General concepts to be considered are:
- Time, and Duration of Effect
- Distance
- Shielding
- Removal or Deactivation
Where Do You Spend Your Time?
Growing numbers of people are becoming sensitised to electromagnetic fields. Today it is estimated that up to 50%* of people are irritated by EM fields that the other 50% find they can tolerate. When we are talking about exposure in your home this is usually the place where you will spent a big part of your time during both your day-time routine and your sleep time.
An example of this is the broadband router, and it’s proximity to you. For example if it is under your desk and within say 1 metre of you for your working day, you need to consider moving it so that it is as far as practically possible from you. This is an example of both Time and Distance.
Duration of Effects
Also consider the length of time that the biological effects can linger for. The fact is that our nerves are an electro-chemical system running through our entire body. This nervous system can become over stimulated during the day due to EMFs. This stimulation does not suddenly disappear when we turn the lights off to go to sleep. It can take many hours for our nervous system to relax. Think of it like caffeine: this stays in the system for approximately 4 hours but certain individuals could have a coffee in before lunch and still have their sleep disturbed by it.
How Far Are You From the Source?
Distance from the offending source is also an important factor. For example if the source of EMF is a power supply such as an AC to DC transformer it will generally have a high EMF field. But this is called a “point” source, i.e., all the radiation has it’s source from one point in space. In this case the inverse law of squares applies, which says that the field strength diminishes by the square of the distance, not merely in a linear manner. So even a small increase of distance has a good reduction in field strength. Generally you want to be at least 2 metres from these points of radiation, particularly if you spend long periods of time in proximity.
Removal of Source… or Shielding?
The two other questions to consider are: can I deactivate (could be as simple as unplugging) the source, or remove the source of EMF from my home environment – and if not – can I shield from it’s effects? Bear in mind that a device that is plugged in – even when turned off – will usually emit EMFs.
Instead of using the switch that is on the actual device it is better to switch off the device at the wall socket, so the wall socket is off. This will reduce the antenna effect whereby the 50hz signal is broadcast through space to your body. By turning the device off at the wall you are effectively removing it’s EM field from the equation… until you turn it back on again.
Grounding a device is often an effective method of removing it’s field from the equation. For example the electric field around my laptop, when it is on charge, can be over 1,000 V/m at the point the charger attaches, and well over 100 V/m close to my head as I lean in instead of use my glasses! Also the keyboard and mouse area are well over 100 – more like 200–300 V/m. But if I ground my laptop it reduces the electric field to virtually zero V/m. This vast reduction is so important considering I can easily spend hours on a laptop each day.
I view the single most important area of the home for shielding is the bedroom. Grounded conductive paint, shielded power cables, grounded conductive mesh canopy around the bed – these are all part of effective strategies to create an EMF rest environment for recovery and detoxification from the daily stress of electro-smog. However the grounding must be done right, with a ground line that is free from harmonics and stray currents – otherwise it could actually make things worse.
The bedroom or sleeping area
I have two approaches to this – and please bear in mind this is just general information. For an accurate assessment of your actual situation I would need to visit your property.
1) removal of source: so what are the sources we need to remove? For most people this will be radiation from household wiring, and radio frequency radiation from communications devices. There are basically two ways of dealing with household wiring – one is to re-wire with shielded cables, and the other is to turn off the power at the main breaker box, either with a retro-fitted switch, or specific breakers on your box if it has been suitably configured. However this needs to include the downstairs lights because their wiring is in the floor space beneath your bedroom. There are other considerations such as fridges and alarm systems.
This approach is sometimes sufficient but depends on the amount of neighbourhood WIFI, mobile phone transmitters, AM/FM and TV masts. It can also depend on your neighbours electrical usage if you are in a terraced or semi-detached property.
2) shielding from radiation: in this approach we create a shield all around the bed. This shield in the form of a canopy is then grounded to a clean earth. A clean earth is very important otherwise the shielding canopy can become an antenna and radiate both inwardly and outwardly, obviously defeating the object.
There are other strategies for shielding which include conductive paint, window coatings, protective fabric for curtains and clothing, some of which are featured on the products page.
In future blogs I will be looking at field entrainment devices which can mitigate the biological effects of EMFs. The effectiveness of these devices is harder to show than, for instance a bed canopy, and often require blood and water analysis by the manufacturers to prove efficacy. This means we then need to investigate the manufacturer’s claims for reassurance that they do what they “say on the tin”. More to follow on this subject.