How do you feel after a day out in nature versus a day at the computer? One makes you feel far better than the other, right? So, while the evidence might be still very much contested out there in science land, there’s no question that, with the research done so far, we should approach electromagnetic field exposure with caution and smarts. These words aren’t to alarm, simply to explore the topic, look at possible health effects according to the research, identify common exposures and give you super-simple tips for reducing exposure in your day-to-day.
=Q=
According to the many researchers in the field, we must reduce our exposure levels to electromagnetic fields, especially in Australia and the US, whose “safe” limits of wireless technology exposure are up to a million times higher than in other countries (Austria, for example). More than 25,000 articles and studies have been posted suggesting caution on this subject, including from the World Health Organization in May 2011, calling EMFs “possibly carcinogenic”, yet at every opportunity we seem to introduce Wi-Fi.
Germany advises its citizens to use ethernet cabling instead of Wi-Fi in homes, offices and schools. France has banned Wi-Fi in nursery schools and has ruled it must be turned off in elementary schools except when needed. Large countries like this don’t do such things on a whim: they look at the evidence and proceed with caution.
So what are the health implications and why are these countries being so cautious in limiting exposure level recommendations?
Building biologist and founder of the amazing buildingbiology.com.au Nicole Bijlsma promotes awareness of the dangers of overexposure to electromagnetic fields in her work and suggests any and all of the following can be linked to high exposure:
- Foggy brain
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue
- Restlessness
- Poor concentration
- Learning difficulties
- Infertility/trouble maintaining pregnancy
- Insomnia
- Muscle tremors
- Flu feelings that never turn into an actual flu
- Ringing ears (tinnitus)
- Body aches and pains
- Anxiety
In our average day-to-day lives, exposure comes from wireless tech, baby monitors, digital clock radios, lighting, cooking appliances, electric blankets, phone towers, power lines, mobiles and cordless phones and smart meters. Before you panic, it’s about being smart, not eliminating everything. “So where do I start?” I hear you say.
You could engage a building biologist to come and measure your exposure levels at home. I did this recently and a simple tuck of my office desk behind a big wall dramatically lowered my exposure during the work day.
Can’t afford a building biologist? There is always something you can do that won’t cost you a penny. Consider this from Nicole Bijlsma: “As you double the distance away from the source, you reduce your exposure by 75 per cent.”
Tips for reducing wifi exposure
Here are my top super-simple tips for reducing your exposure in your bedroom and house.
- Your phone won’t emit anything other than mild battery energy in airplane mode, so if you want to have it in your room, have it on flight mode and use the alarm that way for your wakeup.
- Get rid of digital clock radios by the bed or position them at least a metre away from you. Why not find an old-fashioned non-electric alarm clock?
- If you must use an electric blanket, switch it on 15 minutes before bed and when you get into bed switch it off — not on standby, but off and unplugged from the wall.
- If you iron in your bedroom, unplug from the wall after a session.
- Switch off your wifi router at night for the whole house.
- Consider getting an ethernet cable for your computer at home.
- If you feel comfortable and sleep a few metres away from baby, consider not using a baby monitor. If you don’t feel comfortable, that’s of course totally fine — just keep the monitor a metre or more across from them on a chair instead of right next to the cot and have it on a voice-activated setting so it’s not emitting frequency the whole night.
- When it comes to kids and iPads … let them use a computer that’s connected with ethernet cable instead for things like researching for homework or reading/maths apps (Apple sells converter plugs for their laptops to accept ethernet). Only allow children to watch movies/shows that have been downloaded already so you can have them on airplane mode and, if they really want to watch something with the iPad, put it on a thick book or pillow so it’s off their body, whether in airplane mode or not.
- Make sure your bed isn’t lined up to a wall where there are electrical objects like fridges or smart meters on the other side. If it is, consider a bedroom shuffle, or if staying in the same room get the bed to the other side of the room or at least some distance away.
- Do not play on your phone with wifi enabled next to your baby’s head while breastfeeding or walking with a carrier. A quick check is fine, but it’s advisable to not use it for long periods or often. Go back to the days of either quiet meditation with the bub or trashy TV sitting a good three metres from the screen.
- After work, if you’re in an office all day, the best thing you can do is head into a patch of nature for some earthing to recalibrate and rebalance yourself from all the tech exposure.
So there you have it. If you can take a few simple steps to reduce radiation exposure in your every day, why wouldn’t you do that just in case, right? No need to stress or panic or proclaim that we’re all doomed. Just remember your airplane mode and to switch off and unplug the electric blanket before hopping into bed. Done! Simple small things make a difference, which keeps us feeling positive and empowered to make more and more low-tox changes.
