RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SAFER USE OF CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES
October 29, 2013
Summary
A) Go wired instead of wireless wherever and whenever possible, and turn off all equipment while sleeping. Especially if you have children.
B) Distance is your friend; EMF exposure from computer equipment and microwave ovens decreases with distance.
C) Reduce 24/7 background exposures such as 60 Hz magnetic fields and RF noise from wiring in walls.
1. A major factor that can contribute to the development of electrical sensitivities is the level of background exposure in your home and work environments to low frequency magnetic fields and RF noise from wiring (see sections 10. and 11. below). 24/7 background exposure lowers your threshold for reaction from devices such as computers and cell phones. This holds true for either transient symptoms such as brain fog or feeling “wired”, or for developing overt EHS. In other words, background EMF can set you up, and then the device (which may have been otherwise tolerable) can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
2. Instead of Wi-Fi, convert to shielded ethernet cable (or at the very least, turn off all Wi-Fi transmitters when not using them, especially at night while sleeping).
3. Turn off all computers and computer equipment while sleeping. This means actually unplugging from the wall (or turning off switch on power strip), otherwise the switch-mode power supplies are still idling and generating some EMF. Also turn off any back-up power device.
4. Do not use a laptop computer on your lap. The safest way to use a laptop is on battery power rather than plugged into its power adapter. Keep any desktop computers and modems at some distance from you; don't position them very near to you on your desk or close to your feet.
5. Turn all cell phones completely off while sleeping, or at least have them at a considerable distance from you. (Even in standby/receive mode they actually transmit short bursts of EMF many times a minute in order to stay in touch with the nearest cell tower.) Chargers also emit EMF. Do not leave any chargers (cell phone chargers or any other "wall-warts" or power adapters) plugged in near you at night. Don't charge cell phones in the car while sitting next to them.
6. Get a land phone-line, and use corded, not cordless phones for most calls. Minimize cell phone use where possible.
7. If you must use a cell phone, use it on speaker - don't hold that microwave transmitter next to your head. Text messaging results in less EMF emissions than voice communication. Never use in an elevator, because in order for the transmissions to get out your phone may need to generate up to 100 times as much EMF (and will use up the battery 100 times faster). Another reason not to use in elevators is consideration for other passengers. The same factors (more EMF and consideration for others) also hold true in airplane cabins, busses, trains and cars. But in your own car, the best way to use a cell phone is a mode where the phone's own antenna is deactivated by the phone being connected (via bluetooth or by being plugged in) to the car system that uses an external antenna on top of the roof. This has two benefits: it prevents the phone from having to amp up its transmission power to get beyond the metal shell of the car, and the metal roof of the car provides some shielding for passengers from the transmissions of the external antenna.
8. Refuse smart meter installation. Opt-out. Try to keep your original mechanical analog electric meter, and don't let your utility company talk you into a digital meter they may claim is not a transmitting-type smart meter. Some of these have transmitters in spite of what they tell you, and a digital meter could be upgraded later to a transmitting type by installation of a new module, without your knowledge.
9. If you use a microwave oven, don't stand close while it is cooking. Hit and run.
10. Measure the 60 Hz magnetic field in your home and office with a gaussmeter (see my article "Gaussmeters"). If the field is greater than 0.3 milligauss with lights and other loads on, have a savy electrician check the wiring for crossed neutrals and inappropriate grounds. It can take less than an hour to greatly reduce the 60 Hz magnetic field you are living in all the time. Karl Riley has written an excellent, easy to understand book covering this subject: "Tracing EMF's in Building Wiring and Grounding", available from www.magneticsciences.com/TracingEMFsBook.html.
11. RF noise that radiates into a room from wiring in the walls can originate from an internal source such as a dimmer switch or an electronic device plugged into the wall; or from an external source such as a smart meter, faulty street light, a neighbor’s mosquito zapper, or a loose connection on a distant power pole. It can be detected as described in: "AM Radio as Inexpensive High Frequency Sensor". House wiring can conduct RF noise from a plugged-in device in one room to a distant room, radiating RF all along the way. Therefore it can effectively bring you closer to the device even though you are in the distant room. The best way to remedy internal sources is to remove dimmer switches, and between any noisy electronic device and the wall outlet insert a real EMF filter in series to block the noise before it enters the wiring. (I do not recommend the often ineffective plug-in “filters”). If this does not solve the RF noise problem, the source may be external. If external sources cannot be repaired or removed, then a very expensive three-line (two hots and neutral) whole-house EMF filter is required to block the noise before it enters your home.
12. To learn more about low EMF computing, go to my article: "Low EMF Computing". To help reduce other exposures, you may want to read: "Triggers of EMF Sensitivity".