Have you experienced the sultry, stifling, sweltering and breezeless summers in India? It is difficult bearing an Indian summers without an air conditioner. However, it is not the ACs that bother us. We are more concerned about AC stabilizers. They are sources of high and uncontrolled EMF. Most of the times, it is in your bedroom.

The stabilizer near your bed…

Picture this – a stabilizer 3 feet away from the bed head side. In many of our home radiation audits, we have seen EMF from electrical appliances or from home wiring (ELF) to be very high. While most of us are aware of cell tower radiation, WiFi and cell phone radiation, we are unaware of the risks from EMF and ELF. In most cases, these are more dangerous than RF radiation exposures. Sources of RF radiation are mostly visible (such as a cell tower or a WiFi router). However, EMF sources can be completely invisible such as wiring inside the wall, or your AC for instance.

Why bother about Magnetic fields?

Earth is the biggest magnet around us and we are perpetually living in its magnetic field. So why do we bother about magnetic fields?

Earth’s magnetic field is a DC field – with very minor variance with time. However, magnetic fields from man-made sources such as electric motors, transformers, stabilizers, power distribution lines and heavy electrical machinery can be key disruptors of our life spaces. These magnetic fields are 10X-200X stronger than the earth’s magnetic field. More importantly, magnetic fields from electrical sources change polarity 50/60 times a second. Our bodies are electric in nature. We have spent a few million years in earth’s DC magnetic fields. However, our exposures to AC magnetic fields are only a recent phenomenon. AC magnetic fields from devices and electrical circuitry are only 100 years old.

AC Magnetic field from electronic devices around us

Here is magnetic field comparison of different electronic equipments we cohabit with.

We provide an illustration by Long island power authority to demonstrate the effects of in-premise EMF.

EMF and Sleep

Sleep is one of the longer duration activities in our lives. All things considered, we remain inactive and stationary for long periods of time when we are asleep. A consistent exposure to an unhealthy EMF from your AC stabilizer (while sleeping) can cause immediate and future health problems at home. EMF from electronic devices and radiation from electrical sources (ELF) are associated with multiple health hazards. Long exposure to EMF/ELF disturb the brain’s resonant frequencies. This leads to disturbed sleep patterns, cell fatigue and suppressed production of Melatonin. Melatonin is a enzyme which is key to cell damage repairs. What is more concerning is that stabilizers do not have any compliance mandate. Therefore stabilizers can be EMF leaky depending upon the manufacturer or the age of the appliance.

Who are susceptible to EMF?

Prolonged exposures to Magnetic fields from stabilizers and other electrical sources have been associated with cancer. Other problems include chronic depression, fatigue and cellular inflammation. It has more severe implications on kids leading to cognitive impairment, thereby leading to Autism. We had earlier blogged about how Autism has been on the rise over a decade. Therefore, it is not just a coincidence that this decade has been associated with the rise of electronic consumerism. The key risk profiles are expecting mothers, toddlers or infants less than 10 years age. Therefore, it is advised that one establishes the EMF source and evaluates home appliances under this key assumption.

One of the easiest ways to neutralize EMF at home is to add distance between the known sources such as a voltage stabilizer or UPS unit and your sleep area. Unlike cell tower radiation, EMF and ELF fall more rapidly with distance between source and the subject. Therefore moving your bed-head (the side of the bed where you place your head while sleeping) farther away from the stabilizer helps reduce EMF incidence at home. The minimum distance needs to be 5 feet between the bed head and the source of EMF. The further the better!

There will always be electromagnetic radiation from some source or the other, no matter where you live. An assessment of the EMF/RF exposures is the first step. BrightSandz home audit will help you identify the EMF exposures at your home and provide solutions there-of.