EMF Cause Ringing In the Ears?
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Can EMF cause ringing in the ears?
Some individuals have reported a wide range of non-specific health problems that they attribute to low-level exposure of electromagnetic fields (EMF). The symptoms most commonly reported include headaches, body pain, lethargy, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), nausea, burning sensation, heart arrhythmia and anxiety.
EMF Radiation Sources
Anything that uses or transports electricity generates an electromagnetic field, including high voltage power lines, household appliances, radios, televisions, cordless telephones, cell phones and towers, computers, and microwave ovens. The frequencies of these fields vary by the source, but most fall within the GHz (gigahertz) ranges employed by cell phones and Wi-Fi systems.
Cells in our bodies generate their own small fields. Neurons (nerve cells) and muscle cells pass information from cell to cell using small electrical charges, or microvoltages. External electromagnetic fields can interfere with these signals.
Self-reported rates of EMF hypersensitivity vary from 1.5% in Sweden, where the condition is officially recognized as a disability, to 3% in Calfornia, 4% in the UK, and 5% in Switzerland. (1)
In Sweden employers and building owners are expected to rectify EMF problems, and sufferers are entitled to disability benefits. The Canadian Human Rights Commission also considers EMF hypersensitivity an environmental sensitivity and a disability.
EMF and Tinnitus
Recently, German scientists studied the relationship between electromagnetic fields (EMF) and tinnitus in a 2009 study. Tinnitus occurrence and tinnitus severity were assessed by questionnaires in 89 electromagnetic hypersensitive and 107 controls matched for age, gender, living surroundings, and workplace. Tinnitus was significantly more frequent in the electromagnetic hypersensitive group (50.72 percent vs. 17.5 percent), whereas tinnitus duration and severity did not differ between groups.
The researchers concluded, “Tinnitus is associated with subjective electromagnetic hypersensitivity. An individual vulnerability probably due to an over-activated cortical distress network seems to be responsible for both. Hence, therapeutic efforts should focus on treatment strategies (e.g. cognitive behavioral therapy) aiming at normalizing this dysfunctional distress network.
Microwave Hearing
The microwave auditory effect, also known as the microwave hearing effect, consists of audible clicks (or, with modulation, whole words) induced by pulsed/modulated microwave frequencies. The sounds are generated directly inside the human head without the need of any receiving electronic device. The effect was first reported by persons working in the vicinity of radar transponders during World War II. These induced sounds are not audible to other people nearby.
Many people improve when the offending RF source is removed from their environment.
Negative EMF Hypersensitivity Studies
Two systematic reviews of EMF hypersensitivity were performed in 2005 and 2008. The 2005 review concluded, “Electromagnetic hypersensitivity is unrelated to the presence of EMF, although more research into this phenomenon is required’” (2) The 2008 study found “no evidence that EMF hypersensitive individuals could detect presence or absence of RF-EMF better than other persons.” (3)
These studies both found that participants who claim EMF hypersensitivity were unable to discern when EMF radiation was present and when it was not. I have no way to determine whether these studies were conducted in isolation from background EMF interference; this was not discussed in the abstracts or conclusions. But if they were conducted in hospitals or clinics, the results are problematic. Such facilities are full of equipment which generates electromagnetic fields, from wiring to imaging equipment. Studies should be conducted far away from any background EMF contamination.
Studies Supporting EMF Hypersensitivity
More recent studies connect EMF hypersensitivity with numerous symptoms, prominently including tinnitus. In one study more than half the subjects with self-reported EMF hypersensitivity also reported tinnitus which disrupted sleep and work. (4) Other symptoms included fatigue, nausea, headaches, loss of memory and concentration, skin problems, insomnia, seizures, and dizziness – and perhaps also cancer, ADD, migraines, arrhythmia, and Parkinson’s disease.
An early study by William Rea, MD, and his associates at the Environmental Health Center in Dallas, Texas, found an effective way to evaluate EMF hypersensitivity in patients. (5) In this case, monitoring devices were used to ensure that extraneous EMF would not interfere with the tests.
One hundred patients who complained of EMF hypersensitivity across frequencies ranging from 0 to 5 MHz were tested. Twenty-five patients responded to the presence of fields and did not respond to bogus or empty fields. These were then included in a study, along with 25 volunteers who did not complain of hypersensitivity. None of the volunteers responded to the presence or absence of fields, but 16 of the EMF-sensitive patients (64%) had positive signs and symptoms.
When these 16 patients were then re-exposed to the frequencies to which they were most sensitive in the earlier phase, they detected the presence of EMF 100% of the time, and all of the placebo tests were negative. The test was repeated with the same results. The authors concluded, “This study gives strong evidence that electromagnetic field sensitivity exists and can be elicited under environmentally controlled conditions.”
In a double-blind study where outside electrical fields were strictly controlled, a single female physician, who was self-diagnosed with EMF hypersensitivity, developed temporal pain, headache, muscle twitching, and skipped heartbeats within 100 seconds of exposure to a typical environmental field of 60 Hz and 300 V/m. (6) Turning the field on and off controlled the symptoms. Her somatic reactions to EMF exposure were statistically reliable.
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