women MUST Know About Their Hormones and What Women MUST Know To Protect Their Daughters
From Breast Cancer. She be contacted by email at golight@earthlink, www.whatwomenmustknow.com or at
918-437-1058.
Catch Dr. Sellman at Whole Life Expo 2007 for two lectures:
• Friday, Nov 23, 6:45pm “Getting Your Hormones Back on Track”
• Sat., Nov 24 “Electropollution, Hormones, and Cancer – What You Need to Know”.
For more information go to www.wholelifecanada.com, or see Expo Showguide in this issue.
Dr Sellman will be available after her lectures for questions and booksignings at BioPro booth 182. BioPro
is a company specializing in education on safe technology and products to protect consumers from
radiation. For more information go to www.saveyourbrain.info. Also, copies of the book Cellphones:
Invisible Hazard of the Wireless Age by Dr. George Carlo will be available for sale at the booth.
References
(1) Ilker Dibirdik, Daiva Kristupaitis, Tomohiro Kurosaki, Lisa Tuel-Ahlgren, Alice Chu, David Pond, Dong
Tuong, Richard Luben, and Fatih M. Uckun, Stimulation of Src Family Protein-tyrosine Kinases as a
Proximal and Mandatory Step for SYK Kinase-dependent Phospholipase C2 Activation in Lymphoma B
Cells Exposed to Low Energy Electromagnetic Fields, Journal of Biol Chem, Vol. 273, Issue 7, 4035-4039,
February 13, 1998
(2) Daiva Kristupaitis, Ilker Dibirdik, Alexei Vassilev, Sandeep Mahajan, Tomohiro Kurosaki, Alice Chu, Lisa
Tuel-Ahlgren, Dong Tuong, David Pond, Richard Luben, and Fatih M. Uckun, Electromagnetic Field-
induced Stimulation of Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 273, Issue 20, 12397-
12401, May 15, 1998
(3) Shaw, G.M., Croen, L.A., Human adverse reproductive outcomes and electromagnetic field exposures:
review of epidemiologic studies. Environment Health Perspectives 1993 Dec;101 Suppl 4:107-19.
(4) Blaasaas, K.G., Tynes T., Lie, R.T., Residence near power lines and risk of birth defects. Epidemiology
2003; 14: 95-98.
5. Ahlbom, A., Cardis, E., Green, A., Linet, M., Savitz, D., Swerdlow, A., Review of the epidemiologic
literature on EMR and health: ICNIRP (International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection)
standing committee on epidemiology. Environ Health Perspect 2001; 109 (suppl 6): 911-933.
6. Lyskov, E., Juutilainen, J., Jousmäki V, Hänninen, O., Medvedev, S., Partanen, J., Influence of short-term
exposure of magnetic field on the bioelectrical processes of the brain and performance. Int J Psychophysiol
1993:14:227-231.
7. C. Graham, M. R. Cook, M. M. Gerkovich, and A. Sastre Copyright notice. Research Article -
Examination of the melatonin hypothesis in women exposed at night to EMR or bright light. C. Graham, M.
R. Cook, M. M. Gerkovich, and A. Sastre, Environ Health Perspect. 2001 May; 109(5): 501–507.
8. Havas, M., Stetzer, D., Electromagnetic hypersensitivity: biological effects of dirty electricity with
emphasis on diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Havas, M. Electromagn Biol Med. 2006; 25(4): 259-68
9 Savitz, D.A., Checkoway, H., Loomis, D.P. Magnetic field exposure and neurodegenerative disease
mortality among electric utility workers. Epidemiology 1998; 9: 398-404.
10 Robert O. Becker M.D., Cross Currents: The Promise of Electromedicine, the Perils of Electropollution, J.
P. Tarcher; 1st ed. (December 1989)
11. Sienkiewicz, Z.J., Saunders, R.D., Kowalczuk, C.I. (1991), Biological Effects of Exposure to Non-ionizing
Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation II. Extremely Low Frequency Electrical and Magnetic Fields, NRPB
Report R 239, National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton.
12 Saunders, R.D., Kowalczuk, C.I., Sienkiewicz, Z.J. (1991), Biological Effects of Exposure to Non-ionizing
Electromagnetic Fields and Radiation III. Radiofrequency and Microwave Radiation, NRPB Report R 240,
National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton
13. www.ortho.lsuhsc.edu/Faculty/Marino/EL/EL5/Summary5.html
14. Masami Ishido,1, Hiroshi Nitta and Michinori Kabuto, Magnetic fields (MF) of 50 Hz at 1.2 µT as well as
100 µT cause uncoupling of inhibitory pathways of adenylyl cyclase mediated by melatonin 1a receptor in
MF-sensitive MCF-7 cells
Carcinogenesis, Vol. 22, No. 7, 1043-1048, July 2001
15. www.microwavenews.com/nc_nov2005.html
16. Girgert, R., Schimming, H., Körner, W., Gründker, C., Hanf, V., Induction of tamoxifen resistance in
breast cancer cells by ELF electromagnetic fields. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Nov 4;336(4):
1144-9.
17. Patricia F. Coogan, Richard W. Clapp, Polly A. Newcomb, Thurman B. Wenzl, Greg Bogdan, Robert
Mittendorf, John A. Baron, Matthew P. Longnecker, Occupational Exposure to 60-Hertz Magnetic Fields
and Risk of Breast Cancer in Women Epidemiology, Vol. 7, No. 5 (Sep., 1996)
18. Paul A. Demers1, David B. Thomas1,2, Karin A. Rosenblatt1,2, L. Occupational Exposure to
Electromagnetic Fields and Breast Cancer in Men, American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 134, No. 4: 340-
347.
19. Charles Graham, Mary R. Cook, Mary M. Gerkovich, Antonio Sastre, Examination of the Melatonin
Hypothesis in Women Exposed at Night to EMR or Bright Light, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol.
109, No. 5 (May, 2001), pp. 501-507
20. Charles, L.E., Loomis, D., Electromagnetic fields, polychlorinated biphenyls, and prostate cancer
mortality in electric utility workers, et al, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA Am J Epidemiol.
2003 Apr 15;157(8):683-91.
21 J.D. Harland, M.Y. Lee, G.A. Levine, R.P. Liburdy, Differential Inhibition of Tamoxifen’s Oncostatic
Functions in a Breast Cancer Cell Line by 12 mG Magnetic Field, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,
University of California.
22. Becker R., Cross Currents. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. Los Angeles, p. 208, 1990.
23. Serotonin, Suicidal Behaviour, and Impulsivity", The Lancet p. 949-950, 24 Oct. 1987
24. Becker, R. Cross Currents. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc. Los Angeles, p. 208, 1990.
25. Perry, F.S. et al. "Environmental Power Frequency magnetic fields and suicide." Health Physics 4: 267-
277, 1981_44) Perry, F.S., Pearl, L. "Health effects of ELF fields and illness in multistory blocks." Public
Health. 102: 11-18, 1988_45) Becker, R., Cross Currents. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., Los Angeles, p. 208,
1990.
26 "Serotonin, Suicidal Behaviour, and Impulsivity," The Lancet p. 949-950, 24 Oct. 1987
27. B. Blake Levitt, Electromagnetic Fields: A Consumer’s Guide to the Issues and How to Protect
Ourselves, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1995
28. Robert Becker, ibid
29. Hillman, D., Exposure to Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMR) Linked to Neuro-Endocrine Stress
Syndrome: Increased Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, & Cancer, Shocking News, No. 8 November 2005
30. Dr. George Carlo, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age
An Insider’s Alarming Discoveries About Cancer and Genetic Damage, Carroll & Graf; Reprint edition
(February 9, 2002)
31. Script from Dr George Carlo's meeting with Scrutiny Panel www.jerseymastconcern.co.
uk/drcarlotranscript.html
32. Henry Lai and Narendra P. Singh, Magnetic-Field-Induced DNA Strand Breaks in Brain Cells of the
Rats, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 112, Number 6, May 2004.
33. 62nd annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, New Orleans, Oct. 21-25,
2006. Ashok Agarwal, PhD, director, Clinical Andrology Laboratory and Reproductive Tissue Bank; director
of research, Reproductive Research Center, The Cleveland Clinic. Rebecca Sokol, MD, PhD, president,
Society for Male Reproduction and Urology; professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, Keck
School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
34. Mobiles may decrease men's fertility, www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article610494.ece
35. Dr. George Carlo, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age
An Insider’s Alarming Discoveries About Cancer and Genetic Damage.
36. Bioenergetics Institute, Energy Resonance Technology (ERT): A Targeted Intervention For Electro-
Magnetic Radiation (EMR) Induced Biological Effect. www.bioenergeticsinstitute.
com/Portals/0/Documents/Ungar2006ERTintervEMRbioeffectupdateCorrected.pdf
37. omega.twoday.net/20070223
38. www.safewireless.org
39. Zeng, Qunli; Ke, Zuiqin; Gao, Xiangwei; Fu, Yiti; Lu., Deqiang; Chiang, Huai and Xu, Zhengping 2006.
Noise Magnetic Fields Abolish the Gap Junction Intercellular Communication Suppression Induced by 50 Hz
Magnetic Fields. Bioelectromagnetics DOI 10.1002/bem20207
40. Smirnov, Igor 2006; Polymer Material Providing Compatibility Between Technologically Originated EMR
and Biological Systems. Explore! 14(4):1-7
41. Mullins, J.M., Krause, D. and Litovitz, T.A. 1993 Simultaneous Application Of a Spatially Coherent Noise
Field Blocks Response Of Cell Cultures To A 60 Hz Electromagnetic Field Electricity and Magnetism in
Biology and Medicine, Catholic University of America.
42. Telephone interview with Dr. George Carlos.
Author: Dr. Sherill Sellman, ND November 2007 Source
A defining moment in world history occurred in 1879 when Thomas Edison switched on the first light bulb.
The flick of that switch radically transformed our world forever. The Age of Electricity was born.
Our love affair with all things electrical means that we now live in a dense sea of electro-magnetic energy
waves, called electro-magnetic radiation (EMR) which are estimated to be 100 - 200 million times greater
than they were a hundred years ago!
Compounding the problem is the explosion of wireless technology like cell phones, Bluetooth, PDA's,
wireless internet, WiFi and the powerful microwave emitting towers that are required for their transmission.
This pervasive wireless world emits a particular spectrum of EMR that has its own damaging effects on
living systems.
Within just two decades, wireless technology has exploded onto the global scene. Today, over 236 million
Americans, 20 million Canadians and 19 million Australians own cell phones and over 80 per cent of the
entire planet is connected to the wireless internet (by 2010, it will be 90 per cent). The hot spot
phenomena, which allows for internet access in airports, hotels, coffee shops, schools and other public
areas will grow to 12,400 in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2007 and 78,000 by 2008.
Our homeostasis is now being thrown into turmoil by unprecedented levels of all forms of EMR – which
seriously compromises the body’s ability to properly function.
Anatomy of Electropollution 101
The 100 trillion cells of the human body communicate with each other by subtle low electromagnetic signals
and through biochemical reactions. These signal pathways carry the information that becomes translated
into all the biochemical and physiological processes of the body. Continuous exposure to electromagnetic
radiation can drastically distort and disrupt these cellular communication pathways resulting in abnormal
cellular metabolism and ultimately, disease.
Electropollution-induced biological stress profoundly compromises normal physiology and intercellular
communication. Imagine the chaos that results when communication systems go down in a city. In the body,
on a cellular level, a similar chaos is created when normal processes shut down and intercellular
communication is disrupted. Cell function deteriorates, cell membranes harden, free radical damage
occurs, nutrients can’t get in and toxins can’t get out. The breakdown of healthy cellular processes leads to
biological chaos in our bodies.
Hundreds of studies have shown the harmful effects of EMR on the immune system (12), enzyme
syntheses (13), nervous system (14), learning, moods and behavioural patterns. All aspects of life at the
molecular, cellular, biochemical and physiological levels can potentially be damaged by EMR exposure.
Hormones, Cell Phones and EMRs
Hormones are powerful substances. They pack a big wallop considering the tiny amounts that are
produced by the endocrine glands. Most hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin
and melatonin are made in parts per billion or parts per trillion. Even small hormonal fluctuations can
create major physiological changes. As profound orchestrators of all of life’s processes, maintaining
hormonal balance is imperative for optimum health. When delicate hormonal balance and rhythms are
altered, the body's ability to regulate fundamental systems goes haywire.
Our modern lifestyle poses many threats to optimal endocrine function. Stress, toxicity, poor quality food,
lack of sleep, and pharmaceutical medications are all known hormone disruptors. However, there is one
particular kind of hormone disruptor that has been seriously overlooked – electromagnetic radiation.
Embedded deep within the brain is a light sensitive endocrine gland called the pineal gland which is about
the size of a pea. Since ancient times, it was associated with the mystical all seeing “Third Eye”. Once
dismissed as a useless gland, the pineal, which is actually a light sensitive organ, is now considered to be
one of the most significant glands in the body.
The pineal gland is the primary source of the hormone melatonin. Melatonin was discovered 50 years ago
and is now hailed as a miraculous hormone regulating many key functions of human growth and health and
providing anti-cancer protection. Melatonin is produced about 90 minutes after falling asleep. Studies have
shown that blood concentrations of the hormone rise after dark from low daytime values and usually peak
in the middle of the night.
Researchers are increasingly surprised at the extent of the physiological processes that are either
controlled or influenced by melatonin: it regulates the circadian rhythms governing our waking/sleep cycle,
and it is one of the most efficient destroyers of free radicals which ensures normal DNA synthesis and cell
division. Melatonin not only inhibits the release of estrogen but also suppresses the development of breast
cancer. It’s other anticancer property is its ability to increase the cytotoxicity of the immune system’s killer
lymphocytes. It is even is able to enhance the immune system and counteract stress-induced
immunosuppression.
Melatonin’s breast cancer-fighting ability also addresses two other threats that can increase cell division in
the breast – the hormone prolactin and the growth factor known as “epidermal growth factor”. Melatonin
also enhances the tumour-fighting power of vitamin D and increases its ability to stop tumour growth. In
fact, it increases vitamin D’s tumour fighting abilities by 20-100 times. It also acts as an aromatase inhibitor
– a powerful protection against estrogen-dependent cancers.
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION AND CANCER
Needless to say, it is vital to ensure our body’s ability to produce regular and adequate levels of melatonin
on a daily basis. Unfortunately, sleeping in a room in which we are surrounded by all our favourite devices
like cordless or cell phones, digital clocks, CD/radio players, computers and televisions can seriously
suppress our nightly melatonin production.
In 2001, Masami Ishido at Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies showed that breast cancer
cells treated with melatonin would resume growing when exposed to power-frequency EMRs. (15) He found
that magnetic fields disrupt the cells’ signaling system – their internal communications network which
determines how they respond to their environment.
In the process, Ishido also challenged one of the central tenets of mainstream toxicology: less is better and
more is worse. The EMR effect he observed at 12mG was pretty much the same as the one he saw when
he used a field a hundred times higher – at 1G, Ishido found indications that the effect was even stronger
at the lower EMR dose than the higher one. (16)
This mechanism has helped to explain why reduced melatonin levels from EMR has been shown to cause a
number of cancers including breast, prostate, colorectal, melanoma, ovarian malignancies and childhood
leukemia.
It now known that melatonin suppression occurs at frequencies not far above those of the common
household ranges of 50-60 hertz. If we sleep next to a cordless phone base station, and/or digital clock, or
we have faulty electrical wiring, enough continuous EMR exposures are emitted to suppress night time
melatonin production.
The connection between breast cancer and EMR only gets stronger. Dr. Patricia Coogan at the Boston
University of Public Health reported a 43 per cent increased risk in women with a high likelihood of
occupational exposure to magnetic fields such as those given off by mainframe computers. (17) In fact,
women who work in electrical jobs, including electricians, telephone installers, power line workers and
electrical engineers have a greater risk of dying from breast cancer. This increased incidence has been
directly linked to the suppression of melatonin from EMR.
It’s not just women who should be concerned about EMR’s causal link to breast cancer. In five studies,
elevated EMR have been implicated in an increased incidence of male breast cancer. Men who worked as
telephone linemen, in switching stations, and in the utilities industry were found to have as much as a
sixfold increase in breast cancer. (18)
More Hormone Disruption
Experimental physiologist Dr. Charles Graham’s research found that magnetic fields had an effect on two
other hormones. Overnight exposure of women to elevated levels of EMR in the laboratory significantly
increased estrogen levels which is a known risk factor for breast cancer. (19) In men, EMR exposure
reduced levels of testosterone – a hormone drop that has been linked to testicular and prostate cancers.
Graham notes that a field's steady magnitude matters less than its intermittency or other features, such as
power surges called electrical transients. These surges can pack a big burst of energy into a short period
of time. They occur whenever lights or other electric devices are turned on, when motors or compressors
(such as those in refrigerators and air conditioners) cycle on, or when dimmer switches operate. Transients
are hard to avoid because they may stem from surges elsewhere – in a neighbour’s house or even power
lines up the street.
He also believes that EMR may actually fit the definition of an endocrine disruptor better than many
hormone mimicking environmental pollutants because magnetic fields appear to elicit their effects by acting
on and through hormones, rather than as hormones.
Neurotransmitters, a special class of hormones which include serotonin and dopamine, play a major role in
moods. Changes in serotonin levels are known to be associated with depression. For example, lowered
levels of this chemical in the brain have been linked to an increase in suicide frequency. (22) One study
examined the brain functions of monkeys exposed to 60 Hz magnetic fields. It found that the levels of
serotonin and dopamine (affects brain processes that control movement, emotional response and ability to
experience pleasure and pain) were significantly depressed immediately following exposure, and that only
the dopamine returned to normal levels several months after. (23)
Cell Phones and Your Cell Membranes
In recent years, exposure to radio frequencies emitted from cell phones and wireless communication
devices have taken front and centre stage as the cause of serious physiological damage to our cells.
Initially the Wireless Industry and the U.S. government did not consider radio frequencies from cell phones
a health risk. Despite massive evidence to the contrary, the wireless industry still maintains that position. In
the early days of this technology, it was believed that only a thermal effect, the heating of tissues, (such as
what occurs in a microwave oven) resulted in damage to tissues. Since cell phones do not have enough
power to heat tissue, the U.S. government did not require any studies investigating the potential health
problems.
However, emerging science has found that the problem with cell phones does not come from power output
(thermal effect) but rather from the information piggybacking on the so called ‘carrier waves’ emitted from
and received by the antenna. This is called an information carrying radio wave (ICRW). It is a frequency
that conveys specific packets of information which allows for the transmission of various features of cell
phones like voice, text graphics and others. (35)
Herein lies the problem. This ICRW is a frequency that has never before existed in nature. Our cells are
totally unfamiliar with it and perceive it as a dangerous, foreign invader.
The latest research has clearly identified the biological mechanisms of harm caused by ICRWs. We have
special receptor sites, called microtubules, on our cell membranes that can sense frequencies. The
receptor sites interpret the ICRW as an unknown, threatening energy. Instantaneously the cell membrane
will go into a protective lock down mode. This means that nutrients cannot get into the cell and toxins and
waste products cannot get out. It also prevents vital cell-to-cell communication. (36) This effect is
immediate and lasts as long as a person is exposed to ICRWs. The longer this condition persists the
greater the biological damage, often resulting in free radical damage, genetic mutation, loss of cellular
energy, premature aging and ultimately degenerative diseases.
If anyone should know about the harmful effects of cell phones and wireless technology it is Dr. George
Carlo, MD, Ph.D. As a respected professor of epidemiology, Dr. Carlo was hired by the Cellular
Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), as the chief research scientist, to lead a $28 million five
year research program investigating the potential harmful effects of cell phones. The CTIA was confident
that no health effects would be discovered. However, Dr. Carlo and his team of 200 research scientists
found otherwise. Upon presentation to the CTIA of his findings, he was fired and the damning results were
shelved. Dr. Carlo has now become one of the most reputable and vocal critics of the wireless industry.
Dr. Carlo says: “We understand that these information-carrying radio waves trigger protein membrane
responses at the cell membrane level leading to disruption of intercellular communication and build up of
free radicals inside the cell. This is very important because it now explains the wide diversity of symptoms
that we are seeing in patients who are reporting electrohypersensitivity and also other conditions such as
headaches and unexplained anxiety that henceforth we'll know will be associated with these information-
carrying radio waves." (37)
Three Pieces of the Intervention Puzzle
Resolving the electropollution problem necessitates technologies that address three distinct interventions:
primary, secondary and tertiary. Dr. Carlo is adamant that all three levels of intervention are required in
order to be adequately protected against electropollution. He refers to this as the Public Health Paradigm.
Primary intervention technologies are those that act to prevent the cell membrane protective response
from being inappropriately triggered. These act on the “cause” of the problems and include: headsets,
active noise field technology (developed by the U.S. military) and passive noise field technologies.
Secondary intervention technologies are those that act to restore intercellular communication and thus can
ameliorate the “effects” of the exposure to EMR. These are most effective in conjunction with primary
interventions and include: subtle energy technologies, diodes, and some pendants.
Tertiary intervention technologies are those that act to rehabilitate and correct cell damage. These work
only in conjunction with primary and secondary intervention technologies and include: a nutrient rich diet
and nutritional supplements like antioxidants.
To ensure the greatest protection, all three “layers” must be initiated simultaneously: protect the cells from
direct harm, re-establish healthy cell-to cell communication and provide the body with the essential
nourishment so it can repair itself and stay healthy.
Dr. Carlo is adamant that all three levels of intervention are necessary. “The combined effects of
Electropollution covering all three effect windows is the most serious health risk we have ever faced
because it is an overlay health risk that is now working insidiously in our lives. These exposures
compromise fundamental biological processes including immune response and other physiological
compensation systems. Thus, electropollution makes the population more susceptible and vulnerable to
other environmental insults such as air and water pollution, poor nutrition, exposures to viruses and
bacteria, as well as physical stressors such as extreme heat or cold and stressful life events.” (42)
As we rush headlong into our exciting high tech world, we must also understand that we are all participating
in a massive experiment. Electropollution is a very real threat to present and future generations. Effective
interventions are not a luxury but simply a necessity. Like it or not the ever expanding and intrusive EMR
world is here to stay. The responsibility lies with each one of us to take proactive steps that will protect us,
our families and future generations.
Sherrill Sellman is a naturopathic doctor, psychotherapist, international lecturer, radio host, writer, Certified
Electro-magnetic Radiation Safety Advisor (CERSA) and best-selling author of Hormone Heresy: What
Women MUST Know About Their Hormones and What Women MUST Know To Protect Their Daughters
From Breast Cancer. She be contacted by email at golight@earthlink, www.whatwomenmustknow.com or at
918-437-1058.
Catch Dr. Sellman at Whole Life Expo 2007 for two lectures:
• Friday, Nov 23, 6:45pm “Getting Your Hormones Back on Track”
• Sat., Nov 24 “Electropollution, Hormones, and Cancer – What You Need to Know”.
For more information go to www.wholelifecanada.com, or see Expo Showguide in this issue.
Dr Sellman will be available after her lectures for questions and booksignings at BioPro booth 182. BioPro
is a company specializing in education on safe technology and products to protect consumers from
radiation. For more information go to www.saveyourbrain.info. Also, copies of the book Cellphones:
Invisible Hazard of the Wireless Age by Dr. George Carlo will be available for sale at the booth.
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(February 9, 2002)
31. Script from Dr George Carlo's meeting with Scrutiny Panel www.jerseymastconcern.co.
uk/drcarlotranscript.html
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Rats, Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 112, Number 6, May 2004.
33. 62nd annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, New Orleans, Oct. 21-25,
2006. Ashok Agarwal, PhD, director, Clinical Andrology Laboratory and Reproductive Tissue Bank; director
of research, Reproductive Research Center, The Cleveland Clinic. Rebecca Sokol, MD, PhD, president,
Society for Male Reproduction and Urology; professor of medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, Keck
School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
34. Mobiles may decrease men's fertility, www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article610494.ece
35. Dr. George Carlo, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age
An Insider’s Alarming Discoveries About Cancer and Genetic Damage.
36. Bioenergetics Institute, Energy Resonance Technology (ERT): A Targeted Intervention For Electro-
Magnetic Radiation (EMR) Induced Biological Effect. www.bioenergeticsinstitute.
com/Portals/0/Documents/Ungar2006ERTintervEMRbioeffectupdateCorrected.pdf
37. omega.twoday.net/20070223
38. www.safewireless.org
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42. Telephone interview with Dr. George Carlos.