Dr. Magda Havas

Early Career and Acid Rain Research

Dr. Havas earned her B.Sc. in Honours Biology (1975) and her Ph.D. in the Department of Botany (1980) from the University of Toronto. She subsequently completed postdoctoral research at Cornell University as an NSERC NATO Fellow before joining the faculty at Trent University in 1989.

In the 1970s and 1980s, her research focused heavily on acid rain and metal pollution. She conducted extensive field studies in the Canadian Arctic and at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. Her rigorous research, along with her role as Science Advisor to the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain, played a pivotal role in the passage of the Eastern Canadian Acid Rain Program in 1985. This landmark clean air legislation successfully reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by 30%, leading to the recovery of numerous lake ecosystems.

Shifting Focus: The Biological Effects of Electrosmog

In the 1990s, Dr. Havas shifted her scientific focus to an emerging and largely unregulated environmental issue: electromagnetic pollution, or “electrosmog.” Her comprehensive research covers the biological effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields, radiofrequency (RF) radiation, microwave radiation, and high-frequency voltage transients, commonly known as “dirty electricity.”

Dr. Havas has conducted critical studies on how electromagnetic pollution affects human health, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations. Her key research findings include:

Diabetes and Blood Sugar: Discovering that individuals with electrical hypersensitivity (EHS) often experience difficulty controlling blood sugar levels when exposed to dirty electricity, and that filtering the electrical environment can reduce the need for insulin.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS): Documenting that individuals with MS who are also sensitive to electromagnetic pollution experience exacerbated symptoms when exposed to poor power quality.

Cardiovascular Health: Conducting a groundbreaking double-blind, peer-reviewed provocation study demonstrating that radiation from standard 2.4 GHz cordless phones can cause heart arrhythmia, tachycardia, and alter the autonomic nervous system.

Sick Building Syndrome: Investigating the correlation between power quality in schools and the health and behavior of both students and teachers, advocating for the installation of power filters to improve the learning environment.