Electric Fields and Body Voltage
Electrical Fields and Health
Reducing one's electrical exposures is very important to assist with the body's natural healing mechanisms.
- Electric fields may reduce the night-time rise of melatonin production, thus interfering with our body's recovery each night (Reiter et al., 1988).
- Robert Becker's The Body Electric details how a body's own fields play an important role in healing.
- Recently, EU-funded researchers discovered that neurons may communicate via weak electric fields (Dr Anastassiou et al).
- A recent double-blind study also demonstrated that electric fields can have adverse effects on health. An individual could develop hypersensitivity to electric fields during field transitions (off-on, on-off). See "Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity: Evidence for a Novel Neurological Syndrome" (PMID 21793784).
- A pilot study also suggested that high body voltages in pregnant women could be a risk factor for autism in their offspring.
Hence, as a precautionary measure, some experts advise that we should lower our electric exposures and body voltage, to avoid interfering with our body's healing capabilities. Below, the precautionary measures are split into (a) house wiring and (b) appliance wiring.
1. Unplug Appliance Wiring to Reduce Electrical Exposures
Energized once plugged in
Appliance cables are typically unshielded. A lamp's wire carries an electrical field the moment it's plugged in, even if it's not on, because it too uses unshielded plastic-covered wiring.
Where possible, use devices with 3-prong plugs rather than 2-prong plugs, and plug them into 3-pronged outlets, to ground your appliances. Otherwise, if you have 2-prong plugs, there are several options:
- Unplug the appliance when not in use, such as at night.
- Use the appliance on battery power, without electricity. When you need to charge it, charge it in a remote outlet.
- Add a grounding cable to ground the appliance. Maintain some distance if grounding the appliance to the electrical outlet, due to intermediate frequencies picked up from the electrical system.
See How to Ground Appliances for instructions on grounding a laptop or lamp.
- Use an on/off switch at the outlet to stop the electric fields before they enter the cable.
- Shielded appliance cords can be obtained at low cost in lieu of unshielded appliance cords. While lowering electrical field exposure, they might still increase intermediate frequencies, so some distance should still be maintained from shielded, grounded cables.
These cords should be marked with the words "SHIELDED" as shown in the image below. Note that a thicker cable does not imply that the cable shields electric fields.
Check Results and Identify Areas of Low Electricity
Find a place where your body voltage is low naturally, or turn off some circuit breakers to lower it. A body voltage meter uses a multimeter with a plug-in grounding cable for comparing your voltage to the ground voltage. However, see references below for warnings on the interpretation of this value.
2. Reduce Electrical Exposures From House Wiring
In typical residential wiring, the wires in the walls and floor are energized all the time, regardless of usage. This can be demonstrated by using an electric field meter or a cheap non-contact AC voltage sensor. The reason for this is because most homes use wiring with unshielded plastic Romex insulation, as opposed to shielded metal-clad cabling.
Precautionary Steps
If possible, to aid your body's self-healing, reduce interference by surrounding electricity. You can experiment with manually turning off circuit breakers that most impact the electrical exposure to your room, which could include your room's outlets, lighting, the lighting of the room below you, and/or circuits transiting your room to another room. To maintain the ability to use electricity, you can route in a shielded or metal-clad wire (see below) from a nearby outlet outside the room. This reduces one's electricity exposure to a single cable rather than being surrounded by a cage of electricity.
Position your bed some distance from energized unshielded wiring in walls and floors, and if possible choose a wooden rather than metallic bed frame, and a mattress without coils (e.g., futon). If possible, unplug devices from near the bedside at night. See emfrelief for more details.
When choosing a wooden bed frame, check for chemical safety as some wood treatment will result in chemical outgassing. Similarly, when choosing a mattress without coils, check to make sure it is not treated with flame retardants.
Building Biologists may check for electrical fields with a body voltage meter, to compare your body voltage to the ground, either using a metal rod dug deep into the earth, or else by connecting to an outlet via the 3rd grounding plug only, provided that your home's electrical system is properly grounded (Exercise caution in the latter case as there can be some voltage on the ground wire). The idea is that your body voltage will be higher if you are closer to energized electrical wires.
Metal-clad wires (below) can shield the electric fields, but the cheaper plastic Romex-covered wires do not. Many office buildings have metal-clad wires. Some older homes from the 1950s and 1960s may also use metal-clad wire.
Using a Remote Control Demand Switch to Lower Body Voltage — Lessons learned from Building Biology
A remote control demand switch is a luxury feature that may not be necessary, if you can permanently turn off unnecessary circuit breakers and route in a single cable from another room. There are some cases where it may be desirable, however, if the circuits need to be frequently toggled on and off, and the circuit breaker is not convenient to access.
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Further Resources
- What's Wrong with Earthing Mats and Pads?
- Building Biology Indoor Environment Checklist
- EMF Relief's resource on Electric fields
- Create Healthy Homes: Electric Fields, Melatonin from the Pineal Gland, and a Deep Night's Sleep: What's the Connection?
- For warnings on body voltage, see Powerfrequency Protection for you and your family
- For more information on demand switches, see Safe Living Technologies
- See additional Precautions you can take.