Here’s my little rant on EMF. I’ve been wanting to share this for awhile now.
A few years ago I found that I was having a hard time falling to sleep because of a strange feeling in my eyes that was bothering me and keeping me awake. I thought that perhaps my computer monitor was the problem. I bought a new monitor for ‘sensitive’ eyes but I still felt that ‘pulling’ feeling in my eyes at night.
Luckily I mentioned this problem to my friend (who happened to be a scientist) and he said that he’d bring over his collection of EMF (electric and magnetic fields), RF (radio frequency), and 60 Hz (hertz) frequency meters to test my house to see if we could find the problem.
We tested everything. I followed him around my house with a tape measure checking on the distance of each field.
Since that day, after what I saw with my eyes on those meters, I have permanently turned off the WIFI on my router (your router will have an internet address where you can turn off the WIFI) and went back to using old-fashioned hard-wiring with ethernet cords to connect my computers to my router.
WIFI modems/routers send out a very strong field for 18 feet.
And the cellphone! On his meters, I saw that my cellphone put out a strong field of at least 16-18 feet when it was searching. I used to keep it on a table by my bed, or next to my pillow at night, or next to my body in a pocket or purse, keeping it on 24/7.
Since witnessing the EMF field on his meters, I haven’t wanted to talk on my cell phone much unless it was absolutely necessary and I always talk on the speaker instead of putting it up to my ear. I’ve opted for using a MagicJack VOIP Phone Service on my computer instead of using a cell phone and using Google Voice to pick up and send texts and photos.
I keep my phone and tablet in airplane mode when not in use (and with the WIFI turned off) most of the time ever since my friend with the meters showed me what was really going on with EMF and RF fields. I almost never use them except when I’m away from home.
Many people do not realize that their cellphones have two different options in settings that need to be changed to turn off EMF exposure. One is turning on the airplane mode (this will turn off your connection with your phone service) and the other is turning off the WIFI. These are two different settings.
When testing my home, we also measured the field of my digital clock. The clock sent out a very strong field of at least 8 feet. I remember hearing about this over thirty years ago but didn’t believe it at the time. After I saw that field on the meter I believed it! The field from the digital clock covered the entire sleeping area of my bed. I got rid of the digital clock and bought a battery-operated clock instead.
Also, transformers, the little black boxes that plug into the electrical outlet and power your electronics, each one sends out a strong field for 1.5 feet, but the field suddenly drops off at that distance. When we were testing my house, I had 5 transformers plugged into a power strip a few inches from my ankles under my computer desk. I moved the power strip 3 feet away and it feels so much better! I used to feel ‘restless legs’ while working on my computer and since those transformers are moved I can happily work for hours on my projects once again.
If you can consciously lessen the cumulative EMF of all your devices you can help to mitigate your EMF sensitivity.
As for smart meters, I called my local electric company and requested that they keep the old-fashioned meter on my house and they have honored my request so far, although I pay an extra $5 a month for the service of the old-fashioned meter reader. I gladly pay that extra $5!
The reason I initially complained to my friend with the EMF meters was because I had been experiencing a strange ‘pulling’ feeling at the back of my eyes while trying to fall sleep at night.
In the past few years, since removing all sources of EMF from my home, I was awakened by that ‘nerve-pulling’ feeling in my eyes about five or six times. Each time I jumped out of bed to check and see if my phone was in airplane mode, and yes, each time I found that I had forgotten to put the phone in airplane mode! As soon as I put the phone into airplane mode I easily fell asleep.
Note: The WIFI router was, for ten years, less than 12 feet from the head of my bed, and I previously kept my cellphone turned on, on a table next to my bed. Those two EMF sources, combined with the field from the digital clock took ten years to create my EMF sensitivity.
I’ve heard a lot of people mention that have a hard time sleeping, and the first thing I always ask is “Do you sleep with your cell-phone on and near your bed?” and “Do you keep your WIFI on all night?”
My solution: Put the cellphone more than 18 feet away from where you sleep (or better yet, just turn it off completely or put it into airplane mode with the WIFI turned off) and if you still use WIFI turn if off by unplugging the power connection to your router while you are sleeping.
Sweet dreams.
EMF article by Nabeel Kouka, MD, DO, MBA
Generation Zapped: The Documentary
Check out Power-line Networking Adapters for using your existing electrical wiring to extend your Internet access to any room in your house.
