Help Your Immunity By Limiting EMFs

by the editorial team and Sophia Ruan Gushée

Our immune system, like everything else in nature, is immensely complex.

They have had thousands of years to evolve a combat system against bacteria, viruses, and a wide range of naturally-occurring health challenges or threats. The same, however, cannot be said about our immunity against EMFs (Electromagnetic Fields).

Over the past few decades, man-made EMFs have grown at an unimaginable pace. Our current EMF exposures—the intensity, variety, and duration—are a new phenomenon, and our immune systems have not had enough time to catch up. As the Bioinitiative Report (2012) points out in its comprehensive review of the international body of science on EMF exposures and human health, our modern EMF exposures are not “known enemies” by our immune systems:

Radiowaves, TV signals, mobile phone or Wi-Fi microwaves, radar signals, X-rays or radioactivity. They have been introduced during the last 100 years, in many cases during the very last decades. They are an entirely new form of exposure and could pose to be a biological ‘terrorist army’ against which there are no working defense walls.” 

Increasingly, more people are associating certain chronic symptoms with chronic, or high, EMF exposures. There's even a term used to diagnose some people: Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS). EHS has been formally recognized by some (including agencies involved in disability compensation), causing health specialists to consider EMFs as a real antigen. 

What is Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity?

A European Commission report, documented by the World Health Organization, defined EHS as early as 1997 as “a phenomenon where individuals experience adverse health effects while using or being in the vicinity of devices emanating electric, magnetic or electromagnetic fields (EMFs)”.

This study documented repeated claims by patients experiencing headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, skin irritations and cognitive problems when in an EMF-intense environment.

Our homes are a great place to detox our EMF exposures to unburden our immune systems so that they're more resilient to battle other battles that we can't control.

5 Tips to Consider for Detoxing Your Home of EMFs

Below are 5 some tips to reduce EMF exposures. They include some EMF products, whose effectiveness should be further assessed by you and a trained EMF assessment professional. 

1. Wire Your Home Using Low-EMF Methods

If you're about to wire or re-wire your home, then consider that certain measures regarding the electrical wires in your house can help reduce your home's EMFs.

Older wiring methods were less concerned with inefficiencies, such as “stray currents.” Install-wiring, air conditioning units, and outdoor transformers should be reviewed by an EMF expert to see if improvements can be made.

More home wiring “best practices” can be found at this article from green building consultants Healthy Building Science.

2. Consider "Shielding" Options

There are materials and products that can help significantly reduce an area's EMFs from external sources.

It's hard to know which products help: sometimes they can just trade one problem for another; sometimes they can make things worse. Regardless, it's helpful to know about these products and speak to more experts and EMF-sensitive people to decide for yourself.

Beware that many times, these EMF-protection products are a double-edged sword and you'll need to become informed on how to use them safely. Below are examples of what kind of EMF-protection products exist.

• Giron is a magnetic shielding film that is thin, strong, and very malleable. It can be bent to fit without losing its shielding properties, and may help in covering small magnets and motors found in appliances like speakers and refrigerators.
• Electrical cords, wires, sockets and switch plates can be shielded using a variety of materials. Portable power and extension cords can be sleeved with conductive tubing made from black polyethylene. That lamp wire by your bed is the perfect candidate. For permanent wiring, there are innovative, EMF-reducing wire designs like MuCord from LessEMF.com, as well as flexible EMF shielding conduit and protective switch plates.
• Shielding wall and ceiling paint can help manage EMF sources from external sources, such as power lines and transformers as well as indoor sources like WiFi routers. This should be approached with the guidance of a trained professional.

3. Turn Off Circuits While Sleeping

Sleep is an important time for many biological systems, including by our immune system. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information:

Over the last 15 years, research following a systems approach of neuroimmunology has accumulated surprisingly strong evidence that sleep enhances immune defense, in agreement with the popular wisdom that ‘sleep helps healing.’

One of the recurrent claims by sufferers of EHS is lack of proper sleep. When the body cannot properly sleep and rejuvenate itself, it will wear down its immune system sooner. To help unload your body's work, turn off and unplug any electrical cords, especially at night.

4. Unplug Appliances When Not In Use

Even when appliances or devices are not in use, but are plugged into an electrical outlet, they can contribute to EMFs in your home. The Bioinitiative Report notes:

Plugging a wire into an outlet creates electric fields in the air surrounding the appliance.

Make the effort to ingrain this healthy habit into your routines.

5. Using Laptops Instead of Desktops May Be Healthier

Consider using a laptop instead of a larger home computer since laptops are designed with compaction and efficiency in mind. Because of this, according to Dr. Richard Conrad from Conrad Biologic, an environmental consulting service, they produce less radiation than a larger desk computer. “Laptops also avoid the need for an auxiliary back-up power device such as a UPS which are intense generators of EMF because they have a switching power supply that is always running.”  

For more detailed tips about laptop and desktop EMF reduction, check out his article “Low EMF Computing.”

In Summary

Your immune system is always working. It is our last line of defense against the most imperceptible irritants like bacteria, dust, and pollen. Nowadays, we must consider this new immune system-disrupter called EMFs, and take mindful steps to protect our health.

To learn more about EMF symptoms, look at these articles:

• EHS Symptoms from EMF Exposure
• EMF Headaches: Causes, Symptoms & Prevention
• 8 Tips to Prevent EMF Sleep Disturbance

For more help, consider Detox Your EMFs: The Ultimate 21-Day Digital Detox.