Study Links Electromagnetic Ills To Ozone

Based on experiments involving rats and ozone, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have identified a chemical reaction that may explain higher rates of illness observed among some people exposed to strong electromagnetic fields such as those produced by high-voltage power lines, reports The Montreal Gazette from a story originally appearing in the Seattle-Intelligencer.

The findings may also bode ill for those “negative-ion” air fresheners so popular as a health-inducing gizmo for home and office.

While some epidemiological studies have found higher rates of cancer or other illnesses among those exposed to strong electromagnetic fields, Steven Goheen, an analytical chemist at the lab, said no studies have been able to suggest a cause.

His idea centers on ozone, a chemical in the air made of three oxygen molecules rather than the “normal” pair that make up the oxygen we breathe.

Negative-ion air generators usually don’t produce much ozone and there is evidence that negative ions clean the air and may provide health benefits. But these devices produce the negative ions by what is known as a “corona discharge,” a continuous release of electrons and charged molecules. When an animal is put close to this electron flow within a strong electric field, ozone levels skyrocket. High-voltage power lines sometimes produce corona discharges as well.

“We have been looking in the wrong place,” Goheen says. Scientists looking for the health effects of EMFs were looking for toxic chemicals or changes inside the body, he said, when the likely culprit was in the air surrounding the body.

In fact, he suggests it is the body itself, when exposed to the strong EMFs, that generates a personal, toxic cloud of ozone.