Havas: Dirty Electricity in Schools page 1/5 Published in Education Forum Magazine, OSSTF, Vol. 32, Issue 3, Fall 2006 Dirty Electricity: An Invisible Pollutant in Schools. Magda Havas, B.Sc., Ph.D., Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University Peterborough, ON, K9J 7B8, CANADA, mhavas@trentu.ca “As the school year began in the late summer of 2002, Mindoro Elementary School teacher and principal Angela Olstad was ready to call it quits,” wrote Emily Winter in her article, “Dirty electricity at center of debate” that appeared in the August 2, 2006 issue of the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. “Since Olstad took the job at Mindoro three years earlier, she suffered from chronic illness and was eventually diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in April 2002. Other faculty members reported health problems as well, and 37 Mindoro students had developed asthma. Even after treating the school twice for mold, rampant illness persisted and its source remained a mystery. "I was exhausted. I absolutely had no life for three-and-a-half years," Olstad said. "I was afraid to go back." But all that would change in October 2002” continued the article. In October 2002, the Superintendent, Ron Perry, invited a power quality expert, to measure the school for electrical problems. He found elevated levels of high frequency radiation on the wires in the school (commonly referred to as dirty electricity) and installed Graham Stetzer filters to remove these high frequencies. The staff knew that an electrical contractor was working in the building but were unaware of what work was being done. Within days they began to notice marked improvements in their health. In a letter posted on the website www.electricalpollution.com, Char Sbraggia, district nurse, documented some of these improvements after the GS filters were installed: “Teachers are stating they are less fatigues and tired . . . . The students seem to have more energy and appear and seem less tired . . . Several staff who doctored regularly for allergies have not had to take medication or see their doctors because they are having less problems . . . Students whom have been diagnosed with migraine headaches have had their headaches reduced, no headaches at all.” But perhaps the most impressive and most objective result was for students with asthma. Of the 37 students who required nebulizer treatments daily, 3 students used inhalers only for exercise- induced asthma before physical education classes after the filters were installed.