EMFSA April 2026 Roundup – what precautions should be taken with electric field mats? What is the recommendation for pregnant women and children? Can the magnetic fields generated by these mats, exceed internationally recommended limit values?
Published: 29 April 2026 | Editor
In our EMFSA April 2026 Roundup, you can read about a new study in which the authors provide the first experimental evidence that atmospheric electrical charges alone can cause pollen rupture, generating respirable subpollen particles—one of the key triggers of thunderstorm asthma. Source: Venkatesan et al. (2026).
Historical
In 2016, Melbourne faced the world’s worst thunderstorm asthma event. A single storm affected about 10,000 people, overwhelmed hospitals, and led to 10 deaths. Ruptured rye grass pollen filled the air, causing sudden breathing crises—even among those with no history of asthma. Source: Huang et al., Asia Pacific Allergy (2022).
Electrohypersensitivity (EHS)
Explore an excerpt discussing an Electrohypersensitive (EHS) study, as per the Swiss expert group on electromagnetic fields and non-ionising radiation (BERENIS), Newsletter No. 44, April 2026.
Tattoo-associated cutaneous sarcoidosis
Lara Saeid and colleagues from the Department of Hematology of Tishreen University Hospital, Lattakia, Syria, reported an unusual case, that underscores the systemic nature of sarcoidosis and reminds clinicians that tattoo-associated cutaneous sarcoidosis can be the first visible manifestation of a multisystem granulomatous disease.
In EMFSA April 2026 Roundup we look at Ghost Signals: Science vs speculation—what EMF can actually do today vs what’s being claimed.
Are there Static Magnetic Fields (SMF) near smartphone surfaces?
Read about a study where the authors mapped the spatial distributions of Static Magnetic Fields (SMF) near smartphone surfaces and evaluated their potential biomedical relevance using computational exposure models.
What did the authors find?
The Clock is Ticking: Ongoing IARC, WHO Research into RF-EMF. In this section we look at timelines for ongoing research.
We included a quote by Leszczynski (2023) to prompt further reflection on this topic.
And a gentle reminder that sunlight when viewed through normal glass is not the same as natural outside light.
Link to our April 2026 Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/emfsa/magnetic-field-mats-what-to-know
Further reading
References:
Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). (2025, July 1). Magnetic field mats https://www.bag.admin.ch/dam/en/sd-web/LWdHoJeMwMjk/Fact-sheet-magnetic-field-mats.pdf
Venkatesan S, Zare A, Alinaghipour B, Lamont J, Ristovski ZD, Morton DAV, Stevanovic S. Impact of Atmospheric Charge Regimes (Static Fields and Arcing) on Airborne Tree Pollen Rupture under Dry and Wet Conditions. Environ Sci Technol. 2026 Apr 7;60(13):10129-10138. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.5c16155. Epub 2026 Mar 26. PMID: 41887923. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41887923/
Huang F, Wang DH, Foo CT, Young AC, Fok JS, Thien F. The Melbourne epidemic thunderstorm asthma event 2016: a 5-year longitudinal study. Asia Pac Allergy. 2022 Oct 27;12(4):e38. doi: 10.5415/apallergy.2022.12.e38. PMID: 36452015; PMCID: PMC9669468. Copyright © 2022. Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36452015/
Swiss expert group on electromagnetic fields and non-ionising radiation (BERENIS), Newsletter No. 44, April 2026 https://www.bafu.admin.ch/en/berenis-newsletter-en
Woman Develops Systemic Sarcoidosis After Eyebrow Tattoo – Medscape – April 27, 2026 https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/woman-develops-systemic-sarcoidosis-after-eyebrow-tattoo-2026a1000d87
L. Zastko, L. Kubičková, J. Míšek, I. Kuchta, L. Makinistian and I. Belyaev, “Characterization of Static Magnetic Fields Produced by Smartphones,” in IEEE Journal of Electromagnetics, RF and Microwaves in Medicine and Biology, doi: 10.1109/JERM.2026.3683318. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11494332