First of all, it is an important part of the world, because the Earth, the sun and other stars surrounding us have an electromagnetic field, and some natural atmospheric phenomena (for example, lightning discharges) create it. Living beings also emit weak electromagnetic energy.
All this is absolutely normal and even necessary for life phenomena. The only problem is that people created too many sources of artificial electromagnetic fields and densely surrounded themselves with them – any equipment that works on electricity causes the appearance of an electromagnetic field. It is enough to turn on the desk lamp into the socket, even without lighting it, as the applied voltage will create an electric field.
As soon as we light the lamp, a current will arise in its wires, which in turn will create a magnetic field. From the connection of these two fields, an electromagnetic field arises.
Experts measure its frequency in Hertz (Hz), tension in volts per meter (V / m), and flux density in Tesla (T).
Sources. Man-made devices can be divided into two large groups: devices designed to emit an electromagnetic field (radio, television, radar, radio communication systems), and devices in which it becomes a side effect of work (power lines, transformer stations and devices that consume electricity , including a variety of home appliances).
Radius of action . The field from devices of the first group extends for kilometers, and from devices of the second – from fractions to several tens of meters.
The nervous system, the “commander” of the organism, first encounters the action of the electromagnetic field. The fact is that the basis of its work is electrical processes, the normal flow of which just knocks down the external field.
Sensitivity to its action is different cardiovascular, hormonal and reproductive systems.
It is known that the presence of an alien electromagnetic field causes a protest reaction in the body. Scientists left to clarify its size. Despite the long-term efforts of researchers from different countries, clarity in this matter has not increased.
Due to the lack of accurate data, experts advise expectant mothers to avoid long and close contact with electromagnetic fields, and young parents also to take care of babies from them. The nervous system of the embryo is especially sensitive to the action of the electromagnetic field, and if an adult’s body is able to compensate for its influence, then the baby, whose organs and systems are still being formed, is not up to the task.
As a result, a disturbance may occur in the functioning of his nervous system.
If you are seriously thinking about how to protect yourself and your family, contact the experts. They will come with special equipment and will measure the field level from their favorite electric kettle, from the Ostankino television tower looming in the window, and from the power transmission line nearby. The 0.2 µT indicator is the same minimum dose of electromagnetic radiation that will not cause health problems.
For the examination, you need to make an application in which you ask to check for electromagnetic safety an apartment, a kindergarten or a personal plot.
Free of charge measures the level of electromagnetic safety, only the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance, which officially monitors electromagnetic safety in the country.
Consultations and independent examinations are carried out at the State Research Center of the Russian Federation – Institute of Biophysics of the Ministry of Health of Russia; at the Center for Electromagnetic Safety at the Institute of Biophysics of the Ministry of Health of Russia; Research Institute of Occupational Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences; Electromagnetic Wave Laboratory.
The state controls electromagnetic safety by the Federal Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of the Russian Ministry of Health, the department of hygiene of non-ionizing radiation.
Muscovites can contact the City Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance, the hygiene department of non-ionizing radiation, and residents of the region can go to the State Sanitary Epidemiological Surveillance Center for the Moscow Region, or the hygiene department of non-ionizing radiation.
As for other cities of Russia, it is possible to get advice in local centers of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance, but be prepared for the fact that not all organizations have modern equipment for examination. The best of all with such equipment is the situation in the Moscow, Krasnodar and Novosibirsk centers of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance and the North-West Scientific and Hygienic Center of the Ministry of Health of Russia.
And again: send all complaints, including the reluctance of the territorial supervisory centers to deal with your application, to the Department of Gossanepidnadzor of the Russian Ministry of Health at 18/20 Vadkovsky Lane, 101479 Moscow.
There are two reliable ways to help protect yourself and your family.
Distance protection It’s very simple – stay away from the sources of the field. For example, a distance of 50 cm from the computer monitor seriously reduces the field intensity.
Do not arrange kitchen gatherings near the working microwave oven. Turning on the washing machine, go to another room.
Protection by time. Try to encounter the source of the field as rarely as possible. This advice is relevant, for example, for those who like to make long conversations on cellular or radiotelephone.
Houses. The level of the electromagnetic field in the apartment depends on the number of radiation sources that are collected in it (home appliances, electrical equipment of the building, transformers that can stand in the adjacent room, cable lines, laid on the outer wall of the room).
To keep field performance to a minimum, check all corners of the house for reliability, and do not overload the apartment space with appliances.
In the town. Pay attention to the objects that surround you.
Ideally, if the house is located away from large repeaters, cable lines, airports, cellular base stations, surrounded by greenery, which is well protected from the influence of electromagnetic fields.
In the countryside. To what was mentioned above, add the desired distance from power lines and radar stations.
Transport. As shown by measurements, the level of the field that creates the metro, trolley buses, trams and electric trains, is safe.
In Russia (as in the world) there are official state documents that contain the rules for the peaceful coexistence of a person and sources of electromagnetic fields. These are Sanitary rules and regulations (SanPiN).
They are binding on the entire territory of Russia. These laws collect all the modern requirements for industrial and domestic sources of electromagnetic fields, indicators of the maximum permissible exposure level and the boundaries of sanitary protection zones.
When planning the construction of a house, a power line, or the deployment of a cellular base station, the authors of the idea are obliged to comply with Russian sanitary norms. By the way, they are considered one of the most stringent in the world.
The relevant laws can be found at the local State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance Center or on the website of the Center for Electromagnetic Safety tesla.ru.
When laws are violated, the injured party goes to court. True, in our country it is not customary to sue because of the influence of electromagnetic fields on the human body. Recently, only three such lawsuits reached the court, and only one of them received a final court decision.
The plaintiff defended its claims to the company that sold it a computer without hygienic certification.
- The electromagnetic field can cause disturbances in the formation of organs in babies before birth. This is not true, because we never deal with high-intensity electromagnetic radiation.
Ultrasonic devices operate on a different physical principle than electromagnetic. They are the source of short sound waves that create air vibrations. These waves penetrate into the muscle tissue, are reflected at the border with a more dense tissue and are converted into an image on the monitor.
Other technologies created to monitor the internal processes in the body, use electromagnetic or x-ray waves that pass through the studied organ.
- The electromagnetic field provokes cancer. Again: the absolute majority of people never encounter truly intense radiation. As for the fields with which we meet in everyday life, there is no reliable data linking the emergence of oncological diseases with the electromagnetic field from a cell phone, computer, microwave oven or other household equipment.
- Cacti protect against electromagnetic radiation. This is not true. All that they can do is slightly distort the existing field.
- The electromagnetic problem can be solved with the help of various keyfobs, small screens, belts, etc. And do not try. The only solution is the help of specialists.
- The secret services use electromagnetic radiation to secretly affect the population. This idea is the absolute leader of all polls. And every time I have to explain that she has no real basis for anything.
1. Power lines
The size of their field depends on the voltage class, load, height of the suspension and the distance between the wires.
The boundaries of security sanitary protection zones that protect residents from the action of an electromagnetic field, in these cases are as follows (according to Moscow building codes):
| Power Line Voltage | Security zone size |
| less than 20 kV | 10 m |
| 35 kV | 15 m |
| 110 kV | 20 m |
| 150–220 kV | 25 m |
| 300–500 kV | 30 m |
| 750 kV | 40 m |
| 1,150 kV | 55 m |
2. Home appliances
- Electromagnetic safety of the devices you buy guarantees a hygienic conclusion. It means that the product has been tested for compliance with sanitary standards and satisfies them.
- Try to use the technique of low power (it creates a lower level of electromagnetic fields).
- Place appliances that you often use (for example, a microwave oven, a refrigerator, a TV, electric heaters) no closer than 1.5 m from the place where you and your loved ones, especially children, are used to being long.
- Try to include as few devices as possible at the same time, especially if they all stand in the same room.
- Use the control panel to avoid getting close to working devices.
- Do not use old equipment, because with an increase in service life, it becomes less safe. For example, according to the rules, the microwave oven should close tightly. If the microwave serves you faithfully for more than a year, the sealant on the door is no longer as reliable as it used to be, and can pass electromagnetic waves out. A small experiment will help dispel doubts: attach a sheet of foil to the outside of the oven door, “clasping” its edges with it, and turn on the machine at maximum power. If you hear crackles, then the stove does not close tightly and it’s time to change it.
| A source | The distance at which the level is fixed more than 0.2 μT |
| Refrigerator with no frost system (during compressor operation) | 1.2 m from the door 1.4 m from the back wall |
| TV 14 ’’ | 1.1 m from the screen 1.2 m from the side wall |
| Microwave oven | 1.5 m |
| Washer | 40 cm |
| Electric stove | 1m |
| Exhaust hood | 1.5 m |
3. Radio and television stations
Keep in mind that the electromagnetic field from them usually spreads in all directions from the antenna. The boundaries of protected zones in this case are as follows.
| Frequency range | Security zone size |
| Longwave radio stations 30-300 kHz | 100–1000 m |
| 300-3000 kHz mid-wave radios | 200–1000 m |
| Shortwave radio stations 3-30 MHz | 50–700 m |
| TV and VHF radio stations 30–1000 MHz | 25–800 m |
- The main radiating element of a computer is a monitor, so it is worth working only on those models that meet safety standards (Swedish TCO – 91/92, 95, 99, and so on). Keep in mind that only official suppliers can guarantee this compliance.
- Ground the monitors and computers to the building grounding circuit (and not to the steam heating battery or water pipe, as sometimes happens).
- Try not to stay up at the computer. There are norms of the Min-Common Council of the Russian Federation, which limit the time of working with it. Future mothers, for example, are not advised by experts to work with a regular computer. It is much safer to deal with a laptop that is powered by batteries, and not from the network. It is better to put it on the table, and not on your knees.
| *** | Preschoolers | Adults |
| Continuous working time | 7–10 minutes | up to 2 hours |
| Total work time during the day | 7–10 minutes | up to 6 hours |
5. Cellular communication
This type of radio communication works like this: the territory is divided into cell-zones with a radius of 0.5–10 km, in the center of which a radio station is installed (it is called base station), it also helps to transmit the signal. Base station antennas are usually placed at a height of 15–100 m from the ground surface on special masts or roofs of houses. Their electromagnetic energy is directed in the opposite direction from the place where the antenna is installed.
Studies of the field around these stations showed that its level is usually 2-30 times less than the allowed level. And yet, if such a station is nearby, for example, on the roof of a house, you should not get too close to it, especially from the radiating side (this is the part that is deployed from the building).
As for cell phones, experts advise using them only in case of emergency (especially expectant mothers). By the way, in many countries of the world, for example in the UK, the EEC countries, and since June of this year in Bangladesh, the so-called “binding recommendations” have been officially adopted.
They say that children under 16 years old should not use mobile communications without special needs.
6. Satellite communication
Satellite communication systems consist of a receiving and transmitting station (it is on Earth) and a satellite (flying in orbit). Antennas of such stations are like a plate.
Electromagnetic radiation from them is a beam, only a small part of it is scattered near the apparatus itself. And the receiving antennas of satellite television are absolutely safe for humans, because they do not create an electromagnetic field.
