RF Children – Living among the waves series (part 4)

Living among the Waves  – a multipart series focusing on the electromagnetic environment and what that means for our health and well being.

Living among the waves series will heighten your awareness of the invisible, but real, affects of radio frequency radiation (RF).  We pass through countless electromagnetic fields (EMF) daily and perceive nothing.  Does that mean RF has no effect on our bodies and the bodies of our children either born or developing?  Is there a causal link between RF, EMF and illness?  If we want to make lifestyle changes to limit exposure, what should those changes be?

To answer these questions and more, it behooves us to understand what Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are and how they have become so prevalent in our lives.  Perhaps our embracing of this suite of technologies was a bit hasty.  Just because we can doesn’t mean that we should.

There are many biological pathways that are affected by non-ionizing EMF.  Voltage Controlled Calcium Gates (VCCG) that are perturbed by pulsed EMF is one of the more accepted pathways for damage.  VCCG’s are responsible for actively transporting Calcium ions across cellular membranes in support of signalling and regulation of cellular homeostasis.

Panagopoulos et al. in 2000 established repeated irregular gating of electro-sensitive ion channels disrupts the cellular electrochemical balance and homeostasis.  This leads to overproduction of reactive oxygen species(ROS).  He found that repeated exposure cascaded into numerous biological affects to include cell membrane weakening.  Ultimately ROS lead to the pathological state of oxidative stress essential in regulation of cancer progression.

This was not an unexpected finding, in that ROS are well understood to regulate every step of tumorigenesis and have been found to be upregulated in tumors and aberrant signaling.  Likewise, ROS, plays a significant role in the onset of diabetes and other neurodegenerative disease.  Repeated animal studies are consistent in their finding EMF exposure at very low ionization levels result in ROS.

The level of concern was amplified when it was determined that children with developing immune systems are more sensitive and consequently more vulnerable to ROS.

In 2020 the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences conducted research into the toxicology associated with Cellular radiation.  Stephanie L. Smith-Roe et al. tested two common radiofrequency modulations emitted by cellular telephones in a 2-year study.  Their study findings demonstrated exposure to EMF radiation is associated with an increase in DNA damage.

It comes as no surprise that children are more sensitive to environmental pollutants.  EMF radiation can be counted as one of those pollutants to which children are particularly sensitive.  As a population group their sensitivity begins in the womb where they are bombarded with EMF from their mother’s laptop, cell phone, and wireless networks that she moves between both at work and at home.

As a group, the present generation and future generations will be in an ever increasing bath of EMF radiation.  What effect this is having for the current generation can be measured and reported.  However, future generations in the Womb or yet-to-be conceived remain in a gray area of impact, due to the unknown policies that may be affected to protect against childhood EMF radiation.

Children should never be considered small adults.  They are uniquely children with a physiology that occupies a developing body.  Their bodies proportionately absorb greater amounts of EMF radiation.  One of the distinguishing differences between adults and children is the size of their heads.  Children have smaller heads with a developing cranium which results in shorter distances for EMF to travel to reach critical brain regions.

The pediatric cerebellum as it’s developing contains more fluid which enables it to absorb relatively more EMF radiation.  Simulations indicate a 10-fold increase in absorption of cell phone radiation in the cerebellum, the bone marrow of the skull, and up to a 30-fold greater absorption in the hippocampus.

The times when a child is most susceptible to EMF is during pregnancy, infancy, and childhood.  These are the times when the brain is growing rapidly.  Neuronal cell growth continues at a rapid pace until mid-life when the protective myelin sheath finally ceases its formation.  Mary Redmayne et al. in their study of EMF field exposure against the myelin sheath determined:

Overall, evidence from in vivo and in vitro and epidemiological studies suggests an association between RF-EMF exposure and either myelin deterioration or a direct impact on neuronal conduction, which may account for many electrohypersensitivity symptoms.

The impairment of myelin sheath development can have lifelong implications for neurodevelopment.

The emission tests of wireless devices use two methods to ascertain strength of the EMF.  These are discussed earlier.  The penetrating aspect of the wireless device is markedly different when considering an adult skull v. a child’s skull.  As mentioned above the child’s skull has a multi-fold increase in absorption as opposed to the adult skull.

The diagram shows 4 positions of skulls A,B,C,D, each position shows an adult male and a male child.  The grey rectangle shows the position of the cellphone to the skull.  Notice the intensity and coverage of the brain with EMF radiation.  The intensity and coverage of the entire cranium is more pronounced in the child than in the adult.

When considering the overall radiation absorption of a 6 year old using a tablet on a WiFi network the degree to which the face is bathed in EMF radiation is concerning.  In this diagram the wireless device is broadcasting using a 2.45 Ghz WiFi enabled tablet.  Notice the entire face is lit up as is the frontal lobe of the brain.

Prior to the pandemic research studies were conducted at the School of Public Health at UCLA.  The studies were focused on cell phones and behavioral problems in young children.  The studies found that exposure prenatally, and to a lesser degree postnatally was associated with behavioral difficulties including emotional and hyperactivity difficulties at school entry ages.

The effects of EMF on children in both the prenatal and postnatal periods are difficult to take in.  Especially when considering that it is us who might have adversely affected our most prized treasure.  Yet, it is never too late to take action.

First step if you are trying to get pregnant or are already pregnant – toss the wireless devices.   Devices like a laptop, cell phone, printer, and tablet are shown to adversely affect your baby.  If you need these devices to earn an income there are alternatives configurations you can explore.

Step one: wire the house for Ethernet.  add a network drop wherever you need to connect a computer or printer or phone.

Step two: turn off the radio portion of your network router.  If you are going to add network drops in rooms where you live and work, you don’t need the wireless portion of the router enabled.

Step three: turn off the wireless radio on your laptop and, if needed, purchase an Ethernet dongle to attach to your laptop.

Step four: buy an ip phone and contact 1-voip.com to buy or configure a phone you purchase.  You can use any ip phone service.  Do your research on quality of service before you commit.

Step five: Take notice of the wireless network at work.  If your employer requires you to use wireless equipment, have a chat with them and express your concerns about general health and the health of your baby.  Chances your employer isn’t aware of the health problems associated with wireless communications.

Step six: If you work in a building with cell phone antenna mounted  on it consider leaving or asking to work from home.  There is no safe place in the building where microwaves from the antenna cant find you.

Step seven: take notice of your friends and their phones and chat with them about what you have learned.  Educate educate educate.  Your friends will thank you.