The
science bit
The accepted exposure levels for radio frequency EMFs (microwaves)
are based on their thermal effects on body cells – i.e. the
level at which the water molecules in the body start to heat up,
just as your microwave oven heats food. Limits are set far below
these levels, based on an ’average’ power density. Below
this level, it is claimed that there is no biological effect on
the body. However, the pulsed microwave signals used in digital
communications have peak pulses many times higher than these average
levels and are modulated several times a second (DECT cordless phones
can have peak levels 100 times higher than their ‘average’
level). There is growing evidence that biological effects still
occur; in simple terms, cell membranes are over-stimulated (stressed),
which disrupts their natural cycle of nutrient absorption and toxin
elimination leading to a build-up of toxins within the cells.
At a psychological level, the pulse frequencies are in some cases
very close to our natural brainwave frequencies, and this may ‘entrain’
our brain waves into unnatural rhythms, causing sleeplessness, depression
and other psychological problems. I have certainly observed myself
that I have trouble sleeping in the presence of Wi-Fi and DECT telephones.
The effects of power frequency EMFs have been well documented as
we have lived with them for longer and few would deny that there
is a connection between high voltage power lines and childhood leukaemia;
and we know that over-exposure to ultraviolet radiation causes skin
cancer. There has been less documentation on the electric and magnetic
fields emitted by many domestic appliances, and the effect these
have on electro-sensitive individuals.
What
can we do?
It is still possible to maintain a technological lifestyle by following
some simple steps, as outlined herein. In particular, it is important
to minimise your exposure to technopathic influences in the bedroom,
as this is where you are likely to spend the most time, and it is
during sleep that the immune system repairs itself. The hazards
are arranged in roughly descending order; i.e. at the top of the
list, many people will notice effects; at the end of the list only
a few highly sensitive people will notice effects. This is not meant
to be a scientific document; think of it more like a 'risk assessment'
for the home, school and office environment. Scientific data is
available via the websites listed at the end if you want to research
things further yourself, and I encourage you to do so. To paraphrase
the TV show 'Brainiac - Science Abuse':
We
read the research so you don’t have to - and please; DO try
this at home!
Grahame
Gardner
November 2009
| Hazard
|
Solution |
DECT
Cordless phones
• Phone base stations transmit high levels of microwave
radiation all the time, even when not in use. The relative power
density is higher than having a mobile phone mast outside your
house.
• Handset power levels are similar to a mobile phone.
• Same frequency range as 3G phones and Wi-Fi. |
•
Use a normal wired landline phone.
• If you must have cordless, use a ‘low radiation’
model like the UK-made Orchid range: http://lowradiation.co.uk
or the Siemens Gigaset range (look for ‘Eco Mode PLUS
models) http://gigaset.com.
• The Orchid range has a slight advantage in that the
base station can be sited remotely from the handset/charger
units. Both ranges offer extension handsets and answering machine
models.
|
Wireless
Internet (Wi-Fi, wLAN, WiMax).
• Similar problems as DECT phones. Power levels fluctuate
depending on amount of data being transmitted, with larger
files requiring higher power; but there is always a carrier
signal being transmitted. Again, the relative power densities
are many times higher than any nearby phone mast.
• Data transfer rates are nowhere near as high as a
good wired LAN.
• Data security and interference issues.
• Wi-Fi enabled laptop power levels similar to mobile
phone handsets.
•
Wireless headsets, games consoles, Bluetooth-enabled devices
and many other gadgets use this same system, albeit at lower
power levels.
• Some Wi-Fi routers act as ‘femtocells’
for other mobile phone or Wi-Fi users and may be transmitting
at high levels without your knowledge.
• Newer 3Gs iPhones have this function built-in and
other ‘smartphones’ are likely to follow suit.
|
•
There is really no need to have Wi-Fi in the home, school or
office environment.
• Use a wired ADSL router. These are cheaply available
for both phone line and cable broadband users, and are actually
more efficient than Wi-Fi.
• If your existing wireless router is close to where you
use your computer, connect to it directly using a standard Ethernet
(LAN) cable. Depending on the make of router, you may be able
to disable the wireless transmission, either by a switch or
through the control software; but in many cases you may have
to replace the entire unit to get rid of the Wi-Fi.
• If you need to extend your network and cannot install
a wired LAN, you can connect your router to a dLAN system that
sends the data through your existing house wiring through a
special mains plug. You connect your computer in the other room
using a similar wire and plug. This is not only more secure
than Wi-Fi, the data transmission rates are many times faster,
and the system is relatively cheap and very easy to use. There
are several systems available - see http://www.devolo.co.uk
or Netgear
Powerline for examples.
• If you cannot replace your Wi-Fi router, at least make
sure you switch it off at night. Connect your computer peripherals
through an energy-saving demand switch that will automatically
kill the power when the main computer is shut down.
|
External
mobile phone masts
• Unless you have direct line-of-sight view of a mobile
mast, the microwave power density levels in the home are likely
to be much lower than those from DECT or Wi-Fi as much of the
radiation will be absorbed by intervening buildings.
• In theory, the power density is designed to be highest
between 50-200m from the mast; but this is rarely the case in
practice and hotspots can arise at closer distances.
• In dense urban areas, check for microcells
on the front of buildings. These often look like unmarked burglar
alarm boxes painted to match the building, but will have cables
entering the underside of the box.
• Picocells are even smaller transmitters used
inside shopping centres and other public areas.
• Petrol station signs and church spires often conceal
mobile transmitters, and some are even disguised as trees in
rural areas!
• TETRA (Airwave) masts look like conventional aerials
with four paperclip-like nodules on the side.
• The circular drum-like structures on some masts are
tight-beam point-to-point microwave links used to transmit data
between masts, and are not a problem unless you are directly
in the beam.
|
•
Find your local masts at http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk
– this will show the location of all local masts and microcells
as blue triangles; and give details of the mast operator, transmission
system, height, and power density levels. Note some mobile operators
(T-mobile) are currently opted out of this scheme so information
may not be up to date.
• Stone walls absorb much of the radiation; however windows
do not.
• Newer double-glazing with thermal protection film (Pilkington
K) can absorb over 90% of the radiation. (but the frames may
not).
• If you need to take additional precautions, screening
materials, window films and carbon paint can be bought via www.emfields.org.
|
|
Microwave
smog from neighbouring properties (DECT phones, Wi-Fi
etc)
•
These are unlikely to be a problem unless you live in an apartment
block or a terraced house with shared party walls. |
•
Party walls can be screened with carbon paint, metallic foils
etc. See www.emfields.org
for suitable products.
• Some building insulating materials with aluminium coatings
can be very effective and are relatively cheap, but make sure
it is real metal, not a plasticised layer. Cover joints with
foil tape to ensure conductivity.
• Foil-backed plasterboard can also work well.
|
Mobile
phones
• The hazards of excessive use have been well documented.
• Particularly bad in children, where the skull has
not attained its full thickness.
• Wired earpieces act as aerials and channel the phone’s
microwaves straight into your ear, so they do not reduce your
exposure as much as you think.
• Bluetooth headsets use the same pulsed microwave frequencies
as Wi-Fi; although the power levels are lower, you still have
a microwave transmitter in your ear.
• Mobiles used in ‘home phone’ systems have
a femtocell base station that may be transmitting
data for other users (see Wi-Fi).
|
•
Minimise microwave exposure by keeping calls short, or send
text messages instead.
• Use speakerphone mode if possible.
• Keep your phone in a handbag or briefcase, away from
your body.
• When making a call, do not hold the phone to your
ear until it starts ringing. The phone transmits at maximum
power whilst it is connecting to the network; the power level
drops dramatically once connected. This single act alone will
reduce your microwave exposure by roughly 90%.
•
Use speakerphone mode if possible; or the RF3 anti-radiation
headset, which has an air tube and is available from health
shops or www.natural-alternative-products.co.uk
• Don’t try to use the phone in an aircraft or
lift. The microwaves cannot easily pass through the metal
skin so the phone is transmitting at maximum power.
|
Power
frequency EMFs
• The main culprits here are magnetic fields from transformers,
such as bedside alarm clocks, phone chargers, laptops and other
gadgets. These generally look like large plugs, or sometimes
they are in a separate power supply unit.
• If the item doesn’t have a visible transformer
either in the plug or a separate PSU, it probably has one inside
it. Beware of items like bedside clocks with internal transformers.
• Electric fields from cables in or behind walls, or under
floors in apartment blocks can also be problematic.
• High-voltage power lines immediately outside the building.
• Electricity substations immediately outside the building.
• TVs and computer screens – the older cathode ray
tubes can give off high levels of EMFs, particularly from the
rear or the unit. More recent CRTs are better shielded, and
newer flat screen LED types give off much less radiation.
|
• With all EMFs, the Inverse Square Law applies - power
levels fall off very quickly the further away it is. Either
move the item, or move yourself.
• Keep transformers at least 3 feet away if you can; especially
bedside clock radios with internal transformers.
• Don’t site beds against a wall if you know there
are any power cables behind it. That includes your electricity
meter! Check outside walls for street lighting cables or other
municipal power lines attached to the wall.
• If you have a small substation immediately adjacent
to your house, there isn’t much you can do about it except
try to keep beds as far away as you can; but one at the bottom
of the garden shouldn’t be a problem, (although the field
can be carried by underground water veins).
• High voltage overhead power lines – a safe distance
is at least 25m for 11kV lines (usually carried on wooden ‘telegraph
poles’ with transformer boxes mounted on the pole at the
edge of the property), and 250m for 400kV lines (the biggest
metal pylons).
• A much greater danger from overhead power lines is from
air ionisation causing carcinogenic pollution particles to stick
in the lungs. |
Digital
wireless baby monitors
• These modern units use exactly the same technology as
DECT cordless phones, with the same attendant problems –
i.e. continual high levels of pulsed microwave radiation.
• Wireless video monitoring systems have the same problems.
These also cannot be used where there is Wi-Fi because of interference.
• Models with cordless sensor mats transmit high power
densities of microwaves right into the cot and are best avoided.
|
•
Use a wired monitor, or a system that uses the mains wiring
to send the signal to another part of the house.
• Older analogue models are also good but should be kept
at least 2 feet from the baby’s head.
|
Motion
detectors in burglar alarms
• Older systems used infra-red detectors, which are fine;
but newer systems use microwaves, again with the same attendant
problems as DECT and Wi-Fi.
|
•
Try to use a system with infra-red detectors.
• Disable the motion sensors when not needed.
|
Electric
blankets
• Generate high levels of electric and magnetic fields.
• If you sleep with these on, you are exposing yourself
to these EMFs for hours at a time. This constitutes chronic
exposure.
|
•
Do not sleep with blanket switched on. Warm bed beforehand,
then switch off and unplug the blanket before getting into bed. |
Dirty
Electricity
• A recent phenomenon caused by radio-frequency signals
being carried on home wiring and re-radiating around the building.
• Surges and spikes caused by devices like fridges, boilers,
fluorescent lights etc. You can often see or hear these manifest
as interference on TVs and radios
• Continual high-frequency RF signals from compact fluorescent
lights, dimmer switches etc.
• Microwaves from DECT and Wi-Fi being carried to other
parts of the building in the same way.
|
•
Ferrite cores can be fitted to power leads, overhead light cables
etc. to eliminate the surges and spikes and stop the cables
re-radiating. Most sensitive electronic equipment will already
have one of these fitted on the power lead to prevent equipment
damage –they look like little beads on the cable.
• Fit surge protectors to computers and sensitive equipment.
• DE filter plugs are available from www.emfields.org
– these contain capacitors to ‘soak up’ the
extraneous RF in the mains. Generally one or two of these will
be sufficient for the entire house.
|
Spring
mattresses and bed bases
• These can cause serious problems by amplifying and re-radiating
microwaves and other EMF’s. The springs can act as waveguides
and focus the EMF’s into tight beams.
• The metal springs also distort the natural geomagnetic
field and can produce hot spots.
|
•
Use wooden-framed beds and mattresses without springs.
• Water beds are usually OK if the heater pad is not directly
underneath the body and the frame is non-metallic. If you're
worried, switch it off at night - but remember to switch it
back on again!
|
Desk
lamps and Compact Fluorescent Lamps
• Many low-voltage halogen and CFL desk lamps have transformers
in the base.
• Some using unshielded compact fluorescent lamps can
also give off high levels of ultra-violet radiation.
|
•
As before, try to keep the base unit containing the transformer
as far from you as practical – at least 3 feet.
• Don’t sit close to 'bare' CFLs (where you can
see the tube) unless they have an additional diffuser glass
envelope, which will absorb the UV.
|
Microwave
ovens
• A whole area of research in themselves for the detrimental
effect they have on foodstuffs.
• High levels of power frequency EMFs given off at close
range.
• Microwave leakage around the door seal and through the
glass door may be sufficient to cause problems in sensitive
individuals. Try putting your mobile phone inside and then calling
it to show that they are not 100% shielded.
|
•
If you really can’t live without one, ensure that you
do not stand close to it when in use.
• Check for leakage regularly
|
References and resources
Several
of our members can survey your property using professional scientific
instruments to accurately measure levels of exposure.
Please get in touch if you would like
a consultation.
Websites:
http://www.powerwatch.org.uk
For the most up-to-date scientific research on all technopathic
stress issues.
http://www.emfields.org
The Powerwatch shop also sells screening materials and you can buy
or hire measuring equipment.
http://www.tetrawatch.net
Researching and campaigning against TETRA (Airwave).
http://royriggs.co.uk
Roy is a dowser and geobiologist, his site has lots of good information
about technostress.
http://www.hese-project.org
International monitoring site.
http://wiredchild.org
UK charity campaigning to reduce childrens' exposure to EMF's.
Books:
The
Powerwatch Handbook, Alasdair & Jean Philips,
Piatkus, 2006
Water, Electricity and Health, Alan Hall,
Hawthorn, 1998
EMF and Microwave Protection for you and your family,
Alasdair & Jean Philips, Powerwatch 2003
The Invisible Disease, Gunni Nordström,
O books 2004
Safe as Houses? David Cowan & Rodney
Girdlestone, 1996 (out of print, but download from
http://www.leyman.demon.co.uk )
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