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2013
http://informahealthcare.com/ebm
ISSN: 1536-8378 (print), 1536-8386 (electronic)
Electromagn Biol Med, Early Online: 1–4
!
2013 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. DOI: 10.3109/15368378.2013.783853
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Evidence that dirty electricity is causing the worldwide epidemics of
obesity and diabetes
Samuel Milham
Retired Washington State Department of Health, Olympia, WA, USA
Abstract
The epidemics of obesity and diabetes most apparent in recent years had their origins with
Thomas Edison’s development of distributed electricity in New York City in 1882. His original
direct current (DC) generators suffered serious commutator brush arcing which is a major
source of high-frequency voltage transients (dirty electricity). From the onset of the electrical
grid, electrified populations have been exposed to dirty electricity. Diesel generator sets are a
major source of dirty electricity today and are used almost universally to electrify small islands
and places unreachable by the conventional electric grid. This accounts for the fact that
diabetes prevalence, fasting plasma glucose and obesity are highest on small islands and other
places electrified by generator sets and lowest in places with low levels of electrification like
sub-Saharan Africa and east and Southeast Asia.
Keywords
Body mass index, diabetes, diesel generator
sets, dirty electricity, fasting plasma
glucose, islands, obesity, Oceania,
transients
History
Received 25 August 2012
Revised 16 January 2013
Accepted 18 January 2013
Published online 10 June 2013
Introduction
Of the 37 children who used inhalers for asthma in a mid-
Western US school, only 3 needed the inhalers after the dirty
electricity levels were reduced, in an attempt to cure a ‘‘sick
building’’ syndrome (Braggia, 2008). In researching asthma
incidence and its possible connection to electricity, I became
interested in disease on islands after learning that the highest
asthma rate in the world is in the population of the island of
Tristan da Cunha (Zamel et al., 1996). The island’s electricity
is provided by six diesel generator sets, which are a major
source of dirty electricity. I hypothesize that the electricity
supplied to residences on the island has high levels of dirty
electricity which is causing symptomatic asthma.
In 2011, The Global Burden of Metabolic Risk Factors of
Chronic Diseases Collaborating Group published two papers
in the Lancet funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, one on the national, regional and global trends
in fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and diabetes prevalence
(Danaei et al., 2011) and the other on the global distribution
of obesity, measured by body mass index (BMI) (Finucane
et al., 2011). Remarkably, the worldwide distributions and
trends of diabetes and obesity were nearly identical, favoring
the small islands of Pacific Oceania. I hypothesized that the
island excess was due to dirty electricity from diesel generator
sets used almost universally to electrify small islands and
places unreachable by the conventional electric grid.
Method
The Imperial College, London, interactive website (http://
www1.imperial.ac.uk/publichealth/departments/ebs/projects/
eresh/majidezzati/healthmetrics/metabolicriskfactors/) has
extensive worldwide data on cholesterol, high blood pressure,
diabetes prevalence, fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and body
mass index. The cholesterol and blood pressure data were
unremarkable, but a cursory examination of the diabetes and
obesity data showed a strong link with islands. Small islands
were identified among the 199 countries ranked for BMI, FPG
and diabetes prevalence. A search identified all the countries
in the highest and lowest 10 disease rankings for males age
25 plus in 2008. A web search identified the extent of their
electrical grids and the sources of their electricity. Wave
forms of the electrical output of commercial diesel generator
sets were obtained using a Fluke 199 B oscilloscope, and dirty
electricity levels in the generators’ outputs were measured
with a Graham/Stetzer Microsurge meter.
Results
Table 1 shows that 8 of 10 countries in the world with the
highest BMIs in 2008 are small islands, 7 in Pacific Oceania
(Nauru, Cook Island, Tonga, Samoa, Palau, Marshall Islands,
Kiribati) and 1 in the Caribbean (St. Kitts and Nevis). All of
these places are electrified by diesel generator sets. Seven of
the 10 places with the highest FPG are also small islands in
Oceania. Seven small islands in Oceania are also among the
10 places with the highest diabetes prevalence. The Cook
Islands, Tonga, Marshall Islands, Palau and Kiribati and
Samoa are among the top 10 places for BMI, FPG and
Address correspondence to Samuel Milham MD, 2318 Gravelly Beach
Loop NW, Olympia, WA 98502, USA. E-mail: smilham@dc.rr.com
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diabetes prevalence in men in 2008. Because about 13% of the
199 countries listed are small islands, 2.6 islands would be
expected in the highest 10 countries when 7 or 8 were
observed (p50.001). The non-islands with high BMI, FPG
or diabetes prevalence are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan
and the United States, All three mid-eastern countries have
sizable off-grid populations served by generator sets, and
generator sets are also used to electrify portions of the grids in
these countries. The high obesity levels in the United States
is not surprising, because the United States uses the earth as
the major conduit for neutral return currents, allowing dirty
electricity to enter homes through conductive water and sewer
pipes and through the grid. Diesel generators are also used
extensively for back-up power in peak load periods.
Many utilities have dozens of standby generators. With the
single exception of Timor Leste (East Timor), there are no
islands in the 10 places in the world with the lowest BMIs,
FPGs or diabetes prevalence. Their electric grid was damaged
by wars and only 5% of rural residents of Timor Leste
currently have electricity. Most of the other low prevalence
places are in sub-Saharan Africa and in east and Southeast
Asia, places with a low levels of electrification. The fact
that the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are among the
low prevalence countries may be due to their grids being of
the closed delta type with no use of the ground for current
return.
Figure 1 is an oscilloscope tracing of the electrical output
of a large commercial diesel generator set. It shows a ‘‘dirty’’
wave form and high dirty electricity levels. Two other
gasoline-powered generator sets also had ‘‘dirty’’ wave
forms and high dirty electricity levels (tracings available on
request).
Table 1. Country trends in metabolic risk factors, Males age 25þ, 2008.
Ten Highest and Lowest Countries of 199
Body Mass Index (BMI) Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) Diabetes Prevalence (A.S.)
Country Kg/M
2
Country mmol/L Country Percent
Highest 10 countries of 199:
Nauru* 33.85 Marshall Islands* 6.9 Marshall Islands* 25.5
Cook Islands* 32.64 Kiribati* 6.8 Kiribati* 23.6
Tonga* 30.97 Samoa* 6.6 Saudi Arabia 22.0
Samoa* 30.38 Saudi Arabia 6.6 Samoa* 21.2
Palau* 30.35 Cook Islands* 6.5 Cook Islands* 20.5
Marshall Islands* 29.37 Palau* 6.3 Palau* 17.5
Kiribati* 29.22 Jordan 6.2 Jordan 17.2
Kuwait 29.15 Tonga* 6.2 Solomon Islands* 17.1
USA 28.64 Kuwait 6.2 Kuwait 17.0
St. Kitts and Nevis* 28.24 Solomon Islands* 6.0 Tonga* 17.0
Lowest 10 countries of 199:
India 20.99 Central African R. 5.1 Indonesia 6.6
Viet Nam 20.94 Philippines 5.1 Dem. Rep. Congo 6.6
Eritrea 20.90 United Kingdom 5.0 Philippines 6.5
Nepal 20.79 Dem. Rep. Congo 5.0 Timor Leste* 6.4
Zambia 20.70 Timor Leste* 5.0 Malawi 6.4
Timor Leste* 20.61 Myanmar 5.0 Burundi 6.2
Afghanistan 20.63 Rwanda 5.0 Myanmar 6.1
Bangladesh 20.44 Burundi 5.0 Netherlands 6.1
Ethiopia 20.26 Peru 4.9 Peru 5.8
Democratic R. Congo 19.88 Cambodia 4.7 Cambodia 4.7
* ¼ islands; (A.S.) ¼ Age Standardized
Figure 1. Oscilloscope tracing of electrical output of a Katolight 125 kV diesel generator set.
2 S. Milham Electromagn Biol Med, Early Online: 1–4
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Discussion
Dirty electricity is a term coined by the electrical utilities to
describe electrical pollution contaminating the 60 Hz and
50 Hz electricity on the electrical grid. It is generated by
arcing, sparking and any device which interrupts current flow.
On 4 September 1882, Thomas Edison began generating
electricity at the Pearl Street plant in Manhattan, New York
City. From the beginning, his ‘‘Jumbo’’ generators were
plagued with brush arcing and commutator wear (Edisonia):
There was considerable sparking at the copper commutator
brushes of the ‘‘Jumbo,’’ due to the odd number of
commutator bars, necessitated by the form of armature
winding employed...
This means that dirty electricity was being sent to Edison’s
customers through the wires that lit their lamps as early as
1882.
Since the 1979 Wertheimer–Leeper study (Wertheimer and
Leeper, 1979), there has been concern that exposure to power
frequency (50/60 Hz) electromagnetic fields (EMFs), espe-
cially magnetic fields, may contribute to adverse health
effects including cancer. Until recently, the most commonly
used exposure metric in EMF studies has been the time-
weighted average of the power frequency (50 and 60 Hz)
magnetic field. However, the low risk ratios in most studies
(53.0) suggested that magnetic fields might be a surrogate for
a more important metric. In 2008, dirty electricity was shown
to be a potent universal carcinogen in a cohort study of
teachers (Milham and Morgan, 2008) at a California middle
school. Cancer incidence analysis of the teacher population
showed a positive trend of increasing cancer risk with
increasing cumulative exposure to high-frequency voltage
transients measured on the classroom’s electrical wiring, with
high risk ratios (49.0) for a number of cancers. The
attributable risk of cancer associated with this exposure was
64%. A single year of employment at this school increased a
teacher’s cancer risk by 21%.
Dimmer switches, compact fluorescent lights, computers,
copy machines, all transmitters, including cell towers, and all
devices containing switching power supplies generate dirty
electricity. Dirty electricity generated by electrical equipment
in a building is distributed throughout the building on the
electric wiring. Dirty electricity generated outside the build-
ing enters the building on electric wiring and through ground
rods and conductive plumbing. In recent years in the United
States, nearly 80% of neutral return currents travel to the
substations via the earth, carrying an increasing load of dirty
electricity. Dirty electricity in building wiring is measured
with a simple plug-in Graham/Stetzer Microsurge meter
(Graham, 2005), which measures the average magnitude of
the rate of change of voltage as a function of time (dV/dT).
This preferentially measures the higher frequency transients.
Dirty electricity has been associated with diabetes (Havas,
2008), asthma (Sbraggia, 2003), attention deficit hyperactiv-
ity disorder (ADHD) (Milham, 2011) and cancer (Milham and
Morgan, 2008).
Although much attention has been paid to the obesity and
diabetes epidemics recently, there is good evidence that both
epidemics started at the beginning of electrification in the
United States. Most large cities in the United States and the
world had electricity by 1900. In the United States, the great
distances and the expense slowed rural electrification. It took
until 1956 for US farms to reach urban and rural non-farm
electrification levels. Both populations were covered by the
US vital registration system. The US census of population,
1930, 1940 and 1950 contained information on residential
electrification. In 1940, urban (electrified) death rates were
much higher than rural (unelectrified) rates for cardiovascular
diseases, malignant diseases, diabetes and suicide. Rural
death rates were significantly correlated with level of
residential electric service by state for most causes examined.
Between 1900 and 1960, the death rates from all of the
so-called diseases of civilization, including diabetes increased
steadily in the United States. I hypothesized that the
20th-century epidemic of the diseases of civilization, includ-
ing cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes and suicide,
was caused by some facet of electrification (Milham, 2010).
There is no historical vital record source for BMI, but
Komlos and Brabek (Komlos and Brabek, 2010), using
historical data from the West Point military academy and The
Citidel military academy in Charleston SC, showed that there
was very little change in cadet weight in the 19th century, but
that 18-year-old men had a body weight increase of 13 kg
(28.5 pounds) during the 20th century, with half of the
increase occurring in those born before World War II. The
1920–1939 Citidel birth cohort was 7 kg heavier than the
1870–1909 birth cohort. Before World War II, the major
source of dirty electricity was generator and motor brush
arcing and arcing and sparking from bad electrical connec-
tions. Microwaves were not invented until shortly before
World War II. There is some recent evidence that EMF
exposure from cell towers, which generate both microwaves
and dirty electricity, affects both neurotransmitters and
adrenal hormones (Buchner and Eger, 2011; Eskander et al.,
2012), which can impact blood sugar, appetite and obesity.
Testing the hypothesis
The three commercial generator sets I have access to have
dirty wave forms and high dirty electricity levels in their
electrical output. The islands in Oceania with high levels of
FPG, diabetes and BMI should all have high levels of dirty
electricity in their generator outputs. The more generators
operating in a power plant, the higher the output dirty
electricity levels should be, because the parallel electrical
connection of multiple generators should make their dirty
electricity additive. The populations of one or more of these
islands should be examined before and after a clean-up
of residential dirty electricity with capacitive filters and
followed for a generation. Long-term follow-up is required
because childhood leukemia (Greaves, 2003), asthma
(Li et al., 2011) and obesity (Li et al., 2012) have all been
associated with in utero EMF exposure. Symptoms associated
with EMF and dirty electricity exposures should improve
rapidly, and type 2 diabetics should use less insulin.
The Old Order Amish in the United States and Canada, a
Mennonite sect who live without electricity and therefore with
low levels of dirty electricity exposure, gives a strong
DOI: 10.3109/15368378.2013.783853 Dirty electricity obesity and diabetes 3
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indication of the sort of mortality and morbidity improvement
that is possible. Their type 2 diabetes prevalence rates (Hsueh,
2000) and cancer rates (Westman, 2010) are about half those
of the non-Amish. There is no ADHD and little obesity in
Amish children (Ruff, 2006).
I conclude that the epidemics of diabetes and obesity are
caused by exposure to dirty electricity.
Declaration of interest
I declare no conflicts of interest.
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