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Magnetic Electromagnetic Fields In Your Home: Building Biologist Eric Windheim Interview on Safe Havens In a Toxic World

Sep 14, 2022

Magnetic Electromagnetic Fields In Your Home: Building Biologist Eric Windheim Interview on Safe Havens In a Toxic World

Eric Windheim is the owner of Windheim Environmental Solutions, a California technology and environmental health and wellness company founded in 1991. Located in the Sacramento area with clients worldwide, Windheim EMF Solutions specializes in electromagnetic radiation and provides inspection, assessment, measurement, testing, abatement, and remediation of dangerous and unhealthy magnetic fields, electric fields, microwave radiation, and dirty electricity. Reach Eric at https://windheimemfsolutions.com Learn more about Smartmeters at https://ehtrust.org/educate-yourself/health-risks-posed-by-smartmeters/

 

Learn more about magnetic fields here.

Kaiser Permanente researchers have published several studies linking pregnant women’s exposure to electromagnetic fields to increased miscarriage as well as increased ADHD, obesity, and asthma in their children.

In 2001, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for the Research on Cancer classified ELF magnetic fields as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” based on the consistent research finding of a two-fold increase in childhood leukemia associated with residential exposure to magnetic fields. The research finding effects have increased since that date. (Read the research studies here.) 

Over a dozen countries already have some level of protective policy in place regarding this type of electromagnetic radiation. The countries of Croatia, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Belgium (Wallonia, Flanders) Denmark, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Lithuania, and Poland have a magnetic field radiation limit for  “sensitive areas” far lower than ICNIRP.  Sensitive areas are generally defined as areas where children live and play such as schools, kindergartens, or recreation areas. Sometimes the definition includes hospitals and residential areas. These countries’ magnetic field EMF limits are 3 or 4 milligauss, the level of milligauss associated with childhood leukemia in repeated published studies. However, ICNIRP recommends a residential magnetic field exposure limit of 2,000 milligauss (mG) and an occupational exposure limit of 10,000 mG.

The United States has no limit on legal levels of milligauss electromagnetic radiation. However, the California Department of Education enacted a regulation to  require minimum distances between new schools and the edge of a transmission line “right-of-way.”

2020 research investigating ELF-EMF levels in schools has found exposure at students’ seat positions was mostly caused by electrical appliances, electronic wiring, and distribution boxes, and the authors conclude that “it is important to design safe and appropriate environments for digital learning in schools, such as proper seating arrangements, to avoid ELF-MFs exposure to students as much as possible.”

Reducing Exposure to ELF-EMF in Your Home

ELF-EMF fields from electronics and appliances fall off rapidly with distance. Experts are less concerned about the brief exposures to ELF-EMF we encounter every day but far more concerned about longer-term chronic exposures, including at night while we sleep. Here are some ways to reduce your daily exposure:

  • Do not rest a laptop or electric on your lap. Keep electronics on a table.
  • Do not sleep near a charging cell phone or a charging laptop or a digital device. Always charge devices away from sleeping/living spaces and preferably during the daytime. Charging generates high EMFs near the cord and batteries can catch fire during charging.
  • Do not use a cell phone while it is charging as the ELF-EMF field is high. Likewise, try to use your laptop on battery rather than while charging. Always unplug the laptop once it is charged.
  • Corded alarm clocks and radios can have intense EMFs, so replace your alarm clock with a battery-powered alarm clock. This will reduce your exposure at night.
  • Do not sleep with your head or body near a wall that has the electric panel, electric meter, or appliance on the other side.
  • Unplug appliances and electronics such as TVs and microwave ovens when not in use. This reduces ELF and also reduces energy consumption. An easy way to do this for electronics is to get a power strip that you can easily switch off.
  • Remove electronics from the bedroom—especially around your bed and the crib.
  • Avoid sleeping with electric blankets and heating pads; if you use an electric blanket to preheat your bed, unplug it before sleeping. If you only turn it off, the EMF will still be present.
  • Do not stand near a microwave oven when it is on. Better yet, use a toaster oven.
  • EMFs from electrical wiring can be reduced if you flip the switch on the breaker for the electrical circuits near the bedroom at night. However, circuits are not designed to be flipped every night.  Some people use a “kill switch” so all you have to do is flip one switch at night to turn off breakers all at once.
  • Get a magnetic field meter to take measurements in your home. If your ELF measurements show high levels in your home, it could be faulty wiring which an electrician can fix. Often simple fixes can greatly reduce ELF-EMF exposure.
  • Take measurements in your home if you live near powerlines because levels can be high throughout the house from the EMF emanating from high voltage powerlines.