Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Effective Analysis of Human Exposure Conditions with Body-worn Dosimeters in the 2.4 GHz Band
Published on: May 2, 2018
Increased concentrations of certain persistent organic pollutants in subjects with self-reported electromagnetic
Lennart Hardell1, Michael Carlberg, Fredrik Söderqvist
1Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden. lennart.hardell@orebroll.se
Abstract:
Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) is used for a variety of subjective symptoms related to exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF). The aim of this pilot study was to analyze the concentrations of certain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in subjects with self-reported EHS. In total, 13 EHS subjects and 21 controls were included, all female. The concentration of several POPs was higher in EHS subjects than in controls. Lower concentrations were found for hexachlorobenzene and two types of chlordanes. The only significantly increased odds ratios (ORs) were found for polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) #47 yielding OR=11.7, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.45-94.7 and the chlordane metabolite MC6 with OR=11.2, 95% CI=1.18-106. The results were based on low numbers and must be interpreted with caution. This hypothesis generating study indicates the necessity of a larger investigation on this issue.
