In a time when environmental causes are getting noticed, it is important to raise awareness of each of the aspects that are affecting it and how to neutralize them. Electrosmog is definitely one of them, but we still have a challenge ahead: educating people on the matter and getting a real consensus meant to protect the environment while evolving technologically.
There’s not a single place in the globe that is electrosmog-free, not even the furthest places. We are carrying technologies with us everywhere, applying them to everything, and this is affecting several ecosystems and living creatures in many ways we are still not aware of.
The ecosystem in which we live provides natural services for humans and all other species that are essential to our health, quality of life, and survival. Nowadays, our ecosystems are being threatened by several factors, like climate change, diseases, and pollution, including electrosmog, that is literally an invisible threat to us and our environment.
Electrosmog is not a widely known problem, and there are also many people who rather not believe that it is a real problem, claiming that there is not enough evidence to confirm its harmful effects. These are just a couple of the many causes why electrosmog is not commonly mentioned as one of the many causes of environmental damage. But guess what? It might be one of the biggest problems we might face in the near future if we don’t start acting now.
The electrosmog problem
We are constantly exposed to electromagnetic influences, our species evolved inside electromagnetic fields, and they protected the balance in our nature. Natural electromagnetic fields, like the ones produced by the earth, are harmless and even life-supporting.
But with the increasing use of electricity and technologies, our natural environment has evolved into a network of different radiation sources. This is what we call electrosmog, also known as Electropollution, electromagnetic pollution, or EMF Pollution. This term refers to all man-made electromagnetic radiation generated by all the devices and machinery that works using electricity. You can’t see it or physically perceive it, but Electrosmog is created like bubbles around the electronic devices and is present in our surroundings. There are ways to measure it with special equipment.
Electrosmog has become a major public health concern, as it was classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B) by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) in 2011. Dr. Jonathan Samet (University of Southern California, USA), overall Chairman of the Working Group, indicated that “the evidence, while still accumulating, is strong enough to support a conclusion and the 2B classification. The conclusion means that there could be some risk, and therefore we need to keep a close watch for a link between cell phones and cancer risk.”
The environmental impact of electrosmog
The levels of static, electric, and magnetic fields in our environment have increased steadily over the past 50-100 years due to our increasing use of electricity. EMF emissions from man-made sources now exceed those from natural fields and are detectable everywhere in the world. Environmental EMF levels are still increasing as we keep developing major projects such as high voltage transmission lines, undersea power cables, radars, telecommunications and broadcast transmitters, and new transportation systems.
Electromagnetic pollution affects various elements of the environment, including all living organisms, no matter how small or big they are. For example, in the report The impacts of artificial Electromagnetic Radiation on wildlife (flora and fauna) made by the EKLIPSE Project, was stated that in plants (mainly angiosperms) “Significant changes have been demonstrated at cellular and molecular levels.”
“Changes in oxidative metabolism are quite often reported: increase in peroxidase activity, membrane state. Exposure to low level of 900 MHz (10 min, 5 V/m) caused a rapid increase in stress-related transcript accumulation in tomato… Terpene emission was reported to be enhanced by EMR and could also be considered as a marker of stress perception”, assert the report.
The presence of electrosmog is causing several problems in humans too, including a significant increase in the number of electrohypersensitive people, who are feeling actual physical symptoms due to the constant exposure to it. Children are also severely affected by electrosmog. Considering that their immune system, bones, and tissues are weaker and more sensitive, they receive a higher impact. It has been proven that children exposed to radiofrequency during pregnancy and their first years of life are prone to develop behavior and attention problems.
Several species are also being affected
As we explained in our article The bees are disappearing: Why should you be worried about this?, bees, the top important animal for human and many species sustainability, are endangered and one of the main causes is electrosmog. They, like many other animals, are very sensitive to EMF and, according to studies, show a significant change of behavior when exposed.
Also, in a report made by the European Commission, was found that there was a correlation between EMF exposure and the disappearance of some bird species in certain areas, like the house sparrow population in urban areas. They stated that studies have given an indication that exposure of wild birds to EMF can, under certain circumstances, change their behavior, reproductive success, growth and development, physiology and endocrinology, and/or the parameters of oxidative stress.
According to the paper The Influence of Electromagnetic Pollution on Living Organisms: Historical Trends and Forecasting Changes, the Land Snail is another animal that generated particular interest in researchers, as they were concerned with the resting potential of its nerve cells when exposed to magnetic fields and electromagnetic radiation. “It was found that hyperpolarization of nerve cells results in changes in resting potential… this effect was only observed in the case of electromagnetic fields.”
The Clawed Frog also helped in numerous attempts to investigate the influence of electromagnetic fields in living organisms. The same paper states that, in 2010, Severini conducted research on the influence of weak electromagnetic fields on this frog development capacity. In the experiment, tadpoles were exposed to electromagnetic field of frequency of 50 Hz and the intensity within the range from 50.76 A·m−1 to 60.69 A·m−1 for 60 days. As a result, it was observed that the average growth rate of exposed individuals decreased in comparison with a control group.
Other species, including bacterias, plants, and mammals are actively being studied to understand the non-thermal effects EMF could have in their development, bodily functions, and behaviors in the short and long term.
Sustainable technologies
To fight the threats our environment is facing now, we have been using the sustainability concept; which focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Under this concept, we have started building, manufacturing, eating, and producing sustainably; but in the case of technology, which is indeed being used in many of these sustainable activities, how do we make it “sustainable”?
First, it is important to understand that everything that uses electricity is emitting radiation, no matter what its purpose is. Also, we have to be aware that the impact of many devices working at the same time is bigger than a single device working alone. Lastly, as we are connecting more and more things to the internet and to each other, we have to highlight that one of the main sources of EMF pollution is telecommunications, and the many WiFi signals present everywhere.
Having that in mind, how do we make our technologies more sustainable without regressing? Is there a way to stop electrosmog without stopping the use and development of technologies? Fortunately, there is a way and we are still on time to take action.
For decades, many studies have shown the potential dangers of electrosmog exposure in humans, animals, and the environment itself, but, in spite of that, there is a lack of consensus in the scientific community, as well as health professionals, governments, and industries. This lack of consensus has delayed a mutual agreement in creating healthier, cleaner, and friendlier standards for new technologies, which is completely possible.
Nowadays, there are tests and specific norms that regulate the manufacture of certain devices, such as the SAR test in cellphones. But the permitted levels of radiation considered in the actual norms are high enough to cause biological effects and might cause important long-term effects according to the Reported Biological Effects from Radiofrequency Radiation at Low-Intensity Exposure chart, released by the Bioinitiative report.
However, this is not only about changing the levels currently allowed in SAR tests for cell phones, the core problem is related to a lack of understanding regarding the athermic effects of near-field exposure from electronic devices. There’s also a common misunderstanding related to the subtle electromagnetic disturbances from far-field exposure, which is the microwave radiation on the background, or the so-called background levels. We need to consider new standard tests including this type of Electromagnetic exposure too.
This means that, for this sustainable clean technologies standard we are looking for, the first thing we have to achieve is a real awareness in all competent parts to review the norms and current standards established for those technologies we use. After that, we have to work on creating new technologies or solutions to make them human and environment friendly. In short, we have to create devices that are harmless in the short and long term.
Our proposed solutions
At NOXTAK, we have been researching for years the EMF pollution phenomenon and its repercussions on health, the environment, and even in the many devices that we generally use. In those years of study and experimentation, we created SPIRO: the only scientifically proven, certified, and non-blocking solution that filters artificial EMF and makes it behave just as the natural fields produced by the earth, eliminating the harmful effects of electrosmog.
The creation of SPIRO made us understand there were better ways to continue using technologies without the need to block the waves and without risks to our health or the environment, so we started promoting the creation of an independent organization that, together with experts on the subject, will carry out awareness-raising activities, research, and the creation of a new standard of clean technologies. Thus was born the EFEIA (Electrosmog Free Environments International Association).
In the article EFEIA: An initiative to promote an electrosmog-free world, Joaquín Machado, NOXTAK’s CEO and EFEIA Founder, defined EFEIA as “a non-profit association that is creating a research platform for case studies and to generate a global census of electrohypersensitivity. In other words, it is an association that, in its own way, protects technologies and controls electrosmog under a non-blocking approach.”
Machado also claimed that the purpose of this association is to promote an electrosmog-free world through the creation of electro-healthy spaces and technologies. “We also want to protect from electrosmog the largest number of apiaries in the world in the shortest time possible and promote a global census of EHS (Electrohypersensitivity), as well as promote case studies of passive protection EHE (Electro-Healthy Environment) to people with EHS through of clean technologies certified EHD (Electro-Healthy Device).”
NOXTAK is also impulsung the GEMS project, which is dedicated to promote and install a new global EMF monitoring system to measure the mentioned far-field exposure everywhere. This will help in future long-term environmental studies that will help us understand the real threat this type of artificial radiation is to the delicate balance of our natural ecosystems and all species.
We invite you to learn more about SPIRO and all the solutions we have created based on this technology by browsing through our portal. If you are interested in receiving more information like this, subscribe to our newsletter by filling out the form at the bottom of this page!