Sullivan started out as one of the biggest fans of a technology he now does his best to avoid. He attended graduate school at Stanford University in Silicon Valley, and later worked as a software designer, rubbing shoulders with people who would go on to design the devices that shape our wireless world. Living on the cutting edge, Sullivan became one of the earliest adopters of wireless technology, but he also got sick from it long before most people knew it was possible.
Today, Sullivan’s full-time job is spreading the word about the dangers related to electromagnetic frequency (EMF) radiation, urging people to keep their devices off or at a distance whenever possible. He also funds research at Harvard, Stanford, University of California–Berkeley, and several leading environmental health nonprofits in an effort to provide a better picture of a technology we all use because most of us assume it’s safe.
The Epoch Times talked to Sullivan about the problems associated with wireless radiation exposure, and what we can do to protect ourselves from it. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
My brain was saying, “All this stuff is good,” but my body was having some really serious problems. I had to learn the hard way on this one that our assumptions about the safety were just totally false.
At first, I thought I had food allergies. Then I determined I had high levels of mercury. But even after detoxifying myself, cleaning up my diet, and doing all these things, my health just kept going down. I got really skinny. My teeth were cracking. My body was demineralizing. I felt spacey and weak, and I’m not a weak person. I was a Navy pilot. I ran marathons. I did triathlons, so I’m not used to being weak, but I got physically and mentally weak.
I got to where if I put a cellphone next to my head, I could feel it, and it didn’t feel good.
I didn’t think there was any research out there about this, but I got invited to a session at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco where there were some scientists talking about wireless exposure. So I started looking at the research. Thousands of these studies show harm.
The number one risk factor for autism is a calcium channel variation. From twin studies we know that the genetic component of autism is only about 38 percent. The rest is environmental, so we’re looking for environmental factors that can have an impact on the calcium channel. Dr. Pall has spoken about this at autism conferences.
Variations in calcium channel functioning are associated not just with autism, but with ADHD, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. People with these variations are at a higher risk.
Calcium channel variations also increase the risk factor for electrosensitivity. But even if you have very normal calcium channel function, you can become electrosensitive with a high exposure. It still gets overloaded at some point, and especially as we add in more things like 5G.
So some people can get completely overloaded by wireless, but it’s not just the wireless. It’s really a combination of multiple things in the environment. Dr. Lisa Nagy says that people will frequently have mold exposures that can damage the calcium channel, and then that makes them more susceptible. Some people have toxic exposures. Some people have dental risk factors, like mercury fillings or infected root canals that also make them more susceptible. So you really have to lighten the load of all of these factors to stay ahead of the game right now.
Of course, that pathway is also a target for drugs. So if folks are taking calcium channel blockers for their heart or their mental health, EMFs are working against those drugs. At some point you’re going to start having to control these exposures, and having a reality check on this whole thing. Some problems are not going to be solved by adding more drugs. We need to start removing interference factors to really restore our health.
The problem is, we’re not meant to be in that state all the time. It’s a very stressful state to be in. You can think of it like a cell danger-mode state. It consumes a lot of energy, and it’s exhausting. The body is not meant to stay in this fight-or-flight state all the time.
Many of the doctors that I’ve talked to have been recommending a certain form of magnesium that gets into the brainstem and the brain more directly. It’s called magnesium threonate. It’s been shown to really help with brain connections.
People need to understand that the primary symptom of EMF exposure is sleep disturbance. Next is headaches, attention issues, anxiety, and memory issues.
The one that blows my mind the most is sperm damage. Dozens of studies show that these frequencies and fields can damage sperm. So a cellphone in a pocket of a man who is about to become a father is a major concern that needs to be investigated. People need to understand that when they put a cellphone in their pocket they’re playing genetic Russian roulette. They’re taking all these good genes that have gone through the test of time and they just randomly flip them. That’s going to be really challenging to reverse.
It’s very common right now for people to use their cellphone as their alarm clock and they’re charging it and having it right next to them all night.
Some people are even using fitness trackers that have a constant wireless exposure, like a Fitbit, to track their sleep. We also tell people to turn off their Wi-Fi at night, or turn off their cordless phone base station. Don’t have a tablet or modem anywhere near you at night. These will all disrupt sleep.
Sleep is really fundamental to your health and mental health, and of course child development.
An important one for children: We tell parents to turn off the baby monitor at night. At minimum, move it across the room.
In general, create space around your sleep environment and your work environment. The strategy should either be to turn it off, or move it away. If you can’t turn off the device, move the device away from you. If the device can’t move, like a smart meter, you move away from the device.
Distance makes our exposure signal rapidly drop off. Every time you double the distance, the exposure drops off by 75 percent.
People should never, under any circumstances, touch the cellphone to their head when they’re talking on it. The FCC has never tested that configuration. Every phone has a warning which says that it’s tested with a space between itself and the body. They are not tested directly next to the body as most people are using them. Even if they’re just close, there is a risk of them going over the FCC limit, which is already not a biologically based safety limit.
On average, between 85 to 95 percent of the people will feel a difference when they step into that room. The most common thing they report is feeling calmer. This calcium channel interference stops and the body starts unloading.
We’ve had some people who have had so much exposure for so long that they get a little nauseated when they step into this environment.
You can also get people who will measure this for you. Search for EMF experts. Sometimes they’re called building biologists or environmental consultants. They are trained in this and they will come in and give you a one-time assessment.
Wireless safety needs to be a market requirement just like automotive safety. People should start actually looking at science and not just taking industry talking points at face value.
