Abstract: From his experience, Dr. Milham explains how student behavior, symptoms of ADD and ADHD are influenced by electromagntic fields created by dirty electricity. He notes three studies supporting his claims as well as evidence from an Amish community where no cases of ADHD have been diagnosed. Before children are treated with drugs for ADHD, the dirty electricity levels in their homes and school environments should first be examined and reduced if needed.
Tags: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Electrical Pollution, Dirty Electricity, Fluorescent Lights, Cell Phone Towers, Cancer Cluster, High Frequency Voltage Transients, Graham/Stetzer Microsurge Meter, Old Order Amish.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Dirty Electricity
Samuel Milham MD, MPH
Retired Washington State Dept. of Health, 2318 Gravelly Beach Loop NW, Olympia WA 98502, [email protected], (360) 866-0256
Abbreviations: RF = radio frequency, ADHD = attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Proprietary information: Stetzerizer Microsurge meter, Stetzerizer filters, Available from www.stetzerelectric.com
I have no financial interest or conflict of interest.
In February 2010, while studying a cancer cluster in teachers at a California elementary school, a fourth grade teacher complained that her students were hyper-active and un-teachable. The classroom levels of high frequency voltage transients (dirty electricity) in the radio frequencies (RF) between 4 and 100 kHz, measured in the outlets of her classroom with a Graham/Stetzer Microsurge meter were very high. Dirty electricity is a term coined by the electrical utilities to describe electrical pollution contaminating the 60 Hz electricity on the electrical grid. A cell phone tower on campus a few feet from this classroom and unshielded fluorescent lights both contributed to the electrical pollution in this room. Cell tower transmitters, like most modern electrical equipment, operate on direct current. The electrical current brought to the tower is alternating current which needs to be changed to direct current. This is done by a switching power supply. These devices interrupt the AC current and are the likely source of the dirty electricity. On a Friday afternoon after school, I filtered the five outlets in this room with Graham/Stetzer plug-in capacitive filters, reducing the measured dirty electricity in the room wiring from over 5,000 Graham/Stetzer units to less than 50 units. With no change in either the lighting or the cell tower radiation, the teacher reported an immediate dramatic improvement in the behavior of her students in the following week. They were calmer, paid more attention, and were teachable all week except for Wednesday when they spent part of the day in the library.
In his 1973 book, Health and Light 1, John N. Ott described a 1973 study of four first grade classrooms in a windowless Sarasota, Florida, school. Two of the rooms had standard white fluorescent lighting, and the other two had full spectrum fluorescent lighting with a grounded aluminum wire screen to remove the RF produced by fluorescent bulbs and ballasts. Concealed time-lapse cameras recorded student behavior in classrooms for four months. In the unshielded rooms the first graders developed, “...nervous fatigue, irritability, lapses of attention, and hyperactive behavior.” “...students could be observed fidgeting to an extreme degree, leaping from their seats, flailing their arms, and paying little attention to their teachers.” In the RF-shielded rooms, “Behavior was entirely different. Youngsters were calmer and far more interested in their work.”
The Old Order Amish live without electricity. A pediatric group practice in Jasper, Indiana, which cares for more than 800 Amish families has not diagnosed a single child with ADHD 2. Dozens of cases of childhood ADHD have been “cured” with no further need for drugs by simply changing their electrical environments 3.
Before children are treated with drugs for ADHD, the dirty electricity levels in their homes and school environments should first be examined and reduced if needed.
References
1. Ott, JN. Health and Light. Ariel Press Columbus, Ohio-Atlanta, Georgia 1973. Afterword: 200-204.
2. Ruff, ME. Attention deficit disorder and stimulant use: an epidemic of modernity.” Clin Pediatr (Phila) 2005 Sep; 44(7):557-63.
3. Stetzer, D. Personal communication, www.Stetzerelectric.com.