Wifi Allergies

[kblessinggr]

Wi-Fi 'allergies' leave man homeless – SciTechBlog - CNN.com Blogs

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports a man claiming to suffer from electromagnetic sensitivity is suing his neighbor for refusing to disconnect her electronic devices.


Santa Fe, New Mexico resident Arthur Firstenberg claims that his neighbor Raphaela Monribot's use of electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, compact fluorescent lights and dimmer rheostats is aggravating his "electromagnetic sensitivity" and causing him to get sick.

"Within a day of [Monribot] moving in, I began to feel sick when I was in my house," Firstenberg writes in his affidavit. "The electric meter for my house is mounted on [Monribot's] house. Electromagnetic fields emitted in [Monribot's] house are transmitted by wire directly into my house."

A request for preliminary injunction claims Fristenberg's condition has left him homeless. Fristenberg "cannot stay in a hotel, because hotels and motels all employ wi-fi connections, which trigger a severe illness. If [Firstenberg] cannot obtain preliminary relief, he will be forced to continue to sleep in his car, enduring winter cold and discomfort, until this case can be heard."

The Santa Fe New Mexican notes "Firstenberg's motion is accompanied by dozens of notes from doctors, some dating back more than a decade, about his sensitivities."

...

However, scientific studies such as this 2005 trial at the Psychiatric University Hospital in Germany suggest electromagnetic sensitivity is strictly a psychosomatic disorder.

The major study endpoint was the ability of the subjects to differentiate between real magnetic stimulation and a sham condition. There were no significant differences between groups in the thresholds, neither of detecting the real magnetic stimulus nor in motor response.

We found no objective correlate of the self perception of being "electrosensitive." Overall, our experiment does not support the hypothesis that subjectively electrosensitive patients suffer from a physiological hypersensitivity to EMFs or stimuli.

Course in my opinion, while it is true that someone can have adverse reaction to electromagnetic discharge, it would usually have to be much higher, like sitting next to a fuse box while you work on the computer all day.

I also have to wonder if he lived in an extremely remote area prior to moving there, otherwise he would have had those experiences everywhere.

 

[SpamHat]

Even if it can be proved that he is suffering from this he won't get squat.

He moved "into the nuisance" (or some similar legal phrase).

If the neighbour had setup the wifi AFTER this guy moved in then he might have a change at suing or getting it removed.

Also, if he knew that he had "electromagnetic sensitivity" then he should have moved to the country

 

[zimok]

He should build a Faraday cage to sit in and cry about his sensitivities.

BTW, talking about sensitivities, can anyone else hear high pitched noises coming off virtually every appliance, especially UPS/Power adapters?

I can't wait until my ears deteriorate so I can have peace.

 

[mumblejae]

that's such a load of bullshit. there's FAR more high-output spectrum being blasted through your cells consistently than that of a neighbor's wifi connection. Try going up a cell tower and getting a nosebleed

 

[Insomniac]

I had a taxi driver in SF request I turn off my cell because "it would make him sick." Bullshit.

 

[Fatbat]

He moved "into the nuisance" (or some similar legal phrase).

If the neighbour had setup the wifi AFTER this guy moved in then he might have a change at suing or getting it removed.

It was his neighbor that moved in, not the other way around. The plaintiff already lived in his home when the guy with all the emf emitting gear moved in.

Still a bunch of bullshit, but whatever.

 

[erect]

I can't wait until my ears deteriorate so I can have peace.

Peace is an understatement.

Ok, so I miss a few things that I'd prefer to not hear anyways. The only issue is with movie/tv volume ... it's uncomfortable for daughter I'm sure.

It also makes waking up to alarm clocks a bitch (which I occasionally have to do)

I love being partially deaf!!!

 

[SilentPen]

Peace is an understatement.

Ok, so I miss a few things that I'd prefer to not hear anyways. The only issue is with movie/tv volume ... it's uncomfortable for daughter I'm sure.

It also makes waking up to alarm clocks a bitch (which I occasionally have to do)

I love being partially deaf!!!

That's why you need a Screaming Meanie.

 

[kblessinggr]

Peace is an understatement.

Ok, so I miss a few things that I'd prefer to not hear anyways. The only issue is with movie/tv volume ... it's uncomfortable for daughter I'm sure.

It also makes waking up to alarm clocks a bitch (which I occasionally have to do)

I love being partially deaf!!!

So what's your level of loss? mine is border-line profound. Makes getting a "real" job a complete bitch, though they'll never admit thats why they didn't hire you.

 

[kblessinggr]

That's why you need a Screaming Meanie.

My birthday is coming up on 3/3 btw...

 

[c0c4in3]

pretty fucked up bro

 

[cheshire]

So his neighbor is supposed to live like a cave man with no Internet, lights, or communication whatsoever? Fuck this guy, if I lived next door I'd put a high gain antenna on my house and blast radio waves through his home day and night.

If your weak body can't handle living in society maybe you should be the one living in a cave, not the other way around.

Cheshire

 

[papajohn56]

if he's allergic to WiFi, then he's allergic to visible light, cell phones, analog TV, radio waves..etc. Light is light. it's just a different frequency and wavelength. hope he doesn't go out in the sun any time soon

 

[erect]

So what's your level of loss? mine is border-line profound. Makes getting a "real" job a complete bitch, though they'll never admit thats why they didn't hire you.

~60% in my right ear
~30% in my left

No hearing aids or anything, I've just gotten really good at reading lips. Anything someone says in another room is just a mumble. Background noise makes communication difficult at times. No serious issues though.

Yea, I'm glad I don't have to deal with the 9-5 ... meetings used to really screw with me.

I've seen ENT doctors a few years ago and they said surgery was an option but 20% of the time I would lose 100% of my hearing ... fuck that. Doctors say I can hear better through the bone behind my ear (skull) than through my ear canal.

On the other hand, I'm writing a book "Things Josh thought he heard" ... guaranteed best seller!

 

[amateursurgeon]

He should build a Faraday cage to sit in and cry about his sensitivities.

BTW, talking about sensitivities, can anyone else hear high pitched noises coming off virtually every appliance, especially UPS/Power adapters?

I can't wait until my ears deteriorate so I can have peace.

No, no you won't.

When your ears deteriorate you'll probably have tinnitus.

Think the high pitched noises, but ALL THE FUCKING TIME. :disgust:

That's been my experience anyhow.

 

[papajohn56]

No, no you won't.

When your ears deteriorate you'll probably have tinnitus.

Think the high pitched noises, but ALL THE FUCKING TIME. :disgust:

That's been my experience anyhow.

did you go to a lot of loud concerts, or were around gunfire, jets taking off, etc? play an instrument? or just listen to your headphones too loud

 

[amateursurgeon]

if he's allergic to WiFi, then he's allergic to visible light, cell phones, analog TV, radio waves..etc. Light is light. it's just a different frequency and wavelength. hope he doesn't go out in the sun any time soon

Not strictly true - different wavelengths of energy penetrate your body and affect your biochemistry differently.

IE - otherwise xrays would boil water, and light would be able to cause DNA damage evern if you were standing in the shade.

 

[papajohn56]

Not strictly true - different wavelengths of energy penetrate your body and affect your biochemistry differently.

IE - otherwise xrays would boil water, and light would be able to cause DNA damage evern if you were standing in the shade.

this is true, but one can't be "allergic" to them. they cause different reactions within the body for different reasons, but light is still light. an allergic reaction is due to the body being unable to process something, or rejecting it - not sure how you could reject one photon, but not another.

 

[amateursurgeon]

this is true, but one can't be "allergic" to them. they cause different reactions within the body for different reasons, but light is still light. an allergic reaction is due to the body being unable to process something, or rejecting it - not sure how you could reject one photon, but not another.

It's not really about rejecting photons, it's about the interaction of the microwaves with your cells.

Microwaves could potentially cause an allergic reaction because they are

a. capable of passing through your body (they have enough energy) and
b. can interact with molecules like water, fats and carbohydrate because of something called a dipole moment to cause dielectric heating. Which my physics is too shoddy to be able to explain properly, but it basically results in heating shit via electromagnetism rather than thermal energy like infrared.

That's how they heat food.

Light can't do that because it can't penetrate tissue unless it's at a very high power (ie the Sun), and it isn't the right wavelength to cause dielectric heating.

So it's theoretically possible that wifi could be passing through this man's body, and interfering with the biochemistry of his immune system enough to cause an allergy.

There are are some papers that support this claim, like:

Microwaves from GSM mobile telephones affect 53BP1... [Environ Health Perspect. 2005] - PubMed result

However the interaction of electromagnetic energy and our bodies is very contentious, and you can pretty much find papers to support any position you choose to take.

So, it's probably BS in this case

EDIT - found another paper

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...ed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=18

In that one, they found from effect of 50Hz waves too, suggesting that it could be electromagnetic interaction rather than heating.

 

[papajohn56]

It's not really about rejecting photons, it's about the interaction of the microwaves with your cells.

Microwaves could potentially cause an allergic reaction because they are

a. capable of passing through your body (they have enough energy) and
b. can interact with molecules like water, fats and carbohydrate because of something called a dipole moment to cause dielectric heating. Which my physics is too shoddy to be able to explain properly, but it basically results in heating shit via electromagnetism rather than thermal energy like infrared.

That's how they heat food.

Light can't do that because it can't penetrate tissue unless it's at a very high power (ie the Sun), and it isn't the right wavelength to cause dielectric heating.

So it's theoretically possible that wifi could be passing through this man's body, and interfering with the biochemistry of his immune system enough to cause an allergy.

There are are some papers that support this claim, like:

Microwaves from GSM mobile telephones affect 53BP1... [Environ Health Perspect. 2005] - PubMed result

However the interaction of electromagnetic energy and our bodies is very contentious, and you can pretty much find papers to support any position you choose to take.

So, it's probably BS in this case

EDIT - found another paper

915 MHz microwaves and 50 Hz magnetic field affect... [Bioelectromagnetics. 2005] - PubMed result

In that one, they found from effect of 50Hz waves too, suggesting that it could be electromagnetic interaction rather than heating.

Thing is though, if this was true, cordless phones would have caused the same problem. Many of them are the same frequency as wifi.