The CCARS questions the effectiveness of anti-electromagnetic field devices

16/02/2011

Imagen

  |  Source: CCARS

A position document produced by the CCARS questions the effectiveness of products and devices which are marketed with the alleged purpose of protecting people from electromagnetic fields. According to Doctor Francisco Vargas, the author of the document, the majority of anti-EMF products have not undergone any verifiable scientific tests conducted by recognised, competent, professional institutions. 



Doctor Vargas asserts in the document that "in the event that there were a study supporting the claims of a specific product, as a general rule, it must be remembered that one study alone cannot give us all the answers, and numerous research studies conducted over many years are required to establish the cause of illnesses". In this sense, the document points out in its conclusions that science requires time, rigorous work, and a certain sceptical attitude when evaluating research findings and, especially, when interpreting alarmist headlines in the media. 



According to Doctor Vargas, "with this attitude it will be easier for us to tell the difference between good science and hoaxes or swindles; and we will be better able to avoid being sold “magic solutions” which turn out to be useless for treating our ailments". The media often generate alarm when they give space to outlandish beliefs, conspiracy theories, miracle cures, diets or marketing campaigns for different products that are supposedly good for our health.

Meanwhile, on the Internet, thanks to the lack of content control, numerous devices are advertised which are designed, according to those who sell them, to treat or prevent the “harmful” effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

The author of the document states that it is surprising the amount of products advertised that take advantage of people’s ignorance regarding science, physics and medicine applied to electromagnetic fields. The lack of objective information and a mistaken idea of EMFs are being exploited in order to sell these gadgets; they promise to provide wellbeing or even to successfully treat illnesses the cause of which is unknown. 



According to Doctor Vargas, ignorance is exploited for profit as advantage is taken of people’s fear of EMFs, which are seen as a “strange, unknown and dangerous force”, and he adds that "people affected by certain illnesses are tempted to try these “alternative” methods, which are alien to conventional medicine, to see if they are actually effective".

The document points out that the list of these gadgets is very long: earrings, beds, bedspreads, paints, detergent, hair nets, bracelets, earphones, shields, neutralisers, etc.; the advertisers of these products claim that they improve well-being, protect against illness, or prevent numerous illnesses, including cancer, and they argue that they relieve all kinds of physical and mental ailments, and “prevent” general symptoms, such as fatigue, stress, tiredness, insomnia, etc.



According to the document’s conclusions, all these products that claim to have an almost omnipotent ability to prevent, cure or relieve all kinds of ailments or non-specific symptoms have not been submitted to reliable scientific tests to prove their actual effectiveness.