Earthing: Why Connecting with the Earth is Essential

During my seminars at the Building Biology Institute, being acutely aware of my brain fog, I spent many breaks outside, trying to get on the grass as much as I could. Grounding every chance we had helped us through brutal jet-lag and lack of sleep, when this little one was still nursing. You can read about my journey here.

One of the most powerful thing you can do to imporve your health now is to ground yourself to Earth.

Imagine the Earth as a gigantic battery that contains a natural, subtle electrical charge.

It vibrates at a frequency that balances our energies and helps us to maintain our health.

All living things on our planet are connected to the ground’s electric energy, except for most of us urbanites who walk in rubber shoes and live in high-rise and insulated homes that dis-connect to the earth’s field.

The power of connecting to the Earth

When we literally get in touch with the Earth, our body gets into electrically conductive contact with the surface of the Earth.

Hence the term grounding or earthing.

We are taking in the vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth, which scientists are noticing to produce intriguing effects on physiology and health.

Earthing can reduce stress levels and uplift the spirit. It has also been shown to help reduce inflammation, healing and improvement in circulation, chronic pain, and better sleep. To connect with the energies of our planet, simply walk barefoot on bare ground - make sure you're doing it without your devices.

Let’s go into what grounding is, what the benefits are, and ways you (and your kids) can recharge and reap the benefits of mother nature.

Earthing vs Grounding

Both ‘earthing’ and ‘grounding’ have become popular as more and more aspects of our lifestyles have divorced us from Nature and its intrinsic rhythms.

‘Grounding’ tends to be used as a mental health strategy to calm anxiety, stress, and pain. For example, when we say someone is “grounded”, we tend to attribute these qualities: centered, solid, strong, balanced, Less tense or stressed. The act of grounding is a therapeutic technique that involves doing activities that “ground” or electrically reconnect you to the earth.

Earthing is another term commonly used to describe this, though it technically refers to using the earth’s natural charge to realign your own body’s electrical charge.

You can see the nuance in the difference of the two terms, as the latter, ‘earthing’, relates specifically to the electromagnetic exchange between the Earth and other objects, including humans.

I use the two terms interchangeably because both are about the process of putting your body into contact with the electrical impulses of the Earth’s surface.

Why we need to earth

We are bioelectrical beings living on an electrical planet. Your body operates electrically. All of your cells transmit multiple frequencies that run, for example, your heart, immune system, muscles, and nervous system.

In our daily modern lives, many of these functions are interrupted by the larger artificial EMF soup that we live in. Your body is unable to perform its cellular processes optimally leading to pain, poor sleep, illness and/or disease.

Healing Benefits of Grounding

• Reducing inflammation

• Improved blood circulation

• Reducing chronic pain

• Improving sleep

• Increasing energy

• Lowering stress and promoting calmness by reducing stress hormones

• Normalizing biological rhythms including circadian rhythm

• Normalizing blood pressure and blood flow

• Relieving muscle tension and headache

• Improving menstrual and female hormone symptoms

• Speeds healing

• Reducing jet lag

• Protecting the body from effects of EMFs

• Shortening recovery time from injury or athletic activity

• Helping support adrenal health

How does grounding and earthing “work”?

The Earth's negative potential creates a stable bioelectrical environment for the function of all biological beings (including humans).

The natural rhythms of Earth's potential may be important for setting the biological clocks regulating diurnal body rhythms, such as cortisol secretion [3]

It is also well established that electrons from antioxidant molecules neutralize reactive oxygen species (ROS, or in popular terms, free radicals) involved in the body's immune and inflammatory responses.

How to physically earth and how to consciously earth

This can be done by touching the Earth’s surface directly (soil, sand, grass) or by coming into contact with a surface that can conduct the Earth’s electricity (water, concrete).

conductive surfaces: grass, soil, natural bodies of water, concrete

non-conductive surfaces: asphalt, vinyl, wood

Consciously earthing

As I explored different ways to earth, I found there;s a big difference if I make it a conscious habit versus just hopping out onto the grass for second or two.

Consciously being aware of the flow of energy within my body and in exchange with the earth, or “earthing”, allows you to connect to energy while getting rid of any idea of it being a chore, or “woo-woo (WTH am I doing?)” that could affect the ability to entrain in the flow of energy. To borrow an analogy, it’s the difference between being distracted doom-scrolling your phone during a massage and relaxing into the tactile and sensory relaxation of the experience.

By becoming more mindful of your own feelings and state of mind, you can gain greater joy in the process of earthing.

• Sitting outside in the morning while drinking your morning tea or having breakfast

• Going to your neighborhood park and walking or sitting in the grass

• Walking on the beach and letting the waves lap your feet and legs

• Swimming in the ocean or a lake

Why earthing works

Grounding works by providing a path for unwanted positive or negative charges to flow into the electrically neutral (that is, zero-voltage) Earth.

Our bodies build up a positive charge that is dispelled when we touch the earth. Earth itself has negatively charged electrons that balance the positive charge we accumulate when we’re disconnected, which happens because we are almost always electrically insulated from the surface of the planet. This paper describes the possible mechanisms for this electrical exchange with earth. Over time, this positive charge builds up, depletes our energy, and promotes inflammation and disease.

Formal research is limited. But we know we are electrically charged beings and the earth has its own electromagnetic field. The ground we walk on is full of ions that are negatively charged just waiting to realign your electrical energy.

My children definitely sleep sounder and longer on the days they play outdoors in the gardens, and better yet, barefoot in the dirt. They are definitely less “wired” and calmer after a good day outdoors (strolling down the shopping belt does not really count). If you’ve ever craved a good shower or bath, loved dipping your feet at the beach or pool, you are experiencing the power of earthing — a primordial exchange of energy between you and the earth.

The other side benefits of earthing, in particular, improves your body’s systems. Getting in contact with our natural environment and being exposed to dirt exposes us to a variety of bacteria and microorganisms/ This trains our immune system and reduces allergies.

Healing nature deficit disorders

The way we live is increasingly separated from this flow of Earth's electrons. For example, since the 1960s, we have increasingly worn insulating rubber or plastic soled shoes, instead of the traditional leather fashioned from hides.

Especially post-World War II, the rise in the use of insulating materials in shoes has separated us from the Earth's energy field. Obviously, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past.

The science of Building Biology addresses this widening gap between our biological needs and manmade homes we have been building in the last century.

Richard Louv coined the term in 2005 with the publication of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.” Aside from alienation from the natural environment, Louv shows the expanding body of scientific evidence suggests that nature-deficit disorder contributes to “a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses”.

Can earthing heal eczema?

My second baby had a bad eczema flare in his first several weeks of life. (Later I found out the crock pot used to make my daily drinks was flaking enamel. Read more about heavy metals here.) It coincided with my own gastrointestinal flares and I figured I knew the diet triggers. But surely there was more to it: why did my/his body become overloaded so quickly, when it seemed I was doing everything right?

After sorting out the diet and sleep, I realised one thing I was doing abnormally — this was the time of the pandemic lockdowns and where I lived, the rules were so strict we could not leave the house! I was indoors all day, increasingly stressed in an already deprived state.

We know that prolonged anxiety — no matter if it's physical, mental, psychological, lifestyle-related or environmental—triggers some level of stress response. As well as contributing to inflammation throughout the body, stress hampers the skin's ability to repair.

Was this the main factor for my baby? I don’t know, but a few weeks after I began incorporating daily earthing while holding my baby, his eczema faded and never came back.

Is grounding effective?

Grounding does not always seem effective for everyone, or at least, not as dramatically as “earthing” can be,

If you are experiencing this, there are at least two factors to consider:

1. Is your space void of other harmful electromagnetic fields that may be conducted to you via grounding?

2. Is your body electromagnetically charged enough to reap grounding’s benefit?

This is as grounding is a magnetic effect and you can only capture this if you have enough electrons in your body from seafood and sunlight (which is another topic to discuss).

How to ground, everyday

It is difficult to do formal studies on exactly how much positive benefit can come from grounding. But evidence show that just 20 minutes a day is a good benchmark for full effect. One interesting study is how just 1-week of camping lowered stress hormones, including cortisol, for months after the trip.

Time can be a premium for those of us in urban environments, so try to stack in these habits to your daily lifestyle. Do them with your child — and soon he or she will get into the habit of getting into direct contact with Nature too.

Walk barefoot.

Whether it is the grass, sand, or dirt, the important thing is to touch your skin to the natural ground. The feet are extremely sensitive with more nerve receptors so the longer, the better and direct is best. If you know there are buried electrical lines. choose another area like a park or forest preserve instead.

Go for a swim.

In the sea, standing in a riverbed, taking a dip in a hot spring, or wading in a lake or a pond woulwork. Wet sand is the best conductor of energy from the earth. There’s limited formal research on bathtubs and showers.

Have a favourite sitting spot outdoors.

This simple practice frees up time and trouble — just head to your spot and slake the calm of being plugged in and recharged.

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku

Literally means taking in the forest atmosphere. This paper assesses the available research on the ancient practice, documenting its effects including: remarkably improving cardiovascular function, neuroendocrine metabolism, immunity and inflammatory indexes, antioxidant indexes, and electrophysiological indexes; significantly enhancing people’s emotional state, attitude, and feelings towards things, physical and psychological recovery, and adaptive behaviours; and obvious alleviation of anxiety and depression.

Many alternatives exist, including grounding mats, shoes, socks, and patches. Be aware that just as you may not want to lie in a spot with buried cables, be aware that you are also in contact with other artificial frequencies if you head out to, say, an urban city.

I’m sure in time, earthing will return to the mainstream as an essential wellness practice for its simplicity and its broad impacts.

References & Suggested Further Reading

1. Grounding after moderate eccentric contractions reduces muscle damage.
   Brown R, Chevalier G, Hill M.
   Open Access J Sports Med. 2015 Sep 21;6:305-17. doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S87970.

2. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
   Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R.J Inflamm Res. 2015 Mar 24;8:83-96. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S69656.

3. Oschman JL. Perspective: assume a spherical cow: the role of free or mobile electrons in bodywork, energetic and movement therapies. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies. 2008;12(1):40–57. [PubMed] [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

4. The effect of grounding the human body on mood. Chevalier G.Psychol Rep. 2015 Apr;116(2):534-42. doi: 10.2466/06.PR0.116k21w5.

5. Earthing (grounding) the human body reduces blood viscosity-a major factor in cardiovascular disease. Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Delany RM.J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Feb;19(2):102-10. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0820.

6. Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons. Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Sokal K, Sokal P.J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:291541. doi: 10.1155/2012/291541. Review.

7. Where the Wild Things Should Be: Healing Nature Deficit Disorder through the Schoolyard. GEAGHAN-BREINER C. https://digfir-published.macmillanusa.com/everythingsanargument7e/everythingsanargument7e_ch17_4.html

8. The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress. Ghaly M, Teplitz D.J Altern Complement Med. 2004 Oct;10(5):767-76.

9. Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015 Mar 24;8:83-96. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S69656. PMID: 25848315; PMCID: PMC4378297.

10. Chevalier G, Sinatra ST, Oschman JL, Sokal K, Sokal P. Earthing: health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons. J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:291541. doi: 10.1155/2012/291541. Epub 2012 Jan 12. PMID: 22291721; PMCID: PMC3265077.

Do you ground? Get in touch for an EMF assessment and evaluation of your space

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EMF Exposure Limits and Regulations Around the World

In the digital era of the 21st century, we are not exposed to one Wi-Fi transmitter antenna. One typical school classroom might have dozens of radiation streams from dozens of transmitting antennas: 30 laptops, 30 cell phones, a wireless printer, a wireless security system, an overhead internet access point and a cell tower located in line of sight outside the window.

As of 2011, radiofrequency (RF) radiation is classified as a Group 2B Possible Human Carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer at the WHO.

There is a large number of studies establishing a concern that exposure to even low level electromagnetic fields causes adverse health effects. Studies showing possible health effects, that are corroborated as more research is done.

What are the Existing Standards on Wireless Digital Technology (Radiofrequency Radiation)?

There Are No Safety Standards. Currently there are no national or international “standards” for safe levels of the radiation emitted by wireless or microwave devices. It is important to know that different countries have different standards and approaches to the current thermal (heat) RF exposure standards. The biologically toxic (oxidative/membrane) RF exposure levels, shown to produce harm at non-thermal levels.

This is an alarming concern as many countries rush towards 5G (i.e., device to device in the Internet of Things).[2]

Let’s repeat that again:

The telecommunications industry and the Big Tech sector, related industry associations, regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, and standards bodies such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), focus exclusively on providing safety standards for the thermal effects of RFR. Any non-thermal effects are either ignored or denied.

Different Countries Have Different Exposure Standards

During the last 20 years, more than 20 position papers and resolutions regarding EMF and health have been adopted by EMF researchers and physicians. These include the Vienna EMF Resolution, Austria, 1998; Stewart Report, UK, 2000; Salzburg Resolution, Austria, 2000; Freiburg Appeal, Germany, 2002; Catania Resolution, Italy, 2002; Irish Doctors’ Environmental Association Statement, Ireland, 2005; Helsinki Appeal, Finland, 2005; Benevento Resolution, Italy, 2006; Venice Resolution, Italy, 2008; Porto Alegre Resolution, Brazil, 2009; Russian National Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection Resolution, Russia, 2001; International Doctors’ Appeal, Europe, 2012; and the Report of the Standing Committee on Health, Canada, 2015.[2]

Building Biology Standards

Standards for EMF exposure in Building Biology is based on the precautionary principle and lowest biological harm for sleeping areas. It is informed by reports by the BioInitiative Working Group. In August 2007 and December 2012, the BioInitiative Working Group, an international group of 29 experts with different competences, published two groundbreaking reports “BioInitiative 2007/resp. 2012 – A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF)” edited by Cindy Sage and David O. Carpenter, calling for preventive measures against EMF exposure based on the available scientific evidence.

The BioInitiative report 2012 includes sections on the evidence for effects on: gene and protein expression, DNA, immune function, neurology and behavior, blood-brain barrier, brain tumors and acoustic neuromas, childhood leukemia, melatonin, Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, fertility and reproduction, fetal and neonatal disorders, autism.

Austria

has one of the strictest standards. Since 2007 the Highest Health Council of the Ministry of Health in Austria has recommended to take preventive action by reducing exposure levels from RF devices which may lead to long-term human exposure of at least a factor of 100 below the guideline levels of the European Commission and by issuing rules on how to reduce one’s individual exposure to RF radiation from mobile phones

Singapore

The Singapore National Environment Agency, the national authority for radiation protection, to ensure that radio frequency radiation safety requirements from mobile phone base stations are met.[x] It follows the WHO standards.

South Korea

In Korea, many websites for public and nonpublic institutions provide information aiming to improve public awareness and EMF knowledge [19-22]. This information includes large amounts of data on human limitation levels, EMF measurements of electronic products, base station information, general safety guidelines, and false beliefs.

*Europe: The ICNIRP recommendations were adopted by the EU in its Council Recommendation of 1999. However, this does not consider long-term non-thermal effects. It also does not consider non-thermal bio effects.

France

On July 8, 2015, a court in Toulouse, France, ruled in favor of a woman with the diagnosis “syndrome of hypersensitivity to electromagnetic radiation” and determined her disability to be 85% with substantial and lasting restrictions on access to employment.[9]

The first low-EMF zone has been established at Drôme, France in July 2009.[10]

Italy

The Italian Supreme Court confirmed a previous decision by the Civil Court of Appeals of Brescia (no. 614 of 10 December 2009) that ruled that the National Institute for Workmen’s Compensation (INAIL) must compensate a worker who had developed a tumor in the head due to long-term, heavy use of mobile phones while on the job.[11]

Taiwan

Russia

Russia set strict standards and has not loosened these. In contrast to the ICNIRP guidelines, the Russian safety standards, are based on non-thermal RF effects, which were obtained by several research institutes in the former Soviet Union during decades of studies on chronic exposures to RF. It is interesting to find that Russian researchers  looked at RFR exposures and immune dysfunction over 2 decades ago and because of these robust studies which were replicated in 2006-2009 they set their upper limit of RFR at 10 μW/cm2.

Canada

EMF Exposure Guidelines in Canada are under the jurisdiction of Health Canada who has not independently established guidelines for magnetic field or electric field exposure. When pressed, they will state that Canada follows the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection “ICNIRP” guidelines of 830 mG or 83,000 nT (Magnetic Field) or 5000 V/m (Electric Field) for a 24-hr period. Since these guidelines are based on short-term acute exposure we still do not have guidelines that protect the public from long-term low level exposure.

The Canadian Teachers' Federation (which represents over 200,000 teachers across Canada (2013)) recommends “prudent use of Wi-Fi” whenever possible including the recommendation to limit consistent exposure in schools by turning off wireless access points when not in use.

The Elementary Teacher's Federation of Ontario - over 76,000 teachers (2013) adopted resolutions:
 "That ETFO study the impact of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, including the possible implications for schools and members, with a report with recommendations.

The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (41,000 public school teachers (2013) adopted resolution to protect teachers' health: "The BCTF supports members who are suffering from electromagnetic hypersensitivity by ensuring that their medical needs are accommodated in the workplace."

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association - 37,000 teachers (2012) recommends pulling plug on Wi-Fi in schools, schools should practice “prudent avoidance of exposure” given the mounting evidence against WiFi exposure especially on children.

May of 2012: To accommodate children with EHS and to provide choice for parents who want to heed health warnings to reduce exposure for children who are most vulnerable, the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) called for a moratorium on Wi-Fi in schools, and for a minimum of one school in each district at each level to be free of Wi-Fi.

United States of America

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to evaluate the effect of emissions exposure on human health. Its exposure limit was adopted by the FCC in 1996. However, based substantially on the IEEE C95.1-1991 but officially ANSI/IEEE C95.1-1992 which is identical  as the U.S. government’s exposure limit regulation. This means that effectively the standards adopted in 1996 are really from 1991. EHT scientific advisor Lloyd Morgan took a look at the history of the development of the standards and has detailed the key statements in the documents so that you can understand how the guidelines developed. Read it here. 

The FCC recognised the safety problems with WiFi and recommended that such devices are not operated less than 20 cm from the human body for 30 minutes.

It is interesting that in 1976, the US Naval Medical Research Institute published a bibliography of 3,700 scientific papers on the thermal and non-thermal biological effects! If you are interested in the history of US government reports on wireless, click here.

Some states recognise the risks and are taking action. For example, the state of Oregon passed SB 283 in June 2019. This is a “bill relating to exposure to radiation in schools in this state; and declaring an emergency.” The weight of scientific evidence prompted Oregon’s politicians to vote 50-8 for the measure. Inter alia, the Bill obliges “the Oregon Department of Education to develop recommendations to schools in this state for practices and alternative technologies that reduce students’ exposure to microwave radiation that Oregon Health Authority report identifies as harmful.”

For a full list of EMR exposure guidelines go here

References

• 1. http://www.safeinschool.org/

• 5G: Great risk for EU, U.S. and International Health! Compelling Evidence for Eight Distinct Types of Great Harm Caused by Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Exposures and the Mechanism that Causes Them. (2018) Martin L. Pall, PhD. Discusses SCENIHR and ICNIRP (International Commission on Non Ionising Radiation Protection – ICNIRP, Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) Guidelines for RFR and robust scientific literature on adverse health effects which are both considered and not considered in their deliberations.   https://einarflydal.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/pall-to-eu-on-5g-harm-march-2018.pdf

• 2. Oberfeld G. Precaution in Action – Global Public Health Advice Following BioInitiative 2007. In Sage C, Carpenter DO, editors. BioInitiative Report 2012: A Rationale for a Biologically based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF), 2012. Available at: http://www.bioinitiative.org.

• 3. Havas M. International expert’s Perspective on the Health Effects of Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) and ElectromagneticRadiation (EMR) [Internet]. Peterborough, ON, (CD): 2011 June

• 11 (updated 2014 July). Available at: http://www.magdahavas.com/international-experts-perspective-on-the-health-effects-ofelectromagnetic-fields-emf-and-electromagnetic-radiation-emr/.

• x. https://ehtrust.org/singapore-policy-recommendations-cell-phones-wireless-radiation-health/; https://www.imda.gov.sg/user-and-set-up-guides/mobile-and-broadband/mobile-phone-base-stations-and-radiofrequency-radiation

• [9] Première reconnaissance d’un handicap dû à l’électrosensibilité en France. Le Monde fr avec AFP | 25.08.2015. Available at: http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2015/08/25/premiere-reconnaissance-en-justice-d-unhandicap-u-a-l-electrosensibilite_4736299_3244.html.

• 10. Abelous D. France has its first radiation-free refuge in the Drome [Internet]. EURRE/Drome (FR): Agence France Presse (AFP), 2009 Oct 9. Available at: http://www.next-up.org/pdf/AFP_France_has_its_first_radiation_free_refuge_in_the_Drome_09_10_2009.pdf.

• 19. Seoul (Korea): EMF; c2005. Electromagnetic field (EMF) [Internet] [cited 2019 Oct 5]. Available from: http://www.emf.or.kr/ [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

• Naju (Korea): Korea Electric Power Corporation; c2019. Korea Electric Power Corporation [Internet] [cited 2019 Oct 10]. Available from: http://home.kepco.co.kr/kepco/KO/D/A/KODAPP001.do?menuCd=FN050401/ [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

12 Common Symptoms of EMF Sensitivity You May Not Know About

You may have heard that electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are the cause of symptoms like cancer, insomnia, and fatigue, but are you aware of other symptoms before chronic and acute illnesses crop up?

Many symptoms can occur if you are always exposed to electromagnetic field radiation. To keep this article concise, it will focus on the seven most common health problems.

What Are Electromagnetic Fields?

Electromagnetic fields are areas of energy that surround electronic devices. Electric fields are created by differences in voltage and magnetic fields are created when the electric current flows.

We are affected because our human bodies also have their own electric and biochemical responses (e.g., nervous system, digestion, brain function, heart function). So exposure to artificial EMFs interacts with your body in harmful ways.

Why are more people sensitive to EMFs?

We have been using EMF-emitting devices for some time now in telecommunications, construction, healthcare, and many other industries.

However, the rise of the Internet in the late 1990s drastically changed. The technology boom revealed a new world of possibilities, and devices, that became readily available at our fingertips and nearly always our companion in our pockets and bags, and surrounding us at home!

More antennas are installed across the landscape to enable wireless communications, as personal electronic devices became popular.

Who doesn’t have a laptops, mobile phones, SMART TVs, SMART vacuums....

How prevalent is EMF sensitivity?

the prevalence rates of IEI-EMF have varied worldwide [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. A survey in California reported a prevalence rate of 3.2% [12], and another in Switzerland reported a prevalence rate of 5%. A review of the literature revealed that Taiwan had the highest prevalence rate of 13.3% (in 2007) [7].

Regardless of how prevalent a diagnosis is, people who experience symptoms may find it severe enough to hinder their daily activities and find it difficult to maintain social and familial relationships.

What are common symptoms of EMFs exposure?

1. Nervous system symptoms, like sleep (insomnia) or similar sleep disturbances, which, in turn, can lead to chronic fatigue.

Probably the most common symptom that indicate exposure to the electromagnetic field. It is caused by the constant exposure to cell phones that we carry around with us during the day and next to us when we go to bed.

Neurological conditions that affect your brain and nervous system also affect your ability to keep healthy sleep patterns.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is linked to chronic low-level exposure to extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields (EMFs).

2. Dizziness, low / high blood pressure

Prolonged EMF exposure causes several changes in how your body reacts to or produces insulin.

Insulin is one of the key hormones that your body uses to keep your blood sugar levels in check. When insulin is affected, for example by EMFs, your cells cannot absorb glucose effectively, leadings to imbalances in glucose levels.

When we plugged in wireless devices, I was dizzy the moment the prongs of the device kit the socket. I changed out as many electronics that my husband would let me. We still have e cordless landlines and they say they are worse than cell phones. Have a cell phone but keep it off 80% of the time. I also have fainted in crowds pf people. — personal account

Click here to learn how EMF affects insulin in at least two ways— direct and indirect.

3. Skin symptoms, like facial prickling, burning sensations and rashes

Although these skin reactions mostly occur in the face or the upper arms of the patients, it can also occur nearly anywhere on the body. Skin-related sensations can include burning, prickling, and itching.

4. Body symptoms, like pains and aches in your muscles; Heart palpitations

Artificial Electromagnetic fields overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system. One of the things that result from this sympathetic nervous system is heart palpitations (irregular heartbeats), which can be an early signal that your stress response is in override

5. Eye symptoms, such as burning sensations

6. Foggy thinking and depression

EMF radiation can affect the blood-brain barrier, which affects cognitive and memory skills. It even rapidly depletes your levels of concentration.

7. Ear, nose, and throat symptoms

For example, tinnitus is a debilitating illness where the patient continually hears sounds such as hissing, roaring, thudding, clicking

8. Digestive disorders

Our nervous system sends signals by transmitting electrical impulses during digestion of food substances which can be affected by EMF sensitivity.

Specialist Dr. Neil Nathan says that EMF sensitivity looks like mast cell activation (an allergic disorder), with symptoms including flushing, sweating, palpitations, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt links EMFs to “loss of zest” issues including depression, insomnia, fatigue, and senses of tingling, numbness, and vibration.

Healing from EMF exposure

These artificial EM fields as energetic stress/pollution that disturbs people's energy fields. Healing therapies and tools can help repair and restore healthy energy pattern, but you need to remove or neutralize the stress-inducing electromagnetic pollution as much as you can.

Learn to identify the sources of EMFs around you. There are consumer models of electric / magnetic meter model, such as a wireless radiation detector, microwave reader, for WiFi and smart meters have a wide range of price.

References and resources

1. Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt - Smart Meters & EMR - The Health Crisis Of Our Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PktaaxPl7RI

Do you see these symptoms in yourself or your loved ones? Regularly? With seemingly no discernible reason or pattern? Get in touch with me for a free discovery chat about EMFs may be affecting your health and wellness, especially at home.

Blue Light Causes Precocious Puberty

A study from Turkey found a direct relationship between blue light exposure and early puberty.

Blue light from LEDs has been linked to precocious puberty. Blue light from electronic devices could contribute to precocious puberty. Whereas previously, humans were mostly exposed to blue light from the sun, these days, we receive blue light exposure at night from our various electronic devices.

This exposure might inhibit the production of melatonin, which could then lead to precocious puberty.

This article highlights it as one of the factors for increased reports of precocious puberty during the lockdowns for the pandemic.

The study

To examine if the rise in reports of precocious puberty has links to the elevated use of blue light emitting devices during the period, researchers from Ankara Bilkent City Hospital and Gazi University in Turkey analyzed the effect of blue light exposure on the testicular tissue of young male rats.

In the study, published in the Frontiers in Endocrinology journal, researchers examined 18 female mice after dividing them into three equal groups:

1. a control group,

2. a group with exposure to blue light for six hours,

3. and a group with blue light exposure for 12 hours.

Blue light triggered signs of early onset puberty

The researchers found these biological changes: reduced melatonin levels, elevated reproductive hormones (estradiol and luteinizing hormone) and physical changes in the ovarian tissues of the rats exposed to blue light, indicating an early onset of puberty.

Those rats exposed to blue light for 12 hours showed signs of cell damage and inflammation in their ovaries.

This study adds to the researchers’ previous work on female rats, which also showed similar effects.

Blue light kills melatonin levels

A study presented on September 16 at the 60th Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting found exposure to blue light to be associated with decreased levels of melatonin, increased levels of two major reproductive hormones (estradiol and luteinizing hormone), and changes in ovarian tissue that may be indicative of early onset of puberty in females.

In fact, changes occurred even after just six hours of exposure to blue light, which is really not that long. How many of us sit inside LED-lit offices and schools for hours daily?

What is blue light?

Blue light has the shortest wavelength and highest energy in the light spectrum. The strong energy of blue light is what allows it to pass easily through the cornea and lens of our eyes.

Blue light, especially the higher energy visible light from digital devices, has been increasingly recognised as hazardous over the past decade.

While some blue light exposure is inevitable with digital lifestyles, research is growing to show how it is harming our health, from damage to the eyes and disruption to healthy circadian rhythms and hormones.

How blue light affects our biological processes is becoming an increasingly important health issue as humans are exposed to more blue-enriched LED illumination for most of the day, or even at night due to shift work and light pollution in large cities.

Did the pandemic accelerate precocious puberty?

During the pandemic, rates of precocious puberty increased in many countries, sometimes by three-fold. Researchers identified possible reasons for the phenomenon, including sedentary indoor lifestyles.[3]

References

https://www.medicaldaily.com/exposure-blue-light-smartphones-tablets-may-trigger-early-onset-puberty-470876

[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-heart/202311/9-ways-the-pandemic-may-have-led-to-precocious-puberty

Quick EMF Detectors—And A DIY EMF Detector

As long as you are in a modern society, using electricity and the Internet, you are being exposed to the invisible cloud of energy called artificial electromagnetic fields, or EMFs.

In Europe, this invisible pollution has been termed “electrosmog” to describe the pervasive electrical pollution that many of us live in. These areas of energy are invisible but real, and you’re exposed to them anytime that you are around flowing electricity.

You may be entirely unaware that you are surrounded by dense electrosmog or electropollution, as it is not visible like air or water pollution. Yet its effects are proving extremely costly, especially amongst children and the most vulnerable.

There is no standardised safety standards or regulations that countries follow, so it is entirely up to you and you alone to ensure that your home environment is safe.

Hidden Electrosmog Dangers at Home 

Electrosmog can be generated by many sources in your own living space: 

• Your neighbour’s refrigerator behind the wall you sleep against

• Wi-Fi laptops in the living room programmed to download movies (public domain, of course) during the night

• Your electric comforter keeping your warm and toasty

• Your air-conditioning keeping you cool

• Any cellular phone or Wi-Fi provider for a transmission mast on your roof

• The induction appliances and stove that you use for cooking

• Your mobile phone alarm set for the morning and positioned strategically within arm's reach on the night table

Click here to read more about the four main types of electromagnetic fields most commonly found at home and how they impact health. 

The Bioinitiative Report is a 650+ report documenting adverse health effects of artificial electromagnetic fields. Since 2007, it has chronicled over 2,000 scientific studies and reviews on EMFs.  

Quick DIY EMF detectors

You can Make A DIY EMF Meter (Detector)

It is easy if you want a meter to simply detect artificial EMFs.

This is one great idea that I saw going around on videos on YouTube. It wasn’t until I saw my children playing around with their mini compasses that I realised it could work as a very basic EMF detector.

Briefly: You just need a simple compass. (See Lazada) 

This DIY EMF detector simply makes us aware of the presence of an electromagnetic field. Note that this is not an EMF meter in the traditional sense. It does not give a reading of how much, or which type(s) of EMF radiation is being detected. 

Using a compass to detect EMFs will only detect electric and magnetic fields. It will not detect radio frequencies, or wireless radiation, which can be damaging. 

What this DIY emf detector will be great is a quick determination of whether there are EMFs in your area, and which direction they are coming from. This is helpful as you are moving around your home and trying to find out where there is strong EMF radiation.

Do “EMF detector apps” work?

The principle of the compass is similar to how EMF detector apps do “work”. Some phones and apps are capable of harnessing the magnetometers on the phone to give you a magnetic field radiation reading.

However, these magnetometers will often pick up on the earth’s magnetic field, as well as the phones, so again the reading is unlikely to be accurate.

As phones communicate using radio frequency, an app can harness this to know when it is picking up other radio frequencies foreign from its own communications and display a reading.

The app thus shows a spike in the reading when you approach something such as your WiFi router, or a cell phone that is making a phone call, or even your laptop.

Given we want to reduce any artificial EMFs, I do not recommend using your wireless device to try to detect EMFs.

For those who want to tackle a more complex DIY project to detect EMFs, coolmagnetman has an enormous guide on the details of how to do this. You can check out his instructions for building a DIY gauss meter here.

The DIY guide at https://www.coolmagnetman.com/magmeter.htm

What To Get If You Don’t Want To Make a Do It Yourself EMF Meter

Now you know EMF may be a real threat in your space and you are serious about wanting to reduce dangerous EMF radiation in your home or office. 

I always recommend a quality EMF meter for anyone.

I like the TriField TF2 if you can afford it, as it’s simple to use, lasts forever, is extremely accurate, and measures all three types of EMF radiation (electric, radio, and magnetic). 

I also like the Acoustimeter which measures radio frequency / microwave radiation (200 MHz – 8.0 GHz).

It is lightweight, yet a sturdy and versatile meter. Mine has served me well for almost a decade now.

I always take my Accousimeter along with me on trips to quickly assess hotel rooms and areas where my family are spending a lot of time in. It gives discreet colour indications and clear audio feedback based on which frequencies it is picking up.

For a not-always-hands free mother juggling a bunch of things, has been highly fun and education for the children to learn too. They get to do EMF sleuthing with this meter, during interminable airport queues, waiting areas, around hotel rooms, etc…

If you’re looking for a low cost digital meter the Erickhill EMF Meter is a new addition to the market, and at a good price. As concern and demand grow, I’m confident we will see more and better EMF detectors and measuring tools for consumers on the market.

See my quick guide to popular EMF meters here.

Check out documentaries to learn more about EMFs and how to safeguard your health.

EMF Quick Guide: Learn about the various types of EMFs and the research

If you want to eliminate wireless frequencies at home completely, take the #greatwiredchallenge

Get in touch with me to prepare a safe home for both mother and child.

Are you getting your own EMF meter? Let me know! Share this article with those you think will benefit from this.

EMFs and Babies: Why You Need to Protect Your Child

Babies born today are exposed to EMFs from cellphones from the moment they’re conceived probably until the day they die.

Whether children are vulnerable to RF has been debated for the last 20 years, when children were widely exposed to mobile phones. And in everyday life, children are increasingly exposed to indoor and outdoor EMF.

As parents, we know interference with a child’s development at a fragile stage is probably unwise. We have the power to be responsible for our children’s health.

My personal opinion is to not let wireless devices around children, especially if they are below five years of age.

Given its detrimental effects on a child’s developing nervous system, some go as far as to say Mobile phones, tablets, and computer screens should be banned for children under six. Behavioural signs are clear; they make kids 'more irritable' and 'worsen their concentration and memory skills'.

But what about the biological and health impacts that begin long before any observable symptoms are seen?

In this article, we focus on the wireless radiation emitted by such devices and examine why they are so harmful to children.

What are artificial EMFs?

In modern societies that run on electricity, although we cannot totally escape the presence of artificial EMFs, or nnEMFs, we can take steps and adopt habits that will greatly reduce our exposure.

Artificial EMFs is known by different names:

• Electro-smog

• Electro-pollution

• nnEMF (non native EMF)

• Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs)

• Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR)

There are different types of artificial EMFs, which can be broadly categorised into two types: EMF exposure is divided into two categories: extremely low frequencies (ELFs; 3–3,000 Hz), involving high-voltage transmission lines and in-house wiring; and radio frequencies (RFs; 30 kHz to 300 GHz), involving mobile phones, smart devices, base stations, WiFi, and 5G technologies.

The latter, Radio Frequency (RF) (RF-EMF), can also be called:

• Wireless/WiFi/Bluetooth Radiation

• Microwave Radiation

How much is too much?

There have been no pre-market studies, No long-term studies, No opportunity for an individual to opt-out of this technology, and It's everywhere.

We know children are most vulnerable to its effects.

Wireless radiation and 5G

The increased use of radiofrequency (RF) fields above 6 GHz, particularly for the 5 G mobile phone network, has given rise to public concern about any possible adverse effects to human health

Notably, wireless radiation, or pulsed EMFs, is increasing at an exponential rate as many countries speed towards 5G adoption for an Internet of Things-type society.

Such wireless radiation, are, in most cases, more active than are non-pulsed EMFs.

Artificial EMFs interfere with brain development

90% of the brain development happens in the first five years of a child’s life. Until the age of two, myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds neurons, is produced at an incredible pace . After age two, production slows but continues into adulthood. The uncompleted myelin sheaths, as well as the unprotected axons, can be easily damaged by RF-EMF. This can lead to axonal degeneration and decreased action potential speeds.

Most of the studies are animal studies on prenatal RF exposure. Prenatal exposure to 900 MHz resulted in substantial loss of granule cells [9] or a significant reduction in pyramidal neurons [10]. Mice exposed to in utero RF from cellular telephones were hyperactive and demonstrated memory impairment after birth [11]. EMFs from mobile phones changed the blood-brain barrier’s permeability and damaged neurons in the brains of exposed rats [12-14].

If you expose them to wireless pulsed nnEMF even before their brain has fully formed, this could reduce their cognitive potential. The more RF-EMF that is absorbed by the brain in a child, the more exposed the neurons

can become as demyelination progresses.

Image from: Moon JH. Health effects of electromagnetic fields on children. Clin Exp Pediatr. 2020 Nov;63(11):422-428. doi: 10.3345/cep.2019.01494. Epub 2020 May 26. PMID: 32683815; PMCID: PMC7642138.

Children are more vulnerable to EMFs

The nervous systems of children are more vulnerable to the effects of electromagnetic waves than adults. The developing nervous system is more conductive and absorbs more electromagnetic energies than those of adults [4].

The younger the brain is, the more damage from the nnEMF. Children do not have a fully developed myelin sheath—a layer of fat that protects the brain.

The conductivity of children is higher due to higher moisture and ionic content than adults

Their bodies are more likely to become an antenna for these wireless EMFs.

Children have thinner skulls

The skull thickness of adults is approximately 2 mm. However, the skull thickness of a 5-year-old child is approximately 0.5 mm and 1 mm in 10 years [39]. Therefore, radiation penetration is larger in children than in adults [39,40].

As a child’s head diameter is smaller, the energy-absorbing “hot spots,” the most sensitive parts of RF, are more pronounced [41]. Your child brain absorbs more radio frequencies than yours, whether from Bluetooth, WiFi, Cellphone, Dish TV, Smart meters...

Children will likely have a higher cumulative exposure

EMF effects are often cumulative; and EMFs may impact young people more than adults.[3]

In 2000, the “Stewart report” by the UK Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones declared that children may be more vulnerable to EMF than any other age groups [4,36]. They stated that “children are exposed to electromagnetic waves over a longer life time than adults and their nervous systems are in the process of development. As the conductivity of the children is higher due to higher moisture and ionic content than adults, and more than adults, children’s head absorbs a lot of RF energy” (Fig 3) [4].

Exposed in utero

In today’s world, most children are exposed to various manmade electromagnetic fields. Not only so in the womb, babies are born into environments swimming in electrosmog.

Common home sources are: extremely low-frequency EMFs are generated by electricity, various home appliances, in-house wiring, and outside high-voltage lines. Radio frequency EMFs waves are generated by mobile phones, smart devices, WiFi, base stations, and other devices.

Did you know? More EMFs are absorbed with the use of appliances that are close to the body (e.g., hair dryers, bidets, massagers, and electric blankets). The general recommendation is that electrical appliances should be used at least 30 cm away from the body.

A recognised carcinogen

The WHO maintains that “more evidence” is required to assess if children were more vulnerable to EMF because very few studies assessed this topic [29]. At the same time, the WHO recommends general measures such as reducing personal EMF exposure. They also recommend minimizing EMF exposure in schools, kindergartens, and any locations where children remain for a substantial part of the day.

Use the cautionary principle for our children

Children are more vulnerable to the effects of electromagnetic waves than those of adults.

While debate continues around the effects of EMFs on children’s health, precautionary principles should be followed for children and the exposure to EMFs among children should be minimized.

resources & references

[3] Pall ML. Wi-Fi is an important threat to human health. Environ Res. 2018 Jul;164:405-416. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2018.01.035. Epub 2018 Mar 21. PMID: 29573716. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29573716/

4. Stewart W. Mobile phones and health, report of independent expert group on mobile phones. Chilton (UK): IEGMP Secretariat; 2000. [Google Scholar] [Ref list]

Jin-Hwa Moon. Health effects of electromagnetic fields on children. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7642138/#b39-cep-2019-01494

39. Warille AA, Onger ME, Turkmen AP, Deniz ÖG, Altun G, Yurt KK, et al. Controversies on electromagnetic field exposure and the nervous systems of children. Histol Histopathol. 2016;31:461–8.[PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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40. Wiart J, Hadjem A, Gadi N, Bloch I, Wong MF, Pradier A, et al. Modeling of RF head exposure in children. Bioelectromagnetics. 2005;Suppl 7:S19–30.[PubMed] [Google Scholar]

41. Kritikos HN, Schwan HP. Hot spots generated in conducting spheres by electromagnetic waves and biological implications. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 1972;19:53–8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]