A mother claims a Wi-Fi allergy killed her daughter and is accusing an Oxfordshire school of failing to safeguard children against the physical effects of wireless technology, an inquest has heard.
An inquest heard the teenager was intelligent and organised but that her life had been made a misery due to the prolonged effects of a condition known as electro-hypersensitivity (EHS).
The World Health Organisation does not characterise EHS as a medical diagnosis but does recognise the symptoms.
In a 2005 report, WHO concluded: “EHS is characterized by a variety of non-specific symptoms that differ from individual to individual. The symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity.
“Whatever its cause, EHS can be a disabling problem for the affected individual. EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure.
“Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem.”
Is EHS real?
‘Radiowave sickness’ was first named and described in 1932, with most of the early cases being discovered in military personnel.
In 2011, an American woman told of how she was forced to abandon her family farm in the state of Iowa and moved to Green Bank, West Virginia – a tiny village of 143 residents in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains.
Green Bank is part of the US Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless is banned across 13,000 sq miles (33,000 sq km) to prevent transmissions interfering with a number of radio telescopes in the area.
Diane Schou said the community enables her to escape symptoms such as red, itching skin, blurred vision and headaches.
However the condition is yet to be identified by official health bodies as a medical diagnosis. At present, there are no accepted research criteria other than ‘self-reported symptoms’, and for clinicians there is no case definition or clinical practice guideline.
Dr Jill Meara, Director of Public Health England’s (PHE) Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, said: “Public Health England is aware that some people report that they have symptoms that are brought on or made worse by exposure to electro-magnetic fields (EMF), so-called electrical sensitivity.
“The overall scientific evidence does not support the suggestion that such exposure causes acute symptoms or that some people are able to detect radiofrequency fields. Nevertheless effective treatments need to be found for these symptoms.”
However in August this year, a French court ruled that electromagnetic hypersensitivity to mobile and wifi waves is a “serious handicap”, setting a legal precedent that lawyers say could lead to “thousands” of claims.
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1 Comment
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mother claims wifi allergy killed her daughter and accuses school of failing to safeguard children
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12025988/Mother-claims-wifi-allergy-killed-her-daughter-and-accuses-school-of-failing-to-safeguard-children.html
A mother claims a Wi-Fi allergy killed her daughter and is accusing an Oxfordshire school of failing to safeguard children against the physical effects of wireless technology, an inquest has heard.
An inquest heard the teenager was intelligent and organised but that her life had been made a misery due to the prolonged effects of a condition known as electro-hypersensitivity (EHS).
The World Health Organisation does not characterise EHS as a medical diagnosis but does recognise the symptoms.
In a 2005 report, WHO concluded: “EHS is characterized by a variety of non-specific symptoms that differ from individual to individual. The symptoms are certainly real and can vary widely in their severity.
“Whatever its cause, EHS can be a disabling problem for the affected individual. EHS has no clear diagnostic criteria and there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to EMF exposure.
“Further, EHS is not a medical diagnosis, nor is it clear that it represents a single medical problem.”
Is EHS real?
‘Radiowave sickness’ was first named and described in 1932, with most of the early cases being discovered in military personnel.
In 2011, an American woman told of how she was forced to abandon her family farm in the state of Iowa and moved to Green Bank, West Virginia – a tiny village of 143 residents in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains.
Green Bank is part of the US Radio Quiet Zone, where wireless is banned across 13,000 sq miles (33,000 sq km) to prevent transmissions interfering with a number of radio telescopes in the area.
Diane Schou said the community enables her to escape symptoms such as red, itching skin, blurred vision and headaches.
However the condition is yet to be identified by official health bodies as a medical diagnosis. At present, there are no accepted research criteria other than ‘self-reported symptoms’, and for clinicians there is no case definition or clinical practice guideline.
Dr Jill Meara, Director of Public Health England’s (PHE) Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, said: “Public Health England is aware that some people report that they have symptoms that are brought on or made worse by exposure to electro-magnetic fields (EMF), so-called electrical sensitivity.
“The overall scientific evidence does not support the suggestion that such exposure causes acute symptoms or that some people are able to detect radiofrequency fields. Nevertheless effective treatments need to be found for these symptoms.”
However in August this year, a French court ruled that electromagnetic hypersensitivity to mobile and wifi waves is a “serious handicap”, setting a legal precedent that lawyers say could lead to “thousands” of claims.