Electro-Pollution Testing & Remediation

Electro-Pollution does not come in one flavour or type; there are many and varied sources and to achieve a holistic assessment of the space we need to take a number of different readings with various test equipment. During this process we are recording readings from specific areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The results of our testing and our recommendations for any remediation are presented in a bound report which is packed with information that is generally in excess of 30 pages.

Our goal is to assist you to achieve the best possible SafeSpace. Not only do we test your space and provide recommendations, we can provide a large range of products and services, including project management, to ensure that you achieve a healthy and harmonious space.

 

To give you some idea of what we do there is a short video below from a person who does similar testing in USA

The following diagram gives a graphical representation of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The two areas that we are interested in are the Extra Low Frequency (ELF) area which is to the left of Radio Waves and the low part of the Microwave band and into the Microwave band. Whenever an electromagnetic wave is travelling through space there is an electric field, and at right angles to it is a magnetic field. This is illustrated in the diagram to the left. In the ELF area are the electric and magnetic fields from our household wiring at 50Hz and high frequency transients and harmonics from appliance transformers and inverters often called Dirty Electricity from 50Hz (frequency of 10³) up into the MHz (10⁶) range. In the Radio Wave/Microwave range we have radio, TV, mobile phones, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cordless phones, wireless baby monitors, microwave ovens and radar.

Our goal is to assist you to be as electro-magnetically safe as possible within your space, as regards your health. There are a number of illnesses or medical conditions that appear to be commonly associated with overexposure to electric or magnetic fields (building wiring) and/or microwave radiation (cell phones, wireless devices, DECT cordless phones etc.). One example of a range of symptoms associated with Electro-Pollution is Radio Wave Sickness which has been recognised since about 1868 when it was originally called Neurasthenia. This new set of symptoms became common with telegraph and later telephone operators in the early 20th century and was later 'rediscovered' and renamed 'Radio Wave Sickness' by Russian doctors, possibly sometime in the 1960s (Firstenberg, 2001).
Symptoms of Radio Wave Sickness

• Neurological: headaches, dizziness, nausea, difficulty concentrating, memory loss, irritability, depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, weakness, tremors, muscle spasms, numbness, tingling, altered reflexes, muscle and joint paint, leg/foot pain, "Flu-like" symptoms, fever. More severe reactions can include seizures, paralysis, psychosis and stroke.
• Cardiac: palpitations, arrhythmias, pain or pressure in the chest, low or high blood pressure, slow or fast heart rate, shortness of breath.
• Respiratory: sinusitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma.
• Dermatological: skin rash, itching, burning, facial flushing.
• Ophthalmologic: pain or burning in the eyes, pressure in/behind the eyes, deteriorating vision, floaters, cataracts.
• Others: digestive problems; abdominal pain; enlarged thyroid, testicular/ovarian pain; dryness of lips, tongue, mouth, eyes; great thirst; dehydration; nosebleeds; internal bleeding; altered sugar metabolism; immune abnormalities; redistribution of metals within the body; hair loss; pain in the teeth; deteriorating fillings; impaired sense of smell; ringing in the ears.
  

It is certainly not our place to suggest that we can diagnose any health issues, but persons who have experienced one or a combination of the symptoms above, especially if their doctor has had difficulty finding a cause, may find significant relief with some level of remediation if an audit can demonstrate EMF (Electro-magnetic Field) and RF (Radio Frequency) test readings above the Building Biology guidelines.

What We Test

In the following paragraphs we briefly describe the methodology and equipment used and we give some guidance as to what is considered a safe reading.

Electric Fields
We do have the ability to measure electric fields with an E-Field meter (NFA 1000), but it is time consuming to do this throughout the whole house as the person testing needs to be at least 1 meter away from the meter. We do use the E-Field meter to get a fuller picture of what is happening on beds but our preference is to conduct a Body Voltage test throughout the main areas of the house, which measures the AC voltage induced in the person holding the tester. This is a well recognised method and the Building Biology guidelines for sleeping areas are less than 0.1 volt slight concern, and greater than 1 volt extreme concern.

We try to minimise electric fields by using demand switches to automatically shut off circuits when not in use and if this is not sufficient then shielded cabling or other engineering measures may be required. Another method of reducing the effect of electric fields is by Earthing. We stock a range of Earthing products.

Magnetic Fields
We use a Gigahertz Solutions NFA1000 or a Spectran spectrum analyser and can very accurately measure magnetic fields as well as the frequencies that they occur at. The ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection) standards is 2,000 mG (milligauss) and the Building Biology guideline is less than 1 mG slight concern, and greater than 5 mG extreme concern.

It is extremely difficult to shield magnetic fields, however they generally diminish significantly with distance so knowledge and avoidance is often the best remedy.

High Frequency Harmonics and Voltage Spikes (Dirty Electricity)
We measure this with the Stetzermeter. Dirty Electricity can be caused by the appliances that you plug into your power supply or it could be coming into your house on the electrical supply wiring. This meter and the filters to correct the Dirty Electricity (DE) were developed by Professor Graham and Dave Stetzer and are measured in GS units (Graham Stetzer). The Stetzermeter measures the high frequency pollution on the electrical wiring with the 50 Hz power frequency filtered out so that the DE is clearly measurable. We also have the ability to analyse the DE on an oscilloscope to graphically demonstrate the effectiveness of the filters.

The guidelines from Stetzer Electrical are less than 25 GS unit is good, between 25 to 50 GS units is acceptable and greater than 50 GS units is undesirable.

Our approach to DE is to initially try to find any offending electrical appliances and either eliminate them or to replace them with a non polluting similar device. If this is not possible or we cannot achieve an acceptable reading we would then recommend the installation of Stetzerizer Filters to achieve an acceptable level.

High Frequency Microwave Radiation

We conduct our initial assessment with a Gigahertz Solutions high frequency meter. If more information is required to clarify the pollution source we can also perform spectrum analysis and data logging over an extended period with our Spectran spectrum analyser.

The ICNIRP (International Commission for Non Ionizing Radiation Pollution) standards are frequency dependant and one example is 10,000,000 μW/m² (microwatts per square meter) at 2.4 GHz (microwave oven and wireless Internet). As a comparison, the Building Biology guidelines are less than 10 μW/m² is slight concern, and greater than 1,000 is extreme concern.

External high frequency pollution from cell phone towers and neighbours wireless Internet can be difficult to reduce. If shielding is required we work with experts in this area and we can project manage any remediation required.

July 2017
Due to a recent high level of exposure to 5 GHz Wi-Fi and the subsequent increased sensitivity that this has developed I am no longer testing properties or consulting on Electro-Pollution issues