Cross-post: EMF safety in baby's room

[mechanicusspiritus]

Cross-posted to nostupidquestions because.

I'm a paranoid mom (with diagnosed OCD!), so please bear with me.

I purchased an EMF and v/m meter and measured the wall my baby's crib is against. It measured 2.17 uT at its highest. There's Wi-Fi enabled pool equipment on the other side of thee wall (outdoors), but our house is built with concrete block.

Is this considered high? Is it something I should even worry about? My logical brain has read the research on EMF, but my mom/OCD brain are convinced I've doomed my son.

 

[nicolas19]

@mechanicusspiritus Non-ionizing radiation has to be at very high levels to be dangerous. The vast majority of engineers, physicists, biologists etc do not worry about this. I wouldn’t either.

 

[walkforgod101]

@mechanicusspiritus I don’t have much to add, but my husband is an electrician and neither of us would have considered any of this. It’s an extremely low risk. I also have diagnosed OCD and it’s so tough to disengage our brains from something that feels like big warning bells, so I totally get you.

 

[flyingmaguro]

@mechanicusspiritus Honestly, I would have never even considered it. So it is probably your OCD latching onto it. Plus, you can't protect your kid from radiation. Always going to be a part of their lives unless you literally go and live in the middle of the Australian outback, and I don't advise that.

 

[veritophilia]

@mechanicusspiritus Not sure if you are trying to measure radiofrequency (RF) radiation from the Wi-Fi (unit of measure is typically "V/m" or "mW/m2") or low frequency magnetic fields from e.g. nearby power lines (unit of measure is "μT").

Whatever you are trying to measure, I suggest to have a look at the German Building Biology guidelines regarding safe levels. Those guidelines are very strict and should protect even the most sensitive individuals.

The suggestions by @bewiserthantheserpent are valid common sense advice. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[bewiserthantheserpent]

@mechanicusspiritus https://www.healthline.com/health/emf#takeaway

Basically, we don't have enough information to prove it's definitely a big problem. At the same time, we don't really have studies saying it's all good. I'm talking long-term data. When reading the meter make sure to look at the peak reading for RF.

To me, I am going to reduce the exposure during bedtime as much as I can. It makes me feel like I did what I could.

Putting distance between crib and that wall. Turn off WiFi router at night. Wifi router cage. Turning phone off at night. There is material you can put around crib, think mosquito canopy, but they get pricey.