Convenience at the Cost of Human Health and Wellness, Dr. Paul Héroux—Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health at McGill University

The development of power systems and wireless technology has without a doubt revolutionized human life and activity, in many ways for the better. But these technological advents have been made possible only with the use of non-natural electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation—a type of radiation that exists somewhere between the natural, nearly static magnetic field of the Earth and the extremely fast field generated by the sun. Over the past few decades, humans have increased levels of non-natural EMF by a very large factor of about 1.0×1018 (that's one with 18 zeros behind it!). The question naturally arises: when such a significant change is thrust upon the environment of living systems, how will those living systems respond?

This is the question that Dr. Paul Héroux from the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health at McGill University has been trying to answer through a series of experiments in his lab. He has shown that when these fields are eliminated from and then reintroduced to the environment of biological cells, there is a very clear and decisive response by those cells. Specifically, he explains that low-frequency magnetic fields which are contained in power systems fields and cell phone signals directly influence cancer cells of all types by generating free radicals. In addition to cancer, there are numerous conditions and diseases that are very sensitive to free radicals, including infertility, Alzheimer's, diabetes, and Parkinson's. As our environment has becoming increasingly enriched with non-natural EMF radiation over the past century, these conditions and diseases have become increasingly common.

Dr. Héroux explains the precise biological mechanism triggered by exposure to this type of radiation, referring to multiple recent studies supporting the hypothesis that technology radiation is having an impact on our cells, and not a beneficial one. These studies, however, won't be given much credit by the industry supporting technological products. "Industry likes to push the bar of proof very, very high…but industry is not a specialist in health, industry is a specialist in making product and making profit…but while this happens, people can get sick and people can die from the exposure," says Dr. Héroux. So, what's the solution? While any solution will first necessitate industry's acknowledgement of the problem, Dr. Héroux lists several simple ways of reducing or eliminating exposure. Tune in to learn what they are and what you can do to start mitigating your exposure today.