According to a story covered by the BBC earlier this week, an estimated five percent of Americans are suffering from EHS (Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity) and suffer from symptoms like headaches, muscle twitching, skin burning and constant pain due to electromagnetic fields created by devices such as computers and mobile phones. While the medical community is still debating the validity of EHS, this hasn’t stopped people from flocking to Green Bank, West Virginia, an extremely small town located in the Allegheny Mountains. Green Bank is safe to live within for EHS victims as it is located within US Radio Quiet Zone, an area that bans wireless signals to prevent interference with several radio telescopes in the vicinity. The radio telescopes are owned by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory as well as the U.S. military for use in the spy network.
One victim that recently moved to Green Bank had suffered from the symptoms for so long that her husband constructed a Faraday Cage for her to live within. The design of a Faraday Cage restricts radio waves from entering and the woman slept within the enclosure to preserve her health. However, scientists that have run tests on Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity don’t believe that the symptoms are directly caused by the electromagnetic waves and the World Health Organization doesn’t recognize EHS as a medical diagnosis. Many scientists believe that the amount of radiation given off by electronic devices is far too small to create problems with humans.
Sweden is the only country in the world that officially recognizes Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity as a medical problem. People in the United States that believe they are suffering from these issues can attempt to move to remote locations, but are likely to find cell towers constructed nearby at some point as companies like AT&T and Verizon compete to cover more landscape with signals for mobile phones.
