Arther Firstenberg, author of "The Invisible Rainbow", provides evidence that that's not the case. From the book:
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“Anxiety disorder,” afflicting one-sixth of humanity, did not exist before the 1860s, when telegraph wires first encircled the earth. No hint of it appears in the medical literature before 1866.
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Firstenberg, Arthur. The Invisible Rainbow (p. 2). Chelsea Green Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Another passage further in:
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It is easy to calculate, using these simple assumptions, that the electric fields beneath the earliest telegraph wires were up to 30,000 times stronger than the natural electric field of the earth at that frequency.
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Source:
Firstenberg, Arthur. The Invisible Rainbow (p. 53). Chelsea Green Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Okay. This is the old 'electromagnetic fields are killing us' crap.
Telegraph systems may use thousands of volts or operate with only a few volts. Some operate with only millivolts.
ALL such systems do produce magnetism AND electromagnetic waves, or light. This light is a VERY low frequency, far below even infrared light. At these frequencies, people are transparent. The light passes right through them and does not interact with any tissue. Indeed, such low frequencies will pass right through the Earth. It is also transparent at those frequencies.
As frequencies increase, you starting getting into radio frequencies. These also do not interact with the body, which is still transparent to those frequencies.
Direct current has no frequency and does not emit electromagnetic waves. Just magnetism.
Power companies routinely distribute power at either 50Hz or 60Hz, well below any radio wave. Again, the electromagnetic wave at 50 or 60Hz passes right through the body. Human tissue is completely transparent to this frequency of light. These power companies and interconnect operators routinely work around very high voltages. They experience no greater rate of disease or infection than the general population that doesn't work around such high voltages. Indeed, several remote tribes that live nowhere near any power line or power station suffer higher rates of disease and infections (due to living in primitive conditions).
Earth's magnetic field (and corresponding electric field) has no frequency.
Anxiety certainly did exist before 1860. I'll leave it to you to imagine the anxiety caused by the Black Death all around you, or the fall of Rome, or just getting through a harsh winter. I might point out the War of Secession itself, or the anxiety experienced by the slaves, whipped for the slightest mistake as well.
There ARE some frequencies of light absorbed by human tissue. One of these is infrared light. People both emit and absorb infrared light.
Eyesight works because human tissue is absorbing visible light. This absorption triggers a nerve response in the retina.
UV-a light is absorbed as well, causing pigment in each skin cell to orient itself to protect the nucleus like an umbrella. This gives us a 'tan'.
UV-b light is somewhat dangerous. Most is filtered out by oxygen (turning it into ozone). Some does still reach the surface. This causes more immediate damage to human tissue when absorbed, resulting in what we call 'sunburn'.
UV-c light is very dangerous! None reaches the ground. It is all filtered out by ozone (turning it into oxygen). Absorption of UV-c light causes severe 'burn' like damage and possible permanent blindness.
Xrays are also absorbed by human tissue. This frequency is also dangerous in high doses. Xray technicians carefully monitor the dosage received when recording an image.
The higher the frequency, the more energy in the photon (Planck's law). Absorbing energetic photons CAN cause damage. Absorbing visible light or less at the levels emitted by our Sun causes no damage. One exception is looking directly at the Sun, which will focus a spot of intense infrared light on the retina, cooking it just like a bug under a magnifying glass. The resulting damage can be permanent, causing blindness.
So much for the 'killer power line radiation' religion.
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