Protect Yourself from Wireless Radiation

How can you protect yourself and your loved ones from wireless radiation?

Reduce the sources and their intensity from the environments you control.

Limit exposures in the environments you don’t control.

For the quick and dirty, scroll down to “Quick Advice” or the video below.

Background

Wireless radiation is now in the same general propaganda group with tobacco, asbestos and climate change: big money wants you to think it’s safe. And continuing to invest in it is quite likely very harmful to our health.

If you try to search about the safety of wireless online you’ll likely find a vast array of incomplete, inconsistent, sometimes shrill and often contradictory advice. If you scratch further you’ll find that very little research is being funded, and scientists have had their careers attacked and even ruined for reporting findings that threatened the industry. As with tobacco there are studies saying opposite things, one side funded by industry.

To add to the confusion there are many new types of radiation coming from ever more sources, and there are other important electricity-related health risks such as magnetic fields and voltage transients (“dirty electricity”) which are not covered in this article.

That said we know a lot of well-documented biological effects of wireless radiation (which are really a wide range of microwaves). See bottom of this article for some key sources. We also know that the incredible rise of illnesses such as autism and autoimmune diseases have really taken off side-by-side with the advent of microwave ovens in the 1980s, and then Wi-Fi and cell phones in the mid-1990s(see graphs below), which is all the more reason to be very cautious about their use.

Update January 24, 2021: The previously shown graph showing dramatic increases in a variety of autoimmune diseases has somehow disappeared, here are two – one showing a variety of autoimmune diseases and one showing California autism rates. Compare with the rise of microwave radiation beginning in the 1980s.

Source

Age-resolved snapshot for 2017, showing the growth in California Department of Developmental Services (CDDS) Code 1 autism prevalence from 0.001% in birth year 1931 to 1.18% in birth year 2012.  From: California Autism Prevalence Trends from 1931 to 2014 and Comparison to National ASD Data from IDEA and ADDM

My vision for The Meggs Report has always been to provide rigorously researched, not-for-profit, mouse-peeps of truth. But that takes time – Your Agent Meggsy (YAM i am) has been meaning to write a simple guide like this for over half a decade, meanwhile our understanding of and the nature of the problem has become much more complex. Helping you understand why this is important is a daunting task, let alone specifying all the details of what to look for and how to address it.

Speaking personally, when I take a moment to reflect I know far too many people who have had illnesses that are associated with microwave radiation; some have died. In general these people had unusually high exposures coupled with other factors like unusual stress at the time of illness onset. Examples:

• A dear friend who moved into a home with frequent microwave use, cellular phone use and Wi-Fi during a time of disruption. Previously healthy in a low radiation home, she came down with cervical cancer at a young age after some months in the new environment. No known family history of cancer.
• Another dear friend, an amazing activist for bicycle and pedestrian safety, who lived a high stress lifestyle for the public good as an obvious result: unfortunately her workstation had Wi-Fi, a cordless phone base station and a cell phone all together in close proximity (the Wi-Fi and cordless phone were totally pointless sitting at a desk and easily substituted for). She died young of leukemia which is associated with microwave exposure. Family history unknown.
• A family member who cooked with a microwave oven in a kitchen with a cordless phone base station (sometimes while speaking on a cell phone) while often standing near or cooking on a stovetop in front of the microwave oven, also came down with leukemia. No family history of this.
• A family member who had a cordless base station, Wi-Fi router, cell phones and bluetooth devices all nearby suffered from numerous unexplained ailments including fatigue syndrome, and unexplained anemia and unexplained bleeding (a biological basis exists for these being caused by wireless microwave radiation). No family history of breast cancer or leukemia.
• [Update January 2022] A close family friend, a grandmother, is surviving breast cancer after brutal rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. Observing her habits, she frequently uses an over-counter microwave oven, putting her arm on the wall above and leaning so her chest is near the lower seal. She opens the oven while it is operating. She also has long video phone calls with extended family, holding the phone on her breast. No family history of breast cancer.

And more…I know more and more people with autoimmune disorders, children with autism, etc. Exactly on point to this crisis, the author of the excellent text Dirty Electricity, Samuel P. Milham, MD, MPH, a physician/epidemiologist throughout whose diverse career of more than 50 years noted and explored these and related issues, points out that these avoidable everyday exposures are chronic stressors which add to the burden of disease. In other words, why add another serious risk if you can avoid it? Any additional risk might tip one over into a serious disease that might otherwise have been escaped.

The basics are simple:

1. Wireless radiation has biological effects and causes health harms

2. You can reduce your exposure to much safer levels without giving up modern technology

The simplest principles of protection are:

1. Reduce the number of sources (substitution)

2. Reduce the intensity of any remaining sources (distance and shielding are very effective)

3. Reduce the amount of time you use any remaining wireless sources

Some quick advice:

• Don’t buy wireless devices and appliances you don’t absolutely need and disable Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/etc. on any you already have (from speakers to washing machines). Test with a detector to be sure.
• Move any Wi-Fi source away from people, especially sleeping areas, and shield it (better yet eliminate it), as a quick immediate step while you explore eliminating it. Put it on a $10 timer turning it off when likely not in use, especially sleeping hours. A recent Meggs Report demonstrated using aluminum screen on a Wi-Fi device.
• Switch to ethernet network cables instead of Wi-Fi (these can also work for data on many phones and tablets using a powered network adapter). Your Wi-Fi router probably already has ethernet ports so you can plug network cables right into it, and the Wi-Fi on the router can be turned off and/or shielded, sometimes just by pushing a button. You may be able to eliminate the Wi-Fi router immediately, depending on your modem. To add more network cable connections you can purchase a switch starting at $20 or so. More advice on this will have to be another article.
• Absolutely get rid of any cordless phones immediately, the base stations put out strong radiation 24/7 even when not in use, but do keep a landline if you can and simply switch to inexpensive corded phones. (In the USA the landline is widely reported to be the quickest way to get emergency services and more likely to be working in a power outage or disaster.) Family in Scotland didn’t want to switch because of the features to filter spam calls so I found them an identical corded model, and some long cords and a second phone so they still take calls in different rooms effectively similar to the cordless experience.
• With your personal computer on ethernet (above) consider using internet calling for phone calls, rather than a cell phone, especially if you have no landline. There are many Voice Over IP (VIOP) services which can also give you normal calling through your wired computer. Gmail comes with a free calling option for outgoing calls. Option to forward cell phone to a safer connection as well (or use a system that rings on your laptop as well like google Fi did – UPDATE unfortunately while this article was drafted google phone service through a browser became unreliable at best or stopped working as of 8 8 20 20 – second update, as of late January 2021 the connections failed with a “<->!” symbol even using different adapters).
• While you’re rethinking your personal computer be sure to use a wired external keyboard and mouse to get away from the strong magnetic field a computer typically puts out and any other sources of radiation, fumes, etc. (laptops are absolutely not safe for laps). This also allows you to set up a more ergonomic workstation.
• Get rid of Bluetooth headsets. Bluetooth is not safer because it’s more local – quite the contrary, making a call means radiation for each communication goes to and from your phone twice (double exposure), and the earpieces are embedded in your ear cavities flush with your body. The pulsing characteristics of Bluetooth create additional concern.
• Be sure to turn off Wi-Fi (and Bluetooth, and cellular data) on all your devices when you aren’t using it (hopefully by now rarely if ever) and check that they stay off. Apple seems to be the least friendly to health in this regard, they turn on what you’ve turned off including ones you may never use like bluetooth and haven’t been providing adapters nor cooperating well with third-party adapters (believe me I’ve tried talking with Apple!)
• Yes if you must use a cell phone, use that cell phone on speaker phone, or a wired headset (USB works best). But then also keep it away from your body – don’t hold it in your hand, or on your lap or you still get the radiation, just in different target organs. If you’re out and about talking, try putting the phone in a bag, with an aluminum barrier between you and the phone (e.g., aluminum foil inside a large envelope or file folder is quick and easy) so the radiation is directed away from your body. Same idea in a house or car – an easy option is to put the phone in a window, in a small open box lined with aluminum-foil (open side points out the window). Of course this loses the ability to use the phone unfortunately. We need more available technology to connect to antenna outside the house or car.
• Microwave oven? Definitely avoid. Levels are very high and often fail the Federal safety standard (which is grossly inadequate) after they’ve been used some. I once tested microwaves throughout an office building and each one tested had breaches of the seal far over the regulation level, risking the health of those heating their lunches but likely much moreso the workers situated nearby who are not as close but are hit by every single use.) Distance matters – get a few rooms away if you can. Can add more shielding. Works for me to heat leftovers in a pan with a little water. Important: if you do use a microwave oven, do not open while running. Wait for it to stop or cancel it before opening the door.

Phew, that’s but some of the big highlights. It’s important to note that for your trouble you’ll likely have less expensive, more secure and more reliable communications and appliances.

Sound hard? Take it one step at a time. Start with something easy.

Helps if you value old school ethos of doing things yourself, knowing how things work, and being willing to be a little different until this crazy world catches up to you. It’s also essential to limit your anxiety about this vast and invisible new environmental hazard. Anxiety itself could be more harmful in the end. People who imagine something is bad for them can develop real medical problems as a result. And when we have no control over something harmful it becomes ever so much more frustrating. All very human but also not helping. So please if you can, shield and care for your psyche even as you shield and care for your body. The long-term effects of these exposures are mostly unknown but don’t look good, but that can be said for so many things so please try to “keep calm and carry on” while taking reasonable steps for a safer environment. One caveat: given the parallel of the rise of autism with the rise of wireless radiation, be particularly vigilant to protect pregnancies and the very young (see Babysafe below).

Marie Curie, discoverer of the element radium, depicted in the recent film Radioactive, contemplating a glowing vial of the substance in bed, much as people today ponder their glowing cell phones while resting, both receiving radiation harmful to health, often without realizing it. See Meggs Report article, Curie, the bomb, and the pandemic.

Get a detector so you can “see” the invisible radiation around you

Why stay in the dark? Key to protecting yourself is knowing what sources are really in your environment and how strong they are. A good EMF meter may cost well over $100 (the best ones can run much more than that) but peace of mind and being sure you’ve eliminated unwanted radiation is priceless. Small and light, you may find yourself helping family, friends and perfect strangers who become curious about what you’re measuring. [Update January 2022: Meggs Report has had poor results with two low cost meters, one was only sensitive to very strong sources and inaccurate at medium and low levels, and both broke in various ways fairly quickly. These were not the same as the two recommended below but buyer beware.]

Once you have a detector you can also gauge if there are outside sources polluting your space. In that case you can consider shielding the direction it’s coming from. For example here’s a video where YAM is helping shield a bedroom using aluminum (not steel!) screen.

RESOURCES

YAM does not advertise/profit from any products or sites (apologies for any random ads that appear here; they are from the host). Any products mentioned on this Resources list have not been vetted here but were recommended from trusted source(s) at time of publication.

EMF Meter:

Joshua Hart, Director of  Stop Smart Meters! a nonprofit advocacy group, recommends two “simple, high quality models” (with the caveat that they may tend to under-report peaks compared to more expensive models), that can be found in the group’s store:

1. EMFields Acousticom 2 Basic RF Meter ($179.95 incl. shipping)
   
2. Safe and Sound Classic RF Detector ($149.95 incl. shipping)

Reducing Radiation from Wi-Fi

Josh Hart replied to this of whether Wi-Fi could be made safer before giving it up:

1. You could get a cage or shielding for the router; that would cut the wifi power significantly:
   https://lessemf.com/computer.html
2. Or a lower power router:
   https://www.electrahealth.com/low_emf_wifi_router_r6.html

However, Josh added: “Please make it clear that we do not endorse wi-fi at all and believe it is not safe used in any way– it can be ‘marginally less dangerous’ if you shield or get a lower power router.” The Meggs Report further adds that reducing the energy from the router likely does nothing to reduce the radiation from the device you’re using – which in many cases would still be very close to your body and not shielded. That said, a Wi-Fi router is pulsing 24/7 and the power is by far the strongest closer to it.

Health Studies:

A recent summary study regarding Wi-Fi is:
Wi-Fi is an important threat to human health, by Martin Pall,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935118300355

The following info letter was written by YAM in 2018, to a cooperative household which went Wi-Fi and Bluetooth free:

Thank you for asking about the effects of wireless radiation. There’s a ton of information out there and it can be contradictory. A lot has come to light recently but a lot has been known for a long time.

One of the more accessible and factual overview pages I’ve found which seems up to date and which includes a basic introductory video, is here:

https://www.emfanalysis.com/research/

One of the best general sources since 2012 has been a group of scientists who put together a Bioinitiative Report which includes a literature review of observed biological effects associated with these types of exposures:
https://bioinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/BioInitiativeReport-RF-Color-Charts.pdf

To get an idea of how the literature is split, that group did an analysis of effect/no effect for both neurological studies and in four categories of studies of either comet assay or oxidative effect :

Neurological:

https://bioinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Lai-Neuro-Percent-Graphic2017.pdf

Oxidative/Comet:

http://www.bioinitiative.org/report/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Lai-Geno-Percent-Graphic2017.pdf

In major industries it seems a truism that science is funded by industry to downplay the harm caused by that industry.

This has certainly been true with tobacco and climate among others. (Note again great documentary to check out: Merchants of Doubt.)

Basically from what I’ve seen and heard, the industry-funded research typically doesn’t find an effect…whereas the independent research often does.

Here is a very strong article in The Guardian from last July discussing a major case of this:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jul/14/mobile-phones-cancer-inconvenient-truths

The article remarks on a major US-funded study at the National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services finding cancer caused in rats by cell phone radiation:

https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/about_ntp/bsc/2018/june/meetingmaterials/blystone20180620_508.pdf

There are many other sources of information as to be concerned about these technologies. There is definitely a battle over the minds and part of that battle focuses on the science. And any major effect might take many years longer to show up or be understood, particularly with strategic misinformation and obstruction taking place.

(I find it very important that the industry passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 taking away the power of local residents to prevent cell phone towers, before most people had any idea of the wireless world we were heading toward.)

More democratic places have taken action even at the country level – e.g., Sweden – which limits Wi-FI in schools to protect children among other policies, see this page:

https://www.who.int/peh-emf/project/mapnatreps/Sweden_2006_EMF_activity_report.pdf  (waaaay back in 2006!).

Relatedly, the BabySafe Project:
https://www.babysafeproject.org/

Meanwhile, something needs to explain the reported rapid increase in malignant brain tumors. This article on the increase quotes a statement in part, “brain tumours kill more children in the UK than any other cancer.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/05/02/mobile-phone-cancer-warning-malignant-brain-tumours-double/

I’m sorry it’s hard to give a simple quick answer. It’s complex stuff and there’s a lot of confusion out there in addition to the biases that exist. But the research keeps piling up in favor of caution and limiting exposure and pointing to direct evidence of serious health consequences such as this Canadian study:

https://ehtrust.org/canadian-study-finds-cell-phone-use-increases-risk-for-brain-cancer/

No doubt you’re wondering why this article didn’t mention 5G…or even Smart Meters.

For an excellent quick overview of the 5G problem check this article:
https://medium.com/@burk0001/staying-healthy-in-a-5g-world-heal-your-house-heal-your-body-fb06867af76b

There is much, much more – the key issue is sifting through it all and making sense of it all.

And beware scam products promising protection

Unfortunately, because of mounting public concern and the complexity of the topic (and no doubt the need for a convenient, affordable quick fix), there is a surprisingly large industry peddling ineffective solutions.

For example, the idea that a dot you stick on your phone, or a pendant around your neck (or any other piece of jewelry) will protect you from radiation. It defies reason, and science, to suggest such a thing can work; you can’t stop the ocean waves by putting a stick in the sand. Your meter will easily debunk such things.

Another example of misleading would be claiming to show that a product works, but doing so while using a meter incorrectly – for example there was a marketing video which purported to prove that an expensive silver-thread-lined bed canopy (upwards of $2,000 USD) was effective, by sticking a meter in and showing a low reading. Problem is, the antenna was a unidirectional meter, not omnidirectional, so it proved nothing except that in a straight line out into space there was low radiation. The ambient levels could have been much higher. This is not to say a canopy is a bad idea as some surely help – but the marketing for that one made a false claim and the marketer did not answer when called on it.

Scam products aren’t just ineffective, some can even increase your exposure. To be fair, the one good thing about them is they may have a placebo effect, providing some sense of security and control over our bodies which industry has stolen. This false assurance can have the truly beneficial effect of reducing anxiety which in itself is an EMF harm.

A good overview page critiquing scam products (although the page itself has some misleading/erroneous information) is this one:
https://beatemf.com/emf-scams/

Finally…

Your Agent Meggsy enjoys giving free assessments of home, workplace, etc. The price is a commitment to take reasonable action based on the findings.

An example assessment highlights:

• The large television and Wi-Fi router in a living room were each directing strong radiation into the crib of one small child on the other side of the wall. Even when turned “off” and attached to ethernet the television was powering radiation out the back.
• The area near the wall along the main building hallway had very high magnetic fields (presumably a main power line)

This was in a two-bedroom apartment where two small children lived full-time.

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Why not take on the adventure of being part of the alternative? Look how delighted Your Agent Meggsy was to discover a cell phone could work on an ethernet cable!

With a powered USB-C ethernet/USB-hub (not shown), the battery was charging rather than draining, and many USB accessories including USB headset (crystal clear and reliable), as well as an external keyboard and mouse all worked! (Android phone.)

P.S. It’s ironic that people want Wi-Fi with their laptop for convenience, but often end up tied to multiple devices, and a power cord, anyway. Particularly as recent operating systems for no evident reason flare up after they’ve been closed/put to sleep and use up their battery – doing what? So they must be plugged in more often. Relatedly my Android phone has had a long-time stubborn tendency to turn Wi-Fi on itself, not only risking my health from radiation but from using up an essential resource – for example it once happened while camping in the wilderness – no way to charge – and the phone was needed for navigation. Beware the wireless industrial complex…

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Meggs holds a Master’s in Public Health (Environmental Health Sciences Division) from the University of California at Berkeley in combination with a Master’s in Urban Planning focused on Sustainable Transportation & Land Use in the International Field.

Meggs also holds an engineering degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, also from UC Berkeley.