By Oram Miller
Do you wonder about hidden toxicities in your home? As a mom, you probably do. You know mold and new paint can be hazardous. You have even begun to hear that cell phones, smart meters and Wi-Fi might be a problem.
In fact there are many types of potentially harmful EMF exposures that exist in your home right now, and you will be surprised to learn just how little Americans know about this subject compared to other moms around the world.
The International Institute for Bau-biology and Ecology (hbelc.org), based in the US, trains and certifies consultants to help families detect and mitigate sources of toxicity in their homes and offices, including mold, indoor air quality, non-toxic building materials, and my particular specialty, EMFs.
What are EMFs? They are electric and magnetic fields from such sources as building wiring, wireless devices, outside power lines, smart meters and cell towers. These all emit potentially harmful frequencies that can and do affect your health.
Yes, there is controversy as to what are safe levels. There are many reasons for this. The truth is there is abundant research, almost all from outside this country, showing that long term exposure to low levels of EMFs, particularly wireless devices, can and does cause harm to a growing number of people.
Conservatively, up to 3-5% of any country’s population has what is called electromagnetic hypersensitivity, or EHS. Furthermore, up to a third of us are affected by various fields and do not even know it, nor do our health care professionals, at least in the US.
However, doctors, researchers and government officials in Europe, Israel, Russia, India, China and Australia are taking action to stem what they see as a rise of illness similar to what they saw with asbestos, leaded gasoline and tobacco in decades past. Did you even know that many of these countries are now taking Wi-Fi out of their schools?
This is being done for one compelling reason. Long term, chronic exposure to EMFs is already causing ill health in a growing number of their people, especially children and those of reproductive age, and these countries pay for the health care of their citizens. The widespread use of wireless devices is costing them money, and they want to get ahead of what they see as a looming health crisis.
Where is the evidence? Read Committee Resolution 1815 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (http://assembly.coe.int/Mainf.asp?link=/Documents/AdoptedText/ta11/ERES1815.htm), issued May 2011. This document outlines many steps proposed to all countries of the European Union to stem the rise in illness from EMFs.
These recommendations are based upon solid research showing health effects from long term EMF exposure well below levels that cause tissue heating, which is the only threshold used by government agencies in this country to set our safe exposure levels.
In future articles, we will explore ways to actually identify and reduce EMF exposure in your home to avoid possible ill health for you and your family.
Oram Miller, BBEC is a Certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant based in Los Angeles. His website is http://www.createhealthyhomes.com.