Electromagnetic radiation from cell phones, Wi-Fi and other wireless gadgets are damaging human health like asbestos, smoking or lead poisoning once did, but this is covered up by industry, government and the media, said panelists at last weekend's Bioneers conference at the College of Santa Fe.

Camilla Rees, moderator of "Electromagnetic Factors in Health," said she moved to Santa Fe in February to escape electromagnetic fields from a wireless network in her apartment in the "high EMF environment" of downtown San Francisco.

While the electromagnetic radiation might have given her headaches, a disrupted gait and low productivity, she said, "I felt attached to the field like ... I didn't have complete control over my own will.

"Some of you may have had a touch of this if you've ever been at the computer when it's getting late and you know you should pull yourself away, but you can't."

No one at the panel discussion would be taken for a tinfoil-hat-wearing crazy, although among the 40 attendees was Bill Bruno, who wears a silver-coated nylon veil that he maintains shields him from electromagnetic signals. The Los Alamos researcher is among those who have objected to a Wi-Fi system at City Hall and have blocked, so far, such a system from being installed at the Main Library.

Saturday's panelists blamed exposure to electromagnetic frequencies for fatigue, sleep deprivation, depression, difficulty in concentration, memory loss, irritability, hearing loss, skin problems, dizziness, diabetes, immune system changes, hormonal imbalances, increased blood pressure, genetic damage, decreased sperm counts, ebbing libido, interpersonal problems, adult attention-deficit disorder, accelerated aging and cancer.

So far, the United States lags behind Europe, especially Scandinavia, in recognizing "the silent nightmare emerging in our world," Rees said. "We can't afford to be asleep at the switch if we care about the DNA of our species, about our quality of life and longevity, and about the skyrocketing health-care costs related to this issue."

Magda Havras, a professor of environmental science at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, said electromagnetic pollution has been growing for a century — power lines by 1900, radio in the '20s, radar in the '40s, television in the '50s, computers in the '70s, cell phones in the '80s and now a host of new wireless devices.

Increased cancer rates resulting from this isn't reported because of pressure from the powerful telecommunication, pharmaceutical, electric-utility, broadcasting and other industries, Havras said. The U.S. government's maximum-exposure level for microwave radiation is 200,000 times that of Austria, she said, adding some attribute the increase in breast cancer to microwaves concentrated in the underwire in bras.

Havras said tests have found rats exposed to radar in Italy have decreased fertility, German cows exposed to microwaves produce less milk, and 3 percent of Swedish residents exhibit symptoms of severe electric hypersensitivity. But in North America, she said, "unfortunately very few medical professionals recognize this. And when somebody comes to them with symptoms, they do testing on them, they can't find anything organically wrong, what they then claim is that this person has psychological problems — that's the fall-back position."

Gunnar Heuser, a physician from Southern California, said he specializes in "encephalopathy" from electromagnetic-radiation exposure. Symptoms, he said, are much like those that result from exposure to toxic chemicals.

Heuser said physicians need compassion to treat such patients, who can become worse just by driving by cell-phone towers and other electromagnetism emitters to reach their doctors. He said hyperbolic-oxygen treatments can aid in recovery, though the best medicine is getting away from electromagnetic frequencies and electricity in general. One such treatment clinic has been set up in Santa Barbara, Calif., but Wi-Fi is so ubiquitous in the modern world that it is no longer easy to find a motel room without it, he said.

More remedies were offered by Dan Stih, an aerospace engineer turned Santa Fe environmental consultant who wrote a book called Healthy Living Spaces. Although many people know cell phones can damage health, fewer know that cordless phones and Bluetooth headsets, with a lower energy level but higher frequency, can be more damaging, he said. Even compact fluorescent bulbs, which save electricity, and hybrid cars, which go farther on less fuel, emit more electromagnetism than their predecessors, he said.

Stih recommends using a land-line phone with a cord. When a cell phone is unavoidable, he said, use the speaker or "air tube" headsets. Stih said wired Ethernet systems emit less radiation and are more secure than wireless computer routers for Internet connections. He suggests clearing bedrooms of electronic clutter, eschewing electric blankets, replacing plug-in alarm clocks with battery-powered ones and simply turning off the lights when they are not needed.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.