Experts put a health warning on 'electrical allergy' advice

Dr Jill Meara

People who believe electricity makes them ill should be informed of ways to reduce their exposure to appliances such as computers and hairdryers, a senior government health adviser said yesterday.

Dr Jill Meara, of the Health Protection Agency, said that while there was no scientific evidence to show electrical sensitivity was real, those who thought they were sufferers should be advised to consider keeping their distance from electric devices.

However, the Department of Health immediately contradicted the advice and a series of scientists criticised the HPA for advising the public how to avoid health risks that had not been scientifically proven.

Dr Meara, the deputy director of the HPA's radiation protection division, said: "There is no proof that the symptoms are caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields, but people still have real symptoms.

"There is sufficient uncertainty that it is worth telling members of the public practical things they can do to reduce exposure in case they feel they are suffering from these fields.

"It would be things like making sure people are far away from their appliances and buying slightly more expensive [low power] hair dryers, unlike those tinny ones that teenagers use.

"It's not an easy thing to study in a lab as people who suffer from it are not comfortable in an environment with a lot of electrical equipment."

Sir Colin Berry

But Sir Colin Berry, emeritus professor of pathology at Queen Mary University, London, said: "If there is no scientific evidence that electrical devices are causing people harm, one should be extremely careful about giving advice to people about what to do. If people believe they are being harmed by something they must take their own steps to avoid them, but I don't think it should be part of government policy to advise them about it."

John Adams, professor of risk at UCL, said: "This is yet another example of the modern disease of compulsive risk assessment psychosis - otherwise known as Crap."

Some researchers believe some people suffer symptoms including fatigue, headaches and skin problems when exposed to electromagnetic fields. But mainstream scientific and medical opinion does not recognise electrical sensitivity as a real condition.

Dr James Rubin

A recent review of 30 studies into electrical sensitivity by Dr James Rubin at the King's College London School of Medicine found no evidence that electrical fields cause ill health.

This study and one being carried out at the University of Essex into whether attention span and memory are affected by exposure to a mobile phone mast have received £750,000 from the Government and telecommunications industry.

The Definition, Epidemiology and Management of Electrical Sensitivity report published yesterday was written by Dr Neil Irvine, an HPA epidemiologist in Belfast. He concluded that there was no proven scientific link between electromagnetic fields and ill health.

But the report found that for some people the symptoms were real and could have a big impact on their lives. It said some people were so badly affected that they were forced to move house, give up their jobs or move to remote areas.

Brian Stein

Brian Stein, 56, a businessman from Nottingham, began to get severe pains in his ear while using his mobile phone about four years ago. Now he cannot use a computer or a telephone for more than a few minutes or travel by modern car, electrified train or on long distance flights.

He had to drop out of the Essex University tests because they made him too ill.

He said yesterday: "The one thing the scientists and authorities don't want to do is talk to people like me who are affected. If they did they might find a way to prove that the condition is actually real."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1502186/Experts-put-a-health-warning-on-electrical-allergy-advice.html