Thirty-nine-year-old Debbie Bird claims she is allergic to modern living and says mobile phones, microwaves and cars are banned from her house.

Bird said she is sensitive to electromagnetic fields (emf) or "smog" created by computers, microwave ovens, mobile phones and some cars, and that she develops skin rashes and her eyelids swell to three times their normal size if she gets exposed to them.

To address her problems, she transformed her home into an EMF-free zone to stay healthy. Incidentally, Bird works as a manager in a local health spa.

The walls on her home were installed with special carbon paints and the windows covered with protective film. She and her 45-year-old husband, Tony, sleep under a silver-plated mosquito net to deflect radiowaves.

The Daily Mail quotes Bird as saying, "I can no longer do things that I used to take for granted. My day-to-day life has been seriously affected by EMF. I don't own a microwave. I don't use mobile phones at all. I can't even use a cordless phone. We have a plasma screen TV because the old style one gave out gamma rays, which brought on my reaction.

"I can't even get in my friend's BMW. If I do, I immediately start getting a headache and my head starts tingling. Even shopping is a problem. I can't go in places like Starbucks where there is Wi-Fi broadband and always have to be aware of my environment."

But Bird is not the only person with an allergic reaction to modern life.

In Builth Wells, England, 54-year-old Louise Solomons is also suffering with multiple chemical sensitivity and says she can't get near body spray or after shave or mobile phones.

Diagnosed in 1988, Solomons gets flu-like symptoms if she is exposed to anything chemically-based, from perfume and furniture polish to bathroom cleaner.

Her condition has prevented her from working for 16 years now.