We are surrounded by electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Most people have no idea how dangerous they are. Those who use mobile phones most have higher rates of brain tumours (gliomas), acoustic neuromas and salivary gland tumours. Women in Taiwan who carried mobiles near their chests had five times as much breast cancer. (More on these dangers in my blog “Your mobile phone could damage your health or even kill you“.)
Basically, EMFs cause calcium to migrate into cells (which should not happen) and this sets the stage for many chronic diseases.
The biggest risk is to the foetus in pregnant women, but children are also very vulnerable as they absorb twice as much EMFs as adults. Many countries have banned the use of mobiles in children because of this.
But it is possible to protect yourself and it’s not difficult to do.
The biggest source of EMF radiation for most people is their mobile phone. This is a danger both if you are using your phone or if you are carrying it near your body.
With EMFs, distance is your friend.
The closer your phone is to your body, the more dangerous it is. The phone companies know this. Mobile phones used to come with a leaflet warning not to allow the mobiles closer than one inch from your body. Every cm gap means 150% less exposure. Now this information is on their web site. Good luck to you if you can find it.
However, there is a simple solution: make phone calls on speaker mode. This will greatly reduce the distance from your body and hence the risk. (You can also use an air tube headset).
The signal will be a lot stronger (and hence more dangerous) if you are you are using a phone when travelling in a car or train or in an area with low signal strength. Best to avoid calls in these situations.
Another major source of EMFs comes when you charge your phone. Keep it away from you and especially, avoid charging your phone in the bedroom.
But it’s not just phone calls that are a problem. All the time, I see people carrying mobiles in their pockets, resting their phones on their bodies, oblivious to the risk they are taking. Again, there is a simple solution. Nearly all the dangers from EMF radiation comes when the phone is connected to the internet. Once you disconnect from the internet the risk is minimal. Then you can just use your mobile as a phone.
How to Reduce emissions from your phone
With an i-phone go to setting and switch off wifi, mobile data and Bluetooth. The EMFs will go down massively, although it may take 15 minutes to reach this lowest level. It’s easy to do this and you can switch it back on when you need the internet. Android phones are fairly similar. (Switching to Airplane mode also makes it safe but you won’t get any phone calls if you do this).
In many phones location-based wifi can be an issue even if Bluetooth and wifi are turned off. Signals from apps are constantly tracking and trying to connect with your phone, increasing your EMF exposure. You can switch the setting to “GPS only” or “device only”. You should only need to do this once. This is usually found in the privacy settings.
Distance is your friend applies for all devices. If you use a laptop on your lap you are asking for trouble. You will get a large EMF hit in the groin which is something you really don’t want. There are many studies to suggest EMFs in this area cause fertility problems (the same is true of keeping a mobile in your trouser pocket). I suspect this is also a factor in the rise in colorectal cancer in younger adults.
With laptops, keep them off your lap, keep the wifi off where possible and use on battery mode.
Another problem is routers. They tend to be sited near computers and usually emit wifi continuously, often at close range. Most routers don’t come with an on/off switch for wifi. Much of the time, wifi from a router is completely unnecessary as there is usually has a wired connection to the computer giving access to the internet.
Again, you can fix this. It is a bit fiddly though. The main two providers are BT and Sky. Neither make routers with an on/off wifi switch. Sky does have a light to show when the wifi is on or off.
The lack of an on/off switch means we all get exposed to powerful EMFs. this is bad news for all of us but terrible for pregnant women and a shocking abrogation of responsibility by the companies involved.
How to Reduce emissions from Routers
To switch off the wifi but keep connected to the internet (through a wired connection) you will need the IP address which is usually on the back of the router. BT routers often use 192.168.1.254 and Sky 192.168.0.1. Google this IP address and it should bring you to the website you need. For BT you will need to give the administration password (on back of router). Then you can switch the wifi channels off (there are usually two of them) and save the change. When you need the wifi back on, to watch Netflix or download a program, reverse what you did before.
With Sky there is a username (usually admin) and a password. This is the password for the router and should be on the back of it. Type these in and you should be able to switch the wifi off (there should be two frequencies) and then press apply. The wifi light will then go off.
What about smart meters? These work by emitting wifi into your home. This is a bad idea but it depends how often it happens. It might be every minute or ever few hours and the difference is important. However, a major problem is the utility company may not know how often it is happening. Worse still, if you ask, they may unintentionally mislead you. They may say once a day when this is how often data is collected not how often you are being bombarded with wifi. Until they sort it out I would suggest giving smart meters a miss.
Bluetooth airpods direct microwaves to the ear. All bluetooth devices (smartwaches, baby monitors, games consoles) emit microwave radiation but with airpods this radiation is concentrated close to the brain and passes through the brain (as the two airpods connect). The microwave radiation is much less than from a mobile phone but airpods are typically used for long periods. Microwave radiation can be detected at 10 metres with some airpods.
The makers, including Apple, tell us there is no good evidence they are harmful. But these are weasel words. The truth is there is no good evidence they are safe as the research has not been into effect they are having on the brain.
Distance is your friend with EMFs and, in my opinion, these are too close for comfort, right next to the brain. Time is your enemy with EMFs and airpods are typically used for long periods. All in all, airpods seem to be a risk too far, especially when wired versions are available which emit virtually no EMFs.
