What is Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity?

The term ‘electrical hypersensitivity’ was first used in 1989, while ‘electromagnetic hypersensitivity’ - EHS for short - was coined in 1994 to reflect sufferers’ sensitivity to magnetic as well as electric fields.

As early as the 1930s, however, EHS symptoms were observed in people working with radio and electricity, and with military radar in the 1940s.

Environmental EHS appeared in the general population from the 1970s with computers.

It increased in the 1980s with mobile and cordless phones, and with wifi from 2000.

Thousands of people are now linked with EHS support groups in 30 countries.The first started in Sweden in 1989; the UK group began in 2003.

Sweden recognised EHS as a functional disability in 2002. The Canadian Human Rights Commission did likewise in 2007.

In 2009, the European Parliament voted for persons with EHS to be recognised as disabled.

Despite having official recognition, many doctors still know little or nothing about the condition.

The NHS does not recognise it as an official condition and neither is it recognised as a disability in the UK.

Up to 5 per cent of the general population believe themselves to be affected by electro- or radiosensitivity and experience flu-like symptoms, headaches, lethargy and nausea when exposed to various electrical appliances.