EMF Blog Archive — 2017
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Unplugging Electric Hospital Beds May Accelerate Recovery of the Sick and Elderly — May 25, 2017
Photo: blueringmedia / 123RF Stock Photo
Four years ago, I recommended in a blog entry to disconnect the power to electric hospital beds after repositioning the bed, to reduce body voltages and provide the body a better environment for recovery. The research of Robert Becker suggests that the presence of even very low AC electrical voltage levels can interfere with the body's natural ability to recover. Two years ago, I was amazed to find out how dramatic a change this can make to the recovery of the elderly.
An elderly relative, close to the age of 100, had just had an accidental slip and fall, which had caused internal bleeding in his head and loss of bladder control. When I finally had the chance to visit him, he had already recovered for about one month, but was still in great fatigue and was sleeping most of the time. I feared that I could not really talk to him because even when he was awake, it seemed that his eyes were drooping, and that he could barely open them.
One of the first things I noticed was that he was sleeping on an electric hospital bed, and my first instinct was to disconnect the power to the bed, for I knew that body voltage measurements were higher when this bed was plugged in. That day, to my surprise, he suddenly became alert, and was able to hold a meaningful conversation. From that day forward, his recovery seemed to accelerate at a much quicker pace.
We plugged in the electric hospital bed to a power strip with an on/off switch for convenience of turning on the electric hospital bed temporarily for adjustment of the bed. I asked my relatives to always turn off the power strip once the bed was repositioned. Sometimes they forgot, so I would check at night to make sure it was turned off. Within about a week, when his doctor came for his weekly appointment, the doctor said, his medicine must be working, because he was much better. Although I believe the medicine he received did play a role in his recovery, I still believe the dramatic improvement was also in large part due to the switching off of the electric hospital bed's power supply. His bladder control also improved within a short period of time-- I believe it was only about a week or two. Today, about two years later, this relative is doing well.
For those who are taking care of the sick or elderly, and want to take steps to accelerate their recovery, I would recommend to consider steps to reduce electrical exposures. One suggestion is to try disconnecting electric hospital beds.
Warning: While Simultaneously Charging and Using Cellphones or Tablets, Body Voltage Measurements May be Elevated — May 23, 2017
There are rumors that cell phones may cause accidents while they are charging, such as fires. Our main health concern for charging devices, however, is the often overlooked elevated exposure to ungrounded electrical fields that may result from being near devices while they are charging.
When one is standing or sitting near charging cell phones and tablets, high body voltages can sometimes be measured. (Body voltage is the measured voltage difference between one's body and the electrical ground.) The high body voltages we measure when using cell phones while they are charging are similar to those measured when plugging in ungrounded computers (computers whose power cables do not have a grounding wire and a plug with a grounding pin.) Just as it is better, from an EMF exposure standpoint, to run a laptop off of battery than on power, it is also better not to use a cell phone or tablet until after the charging cord is removed. One helpful recommendation is to charge the cell phone or tablet on a remote outlet, away from the body. (To avoid the trouble of plugging and unplugging the charger, another idea is to put the chargers on a power strip with an on/off switch, and then plug in the power strip to the remote outlet, so that everything can be turned on or off with the flip of a switch.)
Body Voltage Measurements
I investigated an individual's EMF exposure after he began to use his tablet while charging it. Because he simultaneously charged and used it, his body voltage measurements were extremely high (over 2000 mV). However, unplugging the tablet's charger or charging it at a different outlet away from the body resolved the problem. After this discovery, I then tested holding a cell phone while it was charging and also saw high body voltage measurements (around 2000 mV). Compare this value to Building Biology SBM 2008 Safety Standards, which considers this measurement value to be of Extreme Concern.
Another individual also simultaneously charged her cell phone while using it to watch movies that were projected to a monitor. Incidentally, the charging unit was linked to an adapter which was simultaneously linked to a monitor (for the projection of the movies playing on her cell phone). Luckily, this monitor was grounded via a grounded power cord. Thanks to indirect grounding of the cell phone via the monitor's grounded power cord, her resulting body voltage measurement was in a safer range.