The short answer is: It depends.
The Benefits of Grounding or Earthing
“Earthing” or “grounding” is a hot topic these days with health-conscious people. It is often one of the first EMF protection products that people try. This is because it has become popularized by the Earthing website and the associated book, “Earthing.” The book outlines a cornucopia of health benefits including reduced inflammation, less fatigue, quicker healing, reduced jet lag and better sleep. The thought is that when we are connected to the Earth, we soak up its energy, which may promote healing.
So, what could possibly be wrong with this?
The issue is in how it works within our homes. When we are in nature (the beach, a walk in the woods, our own garden), we are grounding in a healthy way. We are soaking up the negative ions of the Earth with little influence from nearby man-made electromagnetic fields (EMF).
When we are in nature we are also more connected to the Earth’s own electromagnetic frequency. This is known as the Schumann Resonance, at exactly 7.83 hertz. Interestingly, this is the same frequency at which our brain and body are at their best. The Schumann Resonance and the negative ions are partly why it feels so good to be in nature. The film, “Resonance – Beings of Frequency,” explains this concept wonderfully.
The Potential Risks of Grounding Products
However, when we are in our homes, there are many types of EMF’s that interrupt this natural process. Wi-Fi routers, cordless phones, and wireless “smart” meters fill the air with microwave radiation. Perhaps more importantly though, there are the frequencies from your home electrical wiring. The wiring will have electric and magnetic fields. It will also conduct other frequencies from appliances, lighting and even wireless technology along the copper wiring that then radiate into your living environment. These frequencies are known as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or “dirty electricity.”
Why You Don’t Want to Ground to Your Electrical System
Connecting Your Body to EMI / Dirty Electricity:
When you plug your Earthing mat or bed sheet into the ground of an electrical socket, you are directly connecting to the ground of your home electrical wiring system. Even if this system is properly grounded, there is a high likelihood that it contains some of the different frequencies that are on your home wiring. These frequencies will then be going into your body through the grounding products whenever you lie down.
This electromagnetic interference can create havoc within the 50 trillion cells of your body – all of which communicate using tiny electric signals. This can’t be a good thing over time. Some people can actually feel these frequencies when they sleep on a grounding sheet in a home with dirty electricity. They tend to experience restless legs or an inner agitation. Earthing proponents will sometimes call this a “detox reaction.”
The following is a video example of EMI on the electrical safety ground of a home:
Body Voltage Tests May Not Be Accurate
Electric Fields Are Still Present:
Electric fields radiate from most home wiring and can diminish the quality of your sleep and cause health problems over the long term. They also are efficient carriers of the dirty electricity frequencies (the DE frequencies are within the electric field). Unless you have newer wiring that your electrician purposely shielded (such as MC Cable or EMT conduit), you will likely have electric fields in your home, although they may not be strong enough to cause problems for most people.
Electric fields can be detected with a spectrum analyzer, digital electric field meter or body voltage meter. Many people will use the body voltage meter to show that when they are touching a grounding mat/sheet, the electric fields go down significantly. This could lead them to believe that they are protected. However, this is actually incorrect. The electric field is still present. It’s just that your body is now connected to the ground (it is now part of the circuit so the differential is zero), so it only appears that the field is diminishing.
The Earthing equipment is not always reducing the electric field. In fact, by being connected to the ground, you are now part of the very pathway by which all nearby electromagnetic frequencies (including wireless frequencies) will pass through to the Earth and your home electrical system. This will actually add to the EMF pollution that your body is dealing with, rather than reducing it or protecting you.
How to Properly Measure Electric Fields from Grounding Products
The most accurate way to measure electric fields is with a digital electric field meter. The consumer level electric field meters I recommend are the Gigahertz Solutions ME3830B or ME3851A. I encourage you to properly ground these electric field meters for accurate measurements, which I show how to do in this video. The professional level Gigahertz Solutions electric field meter is the NFA 1000. While this meter is expensive at nearly $2,000, it does provide a 3-dimensional representation of the AC electric field. This is the most accurate way to measure this type of EMF.
In the following video, an EMF colleague Shane Reilly demonstrates with the NFA 1000 how a grounding mat plugged into the electrical ground is actually increasing the AC electric field exposure. This is because of inductance from the hot and neutral wires to the electrical safety ground. This is something I have seen in many homes.
Grounding May Expose Your Body to Current
When you utilize grounding products indoors the voltage on your skin typically decreases. However, voltage (electric field) is only one part of your electromagnetic environment. The other important aspect is current (magnetic field).
Every home electrical system is different. I often compare the electrical wiring in a home to a human in that each system is a unique living entity that is constantly evolving. As home wiring systems age and new equipment is added to your home and neighborhood, it is common for micro amounts of stray current to get on your home grounding system. If this has happened in your home, it is unwise to attach your body directly this current.
As I discuss in the next section, make sure that the room you are grounding in has been measured to have low levels of electromagnetic fields. If you ground in a high EMF environment, your body can act as an antenna for the fields. I also encourage you to attach any grounding products to a separate ground rod outside. This will protect your body from any microcurrent that is on your home electrical safety ground.
How to Mitigate the Dangers of Earthing
The following are ways that you can obtain the benefits of Earthing/Grounding without the risks of these products:
- Do your Earthing or grounding in nature. This is one of the best ways to insure good health. Try to spend time outside every day. 30 minutes of true Earthing will contribute immensely to your health.
- I do not recommend that you use grounding products, unless your home is already low-EMF. I realize that some people say that they feel better upon using these products (better sleep, less inflammation). However, the placebo effect can be significant and we simply don’t know the long term effects.
- You may experience strange symptoms when you initially use grounding products. These are not “detox” symptoms. They are your body’s reaction to EMI and current on your home electrical safety ground. Once you stop connecting your body to an electrical outlet at night, the symptoms should go away.
When you want to use Earthing or grounding products, test your home for EMF’s first. You want to reduce most types of EMF pollution before you use any products that connect you more fully to the man-made frequencies within your home. I explain on this page how to measure your home.- If you do ground yourself, be sure to connect the equipment to a clean ground outside. This is what the Earthing studies are based upon. Not the ground in an electrical socket. A clean ground is earth that does not have neutral current running through it, which is a common issue in urban and suburban areas. If the AC magnetic fields in your backyard are below 0.1 mG, there should be very little ground current in your neighborhood.
My Personal Experience with Earthing
I have tried grounding products myself and no longer utilize them. You could use them safely in an area or home with extremely low levels of EMF pollution. In these low-EMF areas you will get the benefits of Earthing without the detrimental effects of the man-made frequencies. Many longtime EMF professionals around the world do not recommend grounding and I think there is good reason for this.
I know one family in Austria that had their home measured for EMF pollution a few years ago. Their young son’s bedroom had high electric fields and other frequencies in it. Their EMF professional recommended a grounding mat for the boy to sleep on. However, as I mention above, the electric field and EMI frequencies were still there. They were now going through the boy’s body because he was part of the ground.
It may be a coincidence, but 18 months after adding this grounding mat to his bed, the young boy was diagnosed with lymphoma. After an incredibly difficult treatment protocol, he is doing much better now and is on to a full recovery. The family no longer uses the grounding mat.
Speaking with other EMF professionals and electrical engineers, I have heard similar stories of grounding creating more problems than it solves. Most experienced EMF consultants I know will not recommend the products at all. That is why I wanted to share my experience with you. I want to help you protect your family from the negative effects of EMF pollution. Even if it means having significant reservations about such a popular product or concept.
Places like this are the best for healthy grounding.
I hope this article has been helpful to you. Thank you for your interest in electromagnetic fields.
Jeromy
Updated June 2024. Originally published November 2014.
Neil Cohen
Jeromy, excellent article! The Earthing company certainly will not admit to any of this information! Yet people need to take this info into consideration. I spoke to Dr. Sam Milham, author of the book: Dirty Electricity. He also suggested that using grounding devices was not the best choice because of the reasons you stated of the ground being tainted with other forms of EMF such as dirty electricity. I use a small grounding pad, and plug it into the actual dirt/ground outside my bedroom window rather than into the AC wall outlet. I used to use the larger grounding sheet, however it did not feel healthy to me but at the time I did not know why. Just felt like my energy and vitality was draining out. A business associate, Dr. Dean Bonlie, with 35 years experience in biomagnetic therapy research, suggested that a grounding sheet like that, with all the silver conductive thread inside of it, could act as an “antenna” for stray radio frequency radiation in the atmosphere, also turning the person’s body into an antenna! Another wise consideration. As always, thank you for your excellent work.
Jeromy
Thanks Neil. I recently viewed this video, by an electrical engineer, who also thinks that grounding into the home electrical system could have drawbacks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PxA0ZAP-t4
Paul Vonharnish
Hi Jeromy: The place for people to start is right here:
Ohm’s laws – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law
All electrical wire has inductive reactance. That is: There is a frequency dependant relationship between the wire’s conductance or resistance to electron flow at any given frequency. Thus: “Earth” grounding using a wire in an ELF/RF environment is plain stupid.
The inductive reactance (impedance) of the “ground” wire can be in the meg-ohm range – dependant on wire gauge and length to field ground. Thus there is ZERO shunting affect of high frequency propagations, and the body remains an optimal RF antenna… These grounding “guru’s” should be put in prison for fraud and public endangerment.
Paul H
Check out the voltage you would absorb using Earthing products in my rural area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XedSoCAcR0
Paul
Thanks for the good info.
Fortunately, I had not invested too much. The copper wrist band was $15.
James
I had purchased and had planned on using the grounding sheet but since since I live in an apt. complex where the electricity is all connected there is no way for me to modify it to be “clean”. So after reading this info. I do not plan to use it on a regular basis now. However I do have a question. If I keep the grounding sheet on my bed but if it is not plugged in will the “silver conductive thread inside of it still act as an ‘antenna’ for stray radio frequency radiation in the atmosphere, also turning the person’s body into an antenna” as Neil Cohen suggests in his comment above?
I am wondering if there is any health risk if the grounding sheet is not plugged in. Also, if I keep the grounding sheet on the bed but but only use it (plug it in) for a few minutes at a time once per week do you think I am being exposed to too much harmful “dirty electricity”? I had borrowed a friends grounding pad to try it out at her suggestion and what I found to be ideal for me was to use it for about 3 min. 1-3 times per week. If I used the grounding sheet for a few min. 1-3 times per week do you think that would be too much “dirty electricity”? I welcome on comments.
Thank you everyone for your sharing your knowledge in this thread and thank you Jeromy for writing this article. So disappointing to learn that grounding pads are actually harmful if you are also drawing in “dirty electricity” but I am grateful to have come across this information and thank you for sharing it with us.
Dee
I would like the test to be repeated when the prong goes into a socket directly and not via an extension plugs… everyone knows extensions create issues…
ANDREW CHIN
It’s possible the silver threads could act as an antenna, but perhaps not as strongly as the coiled springs inside of the mattress, which are actually shaped like an antenna. 🙂
Gary B.
To anyone that believes grounding yourself will make your body an “antenna”; try grounding the antenna of any radio receiver and see how that works for you. Your radio’s receiving capability will go DOWN when attached to a ground, not up. Also, the video tried to make you feel like grounding is dangerous, but the logic of the video is flawed. First, the guy puts two screwdrivers in the Earth and shows electrical noise between the two screwdrivers. This will always be the case. The Earth is struck by lightning more than 100 times per second; there will always be noise between the screwdrivers. Even in the most pristine places on the earth, there will be electrical noise between the screwdrivers. The further apart the screwdrivers are placed, the more noise there will be. The moisture content of the soil will also play a role on how much electrical noise is produced. Second, the guy in the video connects one side of his meter to one of the screwdrivers inserted in the ground outside the building and the other side of his meter to a ground prong on an outlet inside the building. Of, course there is going to be electrical noise here in the previously described meter reading. Who preaches grounding yourself from two points on the Earth? Nobody. Is he implying that YOU are going to ground yourself with the outlet ground and the screwdriver outside the building AT THE SAME TIME? The facts are; there will always be electrical differences to a varying degree between any two ground locations on the Earth and NOBODY ever preaches YOU ground yourself to more than one point. It has been shown that using a 100 K resistor in series with a single ground point will give you the benefits and at the same time, protect you in the event you were to come in contact with a “hot” wire. Funny how the guy doing the testing on the youtube video disabled comments. He would probably erase my comment if I could post it.
Gary B.
I was able to post my comment. Let’s see what he does with it.
Jaime
Thank you for pointing this out Gary! I think people are always just looking for flaws.
William Croft
Gary, thanks for this great rebuttal of the Earthing-critical posts and videos by Paul Harding, “Total EMF Solutions” / totalemfsolutions.com.
What I think is being confused by these videos and others, is that finding a small ~1 volt voltage potential between the body, and a ground point – such as with the body voltage meters or a scope, is not necessarily a bad thing. Yes the Baubiologie people mandate extremely low body voltage potentials. And certainly as the number of volts on a body voltage meter climbs above 1 or 2 volts, that is a sign that you may want to investigate the electric field sources in the vicinity.
But the ‘alarming’ voltage potentials / scope traces shown by Total EMF Solutions between body and ground, are just that, POTENTIALS. It does not mean that the Earthing is allowing a current path through your body for all these stray EMF field potentials. And that dirty electricity or other EMF fields are traveling through your body to ground. That is just fear mongering and misunderstanding of what these potentials represent.
In fact the reverse is true, as the abundant research studies on the Earthing site have proven.
http://www.earthinginstitute.net/research/
These double blind studies were not done on a remote island in the Pacific. They were conducted in labs and clinical settings that do not have pristine EMF field environments. Laura Koniver makes the same point here,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biCFb9Y69A4
Thanks again, William
Paul Harding
Yes, this is the same canned post Mr. Croft posted on my YouTube channel as he is hell-bent on promoting something he knows nothing about…..or maybe he does and likes to see people sick? He ignores unbiased science and promotes papers funded by people benefiting from sales of Earthing.com products…. similar to the cell phone industry.
In one post he confused my measurements of current with volts. I thought it would clear things up but he continues to rely on improper measurements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuqlPzn365E
The problem with Mr. Croft’s statements is that he believes that 1 or 2 Volts of internal electric fields is fine since Baubiologie people say so.
The 1992 EMF RAPID Report states: “Through the EMF-RAPID Program, considerable progress was made in the area of in vitro research on ELF-EMF. Many of these studies of ELF-EMF exposure focused on end-points commonly associated with cancer (e.g. cell proliferation, disruption of signal transduction pathways and inhibition of differentiation). Convincing evidence for causing effects is only available for magnetic flux densities greater than 100 µT or internal electric field strengths greater than approximately 1 mV/m. To date, there is no generally accepted biophysical mechanism by which actions of lower intensity ELF-EMF exposures, including
those reported to be of concern in epidemiological studies, might be explained.”
“Numerous laboratories performed studies to evaluate potential ELF-EMF effects on cellular end-points related to signal transduction pathways, which if altered, might be carcinogenic. Overall the body of evidence suggests that ELF-EMF exposures at magnetic field intensities greater than 100 µT and electric fields greater than 1 mV/m have shown effects on signal transduction pathways. Studies at lower exposures are inconclusive.”
The proper way to measure this is by measuring voltage drop across the body as it is a resistor. This should be measured with a quality battery operated oscilloscope utilizing ECG electrodes placed on the ankle and wrist. Measurements referenced in Electrical Stimulation and Electropathology by J Patrick Reilly.
The problem here is that Baubiogie teaches a method that doesn’t properly address exposure as the earth is used as a potential.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYld2G9BCmE
Senior members at the IEEE agree. Electrical professionals describing electricity and the ground.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNZC782SzAQ
“The possible role of contact current in cancer risk associated with residential magnetic fields” Kavet EPRI
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11015118
Reluctant Poster
I’m just astounded that the child in the story who was later diagnosed with lymphoma went through the very difficult treatment regime and is recovering. Wouldn’t all the medical places he was taken have extraordinary amounts of EMF from all the circuitry and radiating machines in them? The parents’ doubts about the EMF grounding practice must have shaken their faith in alternative “evidence” and quacks generally.
Perhaps the lead-in paragraph to the EMF Rapid Report Strategy section was missed:
“An important requisite for the credibility of epidemiologic findings of weak associations between surrogate estimates of MF exposure and excess cancer risk is assessment of the evidence that supports the biologic plausibility of such an association. Results of the laboratory experiments that have sought to link MF exposure and processes associated with any biologic precursors to carcinogenesis strongly suggest that ELF MFs do not cause cancer promotion and do not affect progression (NRC 1997; NIEHS 1998a). Some laboratory studies have reported evidence of biologic response after exposure to MFs, but they have not been independently confirmed in the peer-reviewed literature. Most of the unconfirmed biologic effects have not been conclusively associated with detrimental health effects. Although the history of study of the responses of biologic systems to exposure to power-frequency magnetic fields is extensive, no conclusive evidence of the potential for such fields to cause detrimental health effects has been produced, other than effects caused by direct contact with electrical conductors.”
MARIE RAMSEY
I have a grounding pillow I sit on or will put my feet at times as I sleep. I always walk to my my mail box a few acres away bare foot and so can get the sun directly in my eyes .
I do have a EMF meter so I will have to look into this. I feel it helps but I do not sleep on it every night.
Qualified Electrical Engineer
Thank god some common sense from someone who is an electrical engineer by the sounds of it.
Some people will believe almost anything if its said with conviction and on YouTube.
I have a friend who is a doctor – Guys goes in and says I’ve a headache and google tells me I’ve got brain tumor. So what it really was a simple headache. – 2 Ibruprofen tablets and all sorted.
Google and all these media channels are powerful, but common sense and experience in the topic you are talking about are the most important things.
Also you can easily frighten non-technical people who know zero about the subject they are trying to understand.
Please post responsibly…
Alfred Casasola
I have started grounding myself outside in places such as a park. My question is can I use my ear buds to listen to music on my smart phone at the same time?
Jeromy
Hi Alfred,
Whether you are Earthing or not when you use your phone won’t really change the health effects of using the phone. How you use the phone is the most important thing. Have your music on the phone (not streaming) and place the phone on airplane mode. Then you will be getting the benefits of Earthing without the detrimental effects of microwave radiation.
Here are some smart phone tips:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/headsets/
My best,
Jeromy
Alfredo Casasola
While I’m earthing outside, should I stand in one place or can I walk around? Thank you for the expedient response to my first question.
Jeromy
Either is fine. It’s just the skin (or leather soles) contact with the Earth this is important.
Chris Matacia
Is this Neil C. Of the recycling Cohen’s?
Jim West
Great article except the advice that grounding should be done “in nature”. Ground current is often found in the middle of a mountain forest, as I recently found.
I laid down on damp moss on a mountain 3 miles near Woodstock, NY, expecting a beautiful EMF-free experience. I then suffered tremendous muscle spasms in the area in contact with the moss. I laid a plastic sheet down and no spasms. I highly suspect ground current there.
Ground current can by anywhere because it is the flow of current from electrical use (residential and business, grounded), and from grounded power-line poles — with the current returning to the power plant via the ground. “Nature” could be in the path of that returning ground current.
A ‘health nut’ friend of mine died in the middle of the desert home outside of Tucson, AZ. I couldn’t understand that for years; he died of general degenerative diseases and then a heart attack at about age 50, typical EMF symptoms. My forest experience (above) gives me some perspective now to understand that.
My research expertise is with a similar issue, “prenatal ultrasound radiation”:
http://www.harvoa.org
Jeromy
Excellent comment Jim.
It’s a much more pervasive problem than is commonly thought.
This article partially explains this phenomenon:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
Jeromy
Jackie
How do you attach this? Do you leave your window open at night?
Amanda
This makes perfect sense to me. My house holds high levels of EMF and after using a protective bed canopy, earthed to the house’s earth via the plug in the socket, I feel worse.
I have minimal devices in my home but I have found the only way to feel better at night and in order to get some sleep, it’s best to turn the main circuit breaker off.
Jeromy
Hi Amanda,
Many people sleep much better and deeper when all wireless devices and the electrical current to their bedrooms are turned off at night. I know quite a few people who turn off everything at night.
John Woolner
What do you think of neg. ion products that contain tourmaline to product neg. ions.
I carry a line of products that are US FDA approved class 1 medical devices and am looking for someone with your knowledge to help get them out.
Thanks,
John Woolner
Jeromy
Hi John,
I don’t specifically endorse such products, although they may work wonders for some people. My main focus is on helping people identify EMF sources and then reducing their exposure. I find that shielding and distance are the primary methods people should utilize and that this can lead to a significant reduction in exposure. Then, if they wish, devices can be used that help increase their own energy.
Drew
I read your post from 2014 above that sounded interesting as I am learning more about EHS have you started marketing your product?
Vee Lo
I am interested in finding out more about more about your products.
Kim Goldberg
Excellent article Jeromy! I have been saying the same thing about the benefits of genuine and natural earthing/grounding in an outdoor environment away from electrical fields vs. the problems that can often arise from using so-called earthing products that are grounded via one’s household electrical system. The earthing mat or pad in this situation essentially makes the person touching it into a big antenna through which all stray electricity will channel itself as it seeks to go to ground.
I tried an Earthing pad in my computer room to reduce electrosensitivity issues in my fingers and hands on the keyboard and mouse. Although the pad was properly grounded to my properly wired home wiring, the use of the pad in this way quickly produced a severe electrosensitivity reaction in whatever part of my body touched it – hands, bare feet. These body parts became instantly puffy, stiff, sore. And why wouldn’t they? I was directing far more EMF through these tissues by resting them on a grounded earthing pad than they would normally receive from my daily computer use. I read up on this some more, confirmed my suspicions about earthing products that ground to one’s home wiring, and have never used that earthing pad again. Earthing outside with bare feet on damp lawn or stones or in water is very useful and soothing.
Michael LeVesque
Great article. Thank you Jeromy.
Often the electrical companies actually use the earth to return electrical energy to the power plant. Also, there are major issues with electrical geopaths that often are even stronger than man-made dirty electricity – and perhaps some are initiated by that activity.
My experience with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) is that grounding wires to the water pipes is a major source of dirty electricity entering one’s home from outside sources where overflow is creating EMF’s off the charts along public sidewalks, bus stops (due to there now being communication ports for bus riders) and just plain poorly wired electrical outlets and of course old knob and tube electrical systems.
In cities, the parks and beaches would be the places that seem safest for grounding activities.
Jack Fenn
Why are you so easily fooled? What scientific, large scale studies does this guy provide? NONE! He is a big drug industry shill.
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Jack Fenn: I’m not sure who you’re referring to. Maybe this page will help:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/research/
Seems like information to me…
Buck
There are (almost) no words for how unintelligent Jack Fenn’s comment is. “Big drug industry shill” – you are completely irrational?
Capital letters and exclamation marks…. You know you’re dealing with a belief system when you get an *emotional* response.
Jod
Hello Jack Fenn: I’m willing to BET my HEAD on this…
If you like, you can Contact me… Have all the Scientists in the World, MIT Techs and TEST ME !!!
I can detect EMF and WIFI by just smelling it !!! YES, I can just smell it !!!
TEST ME!!! , If I failed, you can CHOP me HEAD OFF !!!
How’s that?
Jod
Jonathan
I must agree with Jack above after reading through some of the article and most of the comments. I don’t think the writer nor most of the commenters have a clue what they are talking about almost to a humorous extent if the whole thing wasn’t misleading people in such a poor direction.
Earthing doesn’t make you an antenna for EMFs. It does the opposite lol. So nice try… watch “Grounded” on Youtube the documentary by Clint Ober and friends… or not. The benefit is to you… as I am doing very well 🙂
I would put this advice / lie right up there with if you eat raw eggs you will get salmonella except much worse because the benefits of Earthing are life changing.
You are all welcome, may the truth set us free!
Health and happiness to all!
Jeromy
Hi Jonathan,
I realize this article is confronting to those who believe “Earthing” is the biggest health discovery ever. And, I do write in the article that spending time and grounding yourself in nature is one of the best things you can do. However, by directly connecting to the ground wiring of your home, you are potentially introducing artificial frequencies to your body that may cause biological harm over time.
It may be true that people are experiencing some benefits from Earthing in their home, but the studies may only be looking at a few biological markers and these people may be lucky enough to have low amounts of electromagnetic interference (EMI) on the copper wiring of their home. Are there longer-term studies of people who have used these products? Do the studies differentiate the type of in-home environments?
We love to have quick-fix solutions like Earthing products that will solve all of our ills for $100. However, with EMFs, the only thing that works in the long run is to measure and remedy each of the following types of fields: 1.) magnetic, 2.) electric, 3.) dirty electricity / EMI, and 4.) radio-frequency fields.
If you utilize Earthing products without first understanding the EMF situation in your home, you are most likely setting yourself up for worse health outcomes in the future.
And, I am in complete agreement with you on the raw eggs!
Jeromy
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Jonathan: Erm… Really? Perhaps you could look up the functional aspects of radio broadcast propagation within mono-polar antenna systems? There’s a reasonable introduction to radio broadcast theory available on the Wikipedia pages. Human spines make for great radio frequency antenna, only the sensitivities involved are in the 4 nano-tesla range… Check some of this out:
Power Line Communication turns electrical wires into radiating antennas
PLC Antenna Effect
http://www.eiwellspring.org/plc/PLC_antenna_effect.htm
I was involved with electronics engineering and audio propagation theory for over 34 years of my life. So I’m hardly a novice… A good oscilloscope will clearly show these RF electrical fields effects on the 10-1 trace… If my oscilloscope can detect it, then there is no doubt that my biological cells are also being jazzed to death… Here’s more to ponder:
NASA: EMF Interactions with the human body
Jeremy K. Raines, PhD,
April 1981
Report Prepared for:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
Full NASA CR 166661 Report:
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19810017132_1981017132.pdf
http://www.hese-project.org/uk_forum/index.php?mode=thread&id=311
This is just the tip of the iceberg, pal. I’ve reviewed well over 100,000 pages of peer reviewed scientific study relative to EM fields and biological health in the last 10 years. Here’s another sample:
Excerpted from: Magnetic-field-induced DNA strand breaks in brain cells of the rat.
Environ Health Perspect. 2004 May; 112(6): 687–694.
Abstract
“In previous research, we found that rats acutely (2 hr) exposed to a 60-Hz sinusoidal magnetic field at intensities of 0.1-0.5 millitesla (mT) showed increases in DNA single- and double-strand breaks in their brain cells. Further research showed that these effects could be blocked by pretreating the rats with the free radical scavengers melatonin and N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone, suggesting the involvement of free radicals. In the present study, effects of magnetic field exposure on brain cell DNA in the rat were further investigated. Exposure to a 60-Hz magnetic field at 0.01 mT for 24 hr caused a significant increase in DNA single- and double-strand breaks. Prolonging the exposure to 48 hr caused a larger increase. This indicates that the effect is cumulative. In addition, treatment with Trolox (a vitamin E analog) or 7-nitroindazole (a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor) blocked magnetic-field-induced DNA strand breaks. These data further support a role of free radicals on the effects of magnetic fields. Treatment with the iron chelator deferiprone also blocked the effects of magnetic fields on brain cell DNA, suggesting the involvement of iron. Acute magnetic field exposure increased apoptosis and necrosis of brain cells in the rat. We hypothesize that exposure to a 60-Hz magnetic field initiates an iron-mediated process (e.g., the Fenton reaction) that increases free radical formation in brain cells, leading to DNA strand breaks and cell death. This hypothesis could have an important implication for the possible health effects associated with exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields in the public and occupational environments.”
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (147K).
CDC Page Link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241963/
Don’t pop off with unfounded speculations as to my competence…
Steve Kroschel
I’m the guy who produced and directed “The Grounded” and a second feature documentary called “Heal for Free” and then a third (18 minute) featurette called “Prescription is Earth” …
Much of the warnings here by Jeromy are the antithesis of what I experienced in four years of documenting people in the town of Haines, Alaska , Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Czech Republic (Prague), etc.. The experiments done with plants were 100% validating grounding’s effectiveness both using the ground port in an outlet and a ground stake. The plant experiments were done also at the University of Arizona in a Tucson. … We even filmed a retinal angiogram at the Retinal Institute with a dramatic result in the retina of a patient after two hours of grounding in Florida near Gainesville… And on and on… So, I am exceedingly fascinated and concerned and hungry and curious to this ominous warning put forth in this article..
I think that no matter WHAT we do in life, there are risks and another side to the story. Surely there are better ways to Ground in a challenging home environment — to perfect the practice — but, or to show a picture of a park bench in a mountain valley as to where to Ground is altruistic and unattainable by most people and simply unrealistic for the vast majority that need this health support..
I believe in it so strongly now, only because of making these films and living it myself, that I have started BearfootGrounding.com to educate and inform and provide an alternative resource for people to ground themselves with…
This article’s issues and the opinions herein will be explored and highlighted and presented in the near future on our website to allay I think many unfounded fears and misgivings about Grounding. What I am reading here is akin to arguing about politics and religion… This is a very, very, complex and scientific subject, thus the infinite array of diametrically opposed opinions among physicists, electrical engineers, medical doctors and the average laymen who just walks barefoot or sleeps on a grounding resource.
Thank you for furthering the discussion!
Steve Kroschel / Kroschel Films
Paul H
It’s actually quite a simple subject in my opinion. The earth is a good conductor, don’t attach yourself to it for extended periods of time.
Measuring the earth properly we see the different frequencies traveling through it. People could be harmed by utilizing the technique of sleeping on electrified sheets. This could happen as result of becoming a circuit whether the source be from the earth or air.
I’ve heard many complain of feeling numb after a while….it’s not from detoxing.
Here is a recent published paper from The Journal of Neurophysiology.
Blocking central pathways in the primate motor system using high-frequency sinusoidal current:
“Electrical stimulation with high-frequency (2–10 kHz) sinusoidal currents has previously been shown to produce a transient and complete nerve block in the peripheral nervous system. Modeling and in-vitro studies suggest that this is due to a prolonged local depolarization across a broad section of membrane underlying the blocking electrode.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4346720/
Marco
Dog’s and Cats would be dying, and other small animals in urban areas…Checkmate.
donatello
To be fair, they only live 12-20 years.
Lanise
I used a grounding pad twice. The first time 15 min, the second an hour. Both times I could feel tingling and little shocks. After the second time I was so dizzy/lightheaded with blurred vision. I wanted to go to the ER.
I think I will stick with real nature and sit in the yard, weather permitting. I thought the pad was a good idea in the Midwest to help improve everything.
Paul H
Great article Jeromy! Good points given how many people have been sold this cure all for EMF exposure and have fallen victim to its misinformation.
Do I “earth”? Sometimes, but not when I sleep. I’ve never had good results. Maybe because the earth is at 7-12 Hertz and when sleeping the brain is at 4 Hertz and below?
I’ve heard a couple of doctors say that because “Earthing” changes the blood it’s good for you. I’ll go with the famous quote “Everything is a poison, it just depends on the dose”.
MARIE TILLMAN
You are right moderation. The boring word of moderation no one ever wants to follow.
DAVID RICHARDS
Dear Jeromy,
Thank you for the article and I commend you on your website. I refer patients to it constantly.
I am a Holistic Doctor and have had great success with earthing both with products and with earthing in nature . I have 25 out of 25 diabetics who no longer have numb feet and a number who have had kidney dialysis put off because of improved kidney function. Many have had general improvements in their health overall. I also advise all patients about the ever increasing problem of EMF. I take your point about earthing and potential problems with increased exposure to EMF so now have to warn everyone about this potential problem if choosing to use Earthing products. I live in a small country town with low levels of EMF but it is increasing – WiFi in our school, solar panels increasing dirty electricity when DC converts to AC, upgrades to our power supply, lots of tourists using alternating current devices and wireless smart meters are coming.
I wish I had a product that could safely allow earthing with products and yet avoid increased exposure to EMF.
All the best. Keep up the great work. If you ever come to Australia I would love to catch up.
David
Paul H
Hi David, I advise my clients not to earth and to eliminate all man made EMF in the sleeping area. Power quality is also looked at and improved. The results have been a 100% success rate beating type 2 diabetes. The first night sleeping in an EMF free field without grounding typically produces a 50 point BS drop and continues to stay this way until all medication has been weened. Hope this helps, Paul
Jeromy
Thanks David. I welcome the opportunity to visit you if I come to Australia!
Being in a rural area, you and your patients are probably better off when it comes to EMF pollution. That could be part of why you are seeing really good results with grounding. As I mention above, as long as people first measure their homes for EMF’s, grounding to the actual ground outside can be beneficial.
If smart meters come to your area (I encourage you to speak out against these before they arrive), then I really don’t recommend that people connect themselves to their home wiring system. It appears that the new meters put additional frequencies onto the electrical wiring of our homes. This is likely why so many people have developed the same symptoms once smart meters are installed.
Matt
How far from electricity, civilization should you get when earthing in nature? I’m assuming the farther, the better.
Jeromy
Matt,
Real nature away from powerlines and cellular towers is the best.
However, even a park or a natural area on the outskirts of town can be great. If you don’t have too much ground current in your neighborhood, your backyard will be healthy for you (provided you don’t have a cell tower nearby).
Jeromy
Haydn
Hi Jeromy,
When you say near your home how close would be dangerous? Also how can I measure the ground current in my garden?
If the ground current is ok, would it still be a problem using an earthing product (plugged into the actual earth) with many WiFi signals in my area? Thank you!
Jeromy
Hi Haydn,
Thanks for your questions.
On the cell tower, you really only know by measuring. This basic kit is an accurate way to do this:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-test-your-home/
For measuring ground current, one way is to test the magnetic field in your backyard. If it is low (0.2 mG or lower), then the ground current is likely low. The TriField TF2 on Standard Magnetic setting is good for this measurement.
Current flowing is what causes a magnetic field. If there is a big magnetic field from your local electrical grid, then you likely have some ground current.
This article explains this a bit more:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
If the fields are low, then Earthing to the outside should be okay.
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Sarah Martin
David Richards,
You wrote, “I have 25 out of 25 diabetics who no longer have numb feet and a number who have had kidney dialysis put off because of improved kidney function. Many have had general improvements in their health overall.”
That is amazing! What wonderful work you are doing! Keep it up!
Vicki
Did they use the mat or sheets?
sue cace
Hi Jeromy,
After nearly dying in June of this year and having my nervous system completely decimated along with cardiac, lymphatic, etc ….many times I have used the “mother earth” to support me …many times unable to tolerate pain and unbearable discomfort I instinctively went outside and laid on the grass especially at night to discharge all pain.
I too nearly freaked initially when so ill and purchased a whole lot of Earthing products but again instinctively did not follow through.
But the most telling experience was visiting a woman who earths her products to electrical socket and the school next door has industrial wi-fi…I could feel it it was unbearable. She was grounding to a power plant so to speak.
The ground for me. Also I found out that my home has plumbing carrying current so I wear thongs inside and this anti-grounding is also protecting me from unwanted absorption of electrical fields.
Nature IS nurture and thanks Jeromy your doing a great job.
Sue
Paul Vonharnish
How refreshing to read a page with some proper caveats regarding Earth “grounding” issues. Man is now pumping somewhere in the area of 47 tera watts of electrical energy into the Earth’s mantle and ionic fields at any given moment. At these insane levels, it is criminally negligent to suggest grounding into stray EM and RF fields existent in most urban areas. This is particularly true of areas where stray return paths are found near electrical power plants or power substations. Just don’t do it. You could seriously and permanently damage your neurological and sensory systems.
Geopathic stress has also become a huge issue. Man has frivolously altered the paths of rivers, drained natural wetlands for rural development, and mined massive amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals from the Earth’s thin supportive mantle. It took billions of years for these once molten metals to migrate toward the natural ley lines as determined by the original magnetic core properties of the planet. Man has seriously disrupted the magnetic field properties of the planet with the insanity of excess mining and resource exploitation. The Earth has been seriously wounded, and is now Spiritually hemorrhaging toward extinction…
Some persons are very sensitive to these ley line areas and changing intensities of Schumann resonance pathways. I can readily detect these disruptions with no equipment other than my (now disrupted and failing) natural sensory systems. I am now sick ALL of the time… What man has done to this planet is a crime against Creation. All the deceptive and exploitative man made “protection” devices in the world will not wash away our sins of economy and spiritual contrivance… Total elimination of electronics technology is the only correct answer to the question.
Thank you for your very sober analysis of the grounding issue.
G Tucker
Actually, instead of abolishing electronics, manufacturers could sheild and ground them before market…but that seems to be too cost prohibitive and so doesn’t happen (except in cases of sensitive and essential electronics used by governments and critical institutions).
Fabian Panizo Garcia
Hi Jeromy, thanks for your advice, but I have a question: you recommend to eliminate all man-made EMF to sleep well. You can do that in your house, but what happens when you live near a Mobile Cellphone Tower? You can’t eliminate that, what do you recommend?
In a link you recommend the Bed Daylite Canopy, but Amanda suffers from the dirty electricity, so there is not a contradiction in that?
To protect from the cell tower pollution, do you recommend to sleep with a special bed sheet with no connection to ground? What could be a solution?
Many thanks and have a nice day.
Jeromy
Hi Fabian,
Yes, it can be complicated, but here is what I did when I lived in San Francisco (with nearby smart meters, cell towers, wi-fi and dirty electricity).
1.) The bed canopies do work for the cell towers – but you must have a complete enclosure. Be sure to get the sheet that goes underneath the bed so you create a cocoon. The box shaped canopies are best, as Paul states below. See the solutions page above to check out the canopies. The canopies should help with the dirty electricity. Using an AM radio to test the static outside and inside the canopy would be a simple test.
2.) I highly recommend that you turn off as much electricity as possible at night. This will help with the DE, electric fields and magnetic fields. Turn off the breakers going to your bedroom. For some houses, I turn off everything at night and my sleep is much improved.
3.) I wrote this page about how to measure your home. It lays out the four types of EMF. The electric and magnetic fields are often the most problematic for people. Be sure to measure these to make sure you are not exposed when you sleep.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/measuring-your-home/
Let me know how things go.
Jeromy
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Fabian Garcia: I would opt for a full bed canopy, but not ground the material. If you have RF chaff (dirty electricity) on your electrical lines, do not ground to this node, and be sure to shut down any breakers when not in use. There are a number of good bed canopy manufactures, or you could just purchase an appropriate fabric and construct your own. Some of these fabrics are much more robust at blocking than the Daylight fabric, and building your own canopy could save a considerable amount of money.
It is important to have a canopy large enough to fully surround the bed, yet not in contact with the bed or it’s occupants. Many persons have had poor health results, as they are in direct contact with the fabric whilst sleeping. A bit of extra room inside the shield is a good thing…
Shane
Hey Paul, thanks for the tips. Couple of questions:
It makes sense not to have your actual body in contact with the bed canopy, but is the canopy being in contact with the bed itself an issue if the bed frame is wooden? (I almost don’t want to ask if one needs to be concerned about metal springs in their mattress but that’s probably relevant too, no?)
Can you recommend how to find fabrics that can block microwaves? I’ve no idea what keyword search to even use in google.
On a side note, do bed canopies ‘reflect’ microwaves or ‘absorb’ them, so to speak?
Jeromy
Hi Shane,
Here is a page where I summarize the best fabrics one can use. #1 and #3 block RF:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/fabrics/
If you want to learn about bed canopies, I review them on this page:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/bed-canopies/
Finally, the best bed in my opinion is a multi-layered latex bed on a wood frame. It is probably best to have as little metal as possible in your frame and mattress. Here is one study about this:
http://www.m-hikari.com/asms/asms2014/asms1-4-2014/hallbergASMS1-4-2014.pdf
Jeromy
EJ
Re: “It makes sense not to have your actual body in contact with the bed canopy, but is the canopy being in contact with the bed itself an issue….”
Hi Jeromy,
I wondered about Shane’s question as well. I have the Dream Canopy that is supposed to be grounded. I get great RF shielding from it, even without a mat underneath, by the way.
I did not really see where you answered the specific question that Shane asked, though. I am trying to decide if I should ground the canopy, or not. I leave the circuits to the bedroom off all of the time and I do not touch any part of the canopy while sleeping. Also, it “feels okay” un-grounded. What do you think?
Thanks!
Jeromy
Hi EJ,
The canopy works a little better if it is grounded, but it doesn’t have to be grounded. You are already experiencing good shielding without grounding, so you should be okay.
If there were high electric fields in your bedroom and your bed had a lot of metal in it, then you wouldn’t want the canopy to be touching the bed.
However, you just don’t want to have high electric fields if you are using a canopy. So, by turning off the appropriate breakers, you are reducing this issue and it should be fine if your canopy is touching your bed.
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
EJ
Yes. Perfect. Thank you!
Linda Strobel
Thank you Jeromy for your article on earthing products.
I travel quite a bit and always have trouble sleeping in hotel rooms. At home I turn off all WiFi and sleep in a room without outlets or electronics. I did see your reviews of the tents for travelling, but can you give me your opinion of the DISPOSABLE SHIELDING TENT?
I need something quickly and didn’t want the expense of the cotton ones reviewed.
Thank you again, Linda
Jeromy
Hi Linda,
A lot of ES people have trouble in hotels. Could be the WiFi and the magnetic/electric fields and EMI within the wiring of the hotel.
Today, the WiFi is pretty intense in most hotels though, so that is likely the biggest problem.
Rather than the disposable solutions, I would get the BlocBag for travelling seen on this page (see the section on Travel half way down):
https://www.emfanalysis.com/bed-canopies/
Keep in touch,
Jeromy
Shane
Thanks for the reply Jeromy. I notice on the bed canopy page you use the pyramidal canopy. Is that for ease-of-setup reasons for travelling compared with 4-point fixture box canopies?
Do you rate the Trifield® meters? I’m thinking there must be drawbacks possibly regarding frequency range sensitivity to a single meter that can measure RF, electric fields and magnetic fields.
I’ve realized how silly my above question was: obviously Faraday cages reflect RF at the expense of resonating ELFs, hence the need to pull circuit breakers when using.
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Shane and other readers:
I generally do not recommend the Trifield meter, as there are significant sensitivity and accuracy issues. The Trifield meter will certainly inform you of the presence of low frequency ELF fields, but will not describe accurate field strengths. This can be an issue if attempting to solve electromagnetic issues caused by faulty installation of lines, or when documenting for legal recourse.
I highly recommend the Gigahertz Solutions ME 3840B – Low frequency analyzer for it’s base accuracy and wide bandwidth. For a more professional diagnostic using time logging, see the Gigahertz Solutions NFA Meters for low frequency measurement.
There are many cases of “switch-mode” power frequencies being generated by peripheral equipment or “smart” metering installed on house wiring. These fields are very disruptive to biological systems, and should be made illegal…
Jeromy
Shane –
Yes, the pyramid canopy is easier to travel with. If it is only for your home, I usually recommend the square Naturell canopy. It has the best shielding and the vertical walls will keep you from touching it at night, which can leak in RF.
I agree with Paul in that the TriField is not that good of a meter. It is not accurate at all for RF and electric fields. It does okay with magnetic fields. For a better basic meter that measures both RF and magnetic fields, I usually recommend the Cornet:
http://www.radmeters.com/Cornet-ED78S-esh.html
For a really good gauss meter, try the Alpha Labs UHS2 at the bottom of this page:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/emf-meters/
Jeromy
Fabian Panizo Garcia
Thanks Jeromy and Paul for your advice. Right now I am making 2 ground systems, based on Jeromy’s advice, 1 for the lighting and AC power line for computers, and another ground for the Bed Canopy and also for the future use of painting. In presume 1 ground for Dirty Electricity and the other for EMF pollution. What do you think about this kind of solution?
Also I was thinking maybe use 1 ground system but using a diode that separates dirty noise of the AC plug from the Bed Canopy… what do you think?
Please any advice will help. Thanks and have a nice day.
Jeromy
Fabian,
The main thing is to not ground your canopy into the electrical ground. This will connect something you are sleeping in to a potentially dirty electrical system (like the Earthing sheets I mention above).
Also, I recommend the book “Tracing EMF’s” by Karl Riley. He is one of the best on grounding electrical systems and it’s an important book to read for what you are doing.
Jeromy
Sam
Hi Jeromy. Good article. I have a question regarding this: is it okay to earth outside of your own back garden in a neighborhood that will have some level of emf in homes/the environment? I earth outside my back garden every night to help with sleep and grounding benefits, and so far it has helped pretty significantly but there are times where I notice I feel slightly worse for doing so, and so I spend half that time earthing in case it’s a problem but most of the time I feel good/already grounded. I just use the back garden because its more convenient than going as far away from EMF as possible (which is almost everywhere in civilized areas). I have WiFi in my home but make sure to switch everything off before going barefoot outside.
Jeromy
Hey Sam,
I have only been in a few environments where I didn’t feel well grounding on actual ground. These were urban areas in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. In many dense urban environments, it is likely that there is ground current. However, many less densely populated areas should be fine (unless you have a power substation or major electrical line in your neighborhood).
Checking for ground current is difficult. You could get a body voltage meter with a 100′ cord to see if there is a voltage differential between where you ground and other areas on your property. I would also check to make sure you don’t have high levels of RF in your area. This can wear people down over time. The Cornet meter is the easiest way to check for this:
http://www.radmeters.com/Cornet-ED78S-esh.html
Jeromy
Matt
I have been earthing by connecting to a separate dedicated ground rod that I put into the ground that is not connected to the electrical system. Is this a bad idea? Wouldn’t it make you a conduit for RF?
Jeromy
Matt,
This is likely the best way to do Earthing in your home. It could subject you to some ground current (do you have high magnetic fields in your back yard?) and possibly some RF being conducted along the grounding wire. However, these issues are typically quite minimal.
Jeromy
Matt
Even though these issues are minimal, would using it over the long term be a concern? I connect to this ground while I sleep at night. Would it be possible to use an absorber/shield around the ground rod to reduce the ground current? Maybe burying some metal in its perimeter, or digging a wider hole and surrounding it with an absorber material. Also, do you get the benefit of the Schumann resonance through the ground rod? Thanks for helping me, there isn’t much information out there pertaining to this.
Jeromy
Hi Matt,
The Schumann Resonance is basically everywhere, unless you are deep underground or in a true Faraday Cage. It is always changing (based on weather/atmosphere) and is generally different at most places on the planet. You don’t need to do anything special to benefit from it. Also note that humans are incredible sensitive to this field and it is important for our health/well-being.
I wouldn’t worry too much about your grounding wire picking up RF, unless you are in a high EMF environment. Perhaps put some ferrite snap beads on the wire if you are concerned. In general, I would live in an area with low RF and low magnetic fields (sometimes caused by ground current). This is priority number one. Then employee some Earthing like you are doing. You get the best of both worlds. If you live in a high-EMF environment, Earthing won’t really help you, and could make things worse.
Have you measured RF and magnetic fields in your neighborhood? These are my two favorite meters to do this. You get a 15% discount when you use the code EMFA-10 at checkout:
http://slt.co/Products/RFDetectors/Acousticom2.aspx
http://slt.co/Products/EMFMeters/UHS2.aspx
For the ferrite snap beads, see #9 here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/headsets/
Keep in touch,
Jeromy
Matt
Jeromy,
I have the Cornet ED88T which always measures safe levels of RF and Electric Fields (always the lowest green lights). However, the Magnetic fields range from 0.5 – 2.4 mG inside, averaging approximately 1.5mG. Outside they range the same, but seem to average less. In finding a good environment to live in, I wonder if it important to be as far in the country and away from electricity as possible. What else causes Magnetic readings other than ground current? Can you recommend any good reading?
Jeromy
Hi Matt,
You want magnetic field readings below 0.1 mG. You don’t always have to move to a wilderness area to get this. Even in a central area of San Francisco, I was able to get magnetic fields as low at 0.02 mG in my bedroom. It’s all about finding these places.
Have you read my book? It will teach you how to do this:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
Finally, the Cornet is not sensitive enough for magnetic fields. It only is sensitive to 0.5 mG, which is not enough. However, it does show you that you do have a magnetic field problem in your current home. The field of 1.5 mG is too high in my opinion – especially for anyone who is electrically sensitive or cares about their long-term health.
I would get this gauss meter. It’s very sensitive and measures all 3 axis. You get a 10% discount with the code EMFA-10:
http://slt.co/Products/EMFMeters/UHS2.aspx
Jeromy
Michael
Hi Jeromy,
Can I get your opinion on using one of those USB ground cords for my laptop? It goes into a USB port and the other end goes into the 3-prong outlet.
I also want to buy electric field shielding fabric for my mouse, keyboard, and monitor. I’ve read that the shielding fabric needs to be grounded too… such as by using alligator clips that run a cord from the fabric to a 3-prong outlet.
Is this kind of grounding safe or could this also pose hazard?
Thank you,
Mike
Jeromy
Hi Mike,
I ground my laptop like in a similar fashion. I actually connect a printer cable to one USB port in my computer and then attached the gator clip to the other end (the printer cable gives me additional distance). With the other end of the gator clip plugged in, the computer is now grounded. Be sure that your outlet is properly grounded.
I have tried the screen that goes over the computer screen. However, it really hindered the resolution of the screen – to the point where I quit using it.
I also find that by grounding the laptop, the electric fields from my external keyboard and mouse are greatly reduced. I wouldn’t further shield them.
If you need a keyboard and mouse with greatly reduced electric fields, I know someone who is making a version. They are expensive, but have helped EHS people remain on a computer. Send me an email if you would like to discuss this.
This is one thing that I put over my laptop to reduce magnetic and electric fields. I find it helps.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/defender-pad/
Thanks for asking,
Jeromy
feo
Hi,
Wouldn’t using GS filters in combination with home earthing eliminate the concern for dirty electricity in your home?
Thanks
Jeromy
The Graham-Stetzer or Greenwave filters only help with frequencies within a certain range. So, there may be lots of other frequencies on the wiring that the filters will not reduce.
This is why I plugging your Earthing equipment into the electrical system is usually not a good idea.
I like the Line Noise or EMI meter that Greenwave sells to measure a wider range of dirty electricity frequencies (from 2KHz to 10 MHz).
Jeromy
Anni
Thanks for this article! I’m really glad I read it. I was about to shell out big bucks for some earthing products. I live near the beach, and I just have to make a habit to get out there everyday and walk along sans shoes. I will also follow your advice throughout this blog for reducing emf in the bedroom. I also haven’t found any info regarding Himalayan salt crystal lamps on your blog. Wondering if that is a good way to help with emf? Lot’s of other blogs and retailers say it helps. Want to know your opinion.
Jeromy
Thanks Anni!
I actually have one of those salt crystal lamps. I really like the quality of the light it produces.
However, as far as “absorbing” or “neutralizing” EMFs, I’m afraid that probably isn’t happening. It may be changing the ionization of the air in the room, but even that is hard to measure.
The lamp definitely is not hurting anything and could be benefiting in ways we/I simply do not yet understand.
Deb
Hi,
Not to revisit the negative ion post further up the thread, but does a salt lamp send out negative ions? If it does, is it safer than using something like an “e-power” machine that claims to provide negative ions, plugged into a wall outlet? The product videos are very hokey, but I like the idea of being able to get negative ions in winter. Just skeptical about the machine, and safety from an EMF standpoint. A local RN/alt.wellness practitioner has one clients can try for free in her clinic. Anyone have experience with this or something similar? Or with the salt lamp?
Liz
We live in an apartment complex with smart meters everywhere (though thank God not right on any of our walls).
I’ve been turning the power off in the bedrooms at night but plugging our grounding pads into the outlets where the power is off. Would that reduce the dirty electricity etc. in the grounding pads? I find that since sleeping with one under my head I’ve been dreaming very vividly.
Any thoughts? Thanks! Liz
Jeromy
Hi Liz,
Great that you are turning off the electricity at night. That is one of the best things to do.
There will still be some frequencies on the neutral, but it shouldn’t be as bad as with the electricity on.
Have you measured your dirty electricity? It may not be too bad in your home to begin with.
To be safe, I might put the grounding sheet toward the feet, rather than the head. It would be interesting to see if your dreams are still vivid (which is a common occurrence in a low-EMF environment). The better sleep/dreaming could be a function of having the electricity off as well.
Jeromy
Paul
Liz,
Vivid dreams means you are getting poor sleep. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-less-sleep-means-more-dreams/
By grounding you are absorbing electricity at a much higher rate. That ground wire (bare copper) attached to your sheet is also attached to the neutral (white wire) at the breaker panel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-buqEbNRhIQ
Hope this helps,
Paul
Deb
This was something I didn’t understand. When I first turned off circuits to the BR, I felt so much better but I did have more dreams. I thought it was an improvement, but learned the opposite. It didn’t make sense. Interestingly, after turning off circuits for 2 years now, there was a point where the more vivid dreams decreased. I’ve also read that vitamin B6 levels are associated with dream recall, so it seems more complex given my own awareness – e.g., did I dream but just not remember it?
Ads
Hi Jeromy, desperately need your advice. Please respond. I am currently 2 days into a trial of a naturelle canopy which I got from a company in the uk. The canopy is supplied with an under mat, which is made from Excel ( ” provides 99.997% shielding effectiveness at 42 dB at 1GHz and when earthed, will reduce electric fields”.) which needs to be plugged in to an earth point. So far I have been using it under my mattress because my bed has been too heavy for me to lift, and place the mat on the floor, as the company suggests. Having just stumbled upon your article, I am now having doubts as to whether I should be using grounding at all. This is my second day, as I said, and I am so far having mixed results. My question therefore is would it be ok to use the mat without plugging it in? or should I get a different non conductive mat for the under part of my canopy? Any help you could give would be appreciated…
Thanks
Jeromy
Hi,
An important thing to keep in mind with bed canopies is that you want to use them in an environment with low electrical fields. Otherwise, you are trading one problem for another. Have you measured the electrical fields in your sleeping area? One quick way to reduce them is the turn off the circuit breakers to your bedroom. See how you feel once you do this.
I would try to get the bottom sheet on the floor as that was how it was designed. I have used the Daylite material between my mattress and boxspring. You just want to make sure that it touches the sides of your canopy so that you have a full enclosure (no leaks). I didn’t plug this is or ground it.
To measure the electrical fields, get the yellow body voltage meter at the bottom of this page: https://www.emfanalysis.com/emf-meters/
Let me know how you are doing after checking these things.
Jeromy
Paul Vonharnish
Hello ADS:
Grounding into any utility grid, water main, or general household ground has become a major biohazard in most situations. I don’t recommend it at all. As I stated in a previous post, the world wide grid is pumping massive amounts of mixed signal digital pulse and AC (alternating current) into the Earth’s ground plane. Man made electrical fields are now so massive, they are also perturbing atmospheric ionic fields. Even elemental Schumann resonance is shifting frequency; due to increased lighting discharges into the atmosphere.
Geoengineering (climate modification programs) using HAARP frequencies, are significantly at fault for this increased lightening discharge phenomena. Please see: http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/ for more information. No one is paying attention to this frequency shift, even though it’s a critical biohazard issue…
For Jeremy and all readers: Please take the time to review this grounding demonstration by Mike Holt. It is obvious that true Earth ground is becoming a serious problem…
Electrical Code Expert Mike Holt – Ground Resistance Testing (real world experiment)
Published on Feb 24, 2014
[“This real world test will be conducted by Nationally recognized Code Expert Mike Holt and electrical utility professional Joe Symmes using a 3 pole fault potential method, a clamp on meter to check the ground, an Amp meter to measure the current flow in the event of a ground fault and a volt meter and also test the test potential.
Mike is nationally recognized as one of America’s most knowledgeable Code Experts and electrical trainers. His instruction has helped tens of thousands of electrical professionals ensure that the proper design and installation of electrical systems are in accordance with the NEC. His dynamic and animated teaching style is relaxed, direct and enjoyable. Mike’s best quality is his ability to communicate technical topics in an easy-to-understand manner.”]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg6G5VUSsWA
Ori
Hi,
I appreciate your work and willing to help people in their way to better health. I live in a 7 story apartment building in central London. I have recently bought a earthing pad and a earthing mat after reading the good affects it can have on the body.
I have tested my body EMF using a multimeter, and the readings while I am in bed are 0.3 V; and the same while I am in front of my computer. I was wondering if it is safe to connect the pad and the mat to the earth through the electric socket with readings that high, or do I need to take into consideration other factors, such as RF etc.
My second question is; if connecting the mat to the electric socket can increase my body voltage by allowing electricity to go through my body from the building electric lines.
I have noticed that while my mat is not connected to the earth and I check for body V, when I touch the ungrounded mat, my body voltage is doubling, probably because the conducting threads in the mat that works as antennas. When the mat is connected to earth my body V goes down to 0.009 V.
According to the EMF reading in my flat, is it safe to be grounded through the electrical socket, and what is considered safe zone of EMF in ones home/flat in order to be grounded?
Many Thanks
Jeromy
Hi Ori,
Great questions. Here are some thoughts:
First, it’s not that you are tapping into your home’s electricity by plugging into the socket. You are plugging into the grounding wire of your building, which most likely has frequencies or harmonics on it. This is the primary issue, as these harmonics (if they are present) may conduct through your Earthing equipment and affect your body while you sleep.
As for the electric fields, the Earthing mat is not reducing these. It is just that by measuring them with a multimeter / body voltage meter, you are measuring the differential. If you are measuring the difference between the ground and your Earthing sheet (which is grounded), then of course the reading is close to zero Volts (the differential between ground and ground).
For your apartment, 0.3 Volts is not that bad. I have seen many places above 1 or 2 volts. Ideal is that you get below 0.1 Volts where you sleep. Can you turn off circuit breakers and accomplish this?
I encourage you to read this post on how to measure your home and the four different types of EMFs that are important. Magnetic fields are usually the most important to check for first:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/measuring-your-home/
The RF component is not as relevant to Earthing. However, if all of your neighbors have powerful WiFi and there are nearby cell towers, then these frequencies will also get on the wiring (ground) of your building. The microwave frequencies may cause minor amounts of harmonics on the wiring, but they are still there and by tapping your Earthing sheet into the ground, you are coming in contact with these harmonics.
Finally, is it safe to “Earth” in your building? Being that you are in central London on the 7th story of a building, I would lean toward saying that you may be creating more problems than you are solving by sleeping “grounded”.
If you try it, you will notice within a few months if it is beneficial or detrimental for you. I would like to hear what you figure out.
Hopefully you can get some time out in nature/local parks too. That is the best option.
Jeromy
Shane
Jeromy, I’m imagining a hypothetical situation in which someone were able to properly ground their bed canopy into actual ground of the Earth outside their door or window or whatever (and hypothetically there weren’t any issues with that Earth being inappropriately-unnaturally charged as Paul has alluded to). This would mitigate problems from any hypothetically present RF, electric fields and dirty electricity, but not magnetic fields.
Is this correct?
Jeromy
Hi Shane,
If high electrical fields are present in the bedroom, I still wouldn’t use a bed canopy (even a properly grounded one) until the fields are reduced. Either turning off the breakers at night or re-wiring your bedroom should diminish the electrical fields.
For the most part, the canopies only help with RF of a certain frequency (the common wireless tech bands). They exacerbate electric field problems and they do nothing for dirty electricity and magnetic field issues.
The good news is the electric fields, magnetic fields and DE can typically be remediated within the home. A neighborhood cell phone tower (or major power line) can not.
Jeromy
Shane
Good to know Jeromy. Thanks
Shane
Jeromy, sorry to keep bugging you with questions, but if someone were able to get the EF, MF & DE fields in their sleeping environment effectively to nil, would there be any concerns if they were to be in contact with their faraday enclosure? The reason I ask is because I think I’m lucky enough that I am able to achieve such in my sleeping environment; I’ll be purchasing the appropriate meters over the coming weeks to be sure.
But I live in Australia, and with the exchange rate, to buy one of the heavier duty Naturell canopies which I’m leaning towards will come in at nearly 2K, but my mother is a competent sewer and if I purchase some of the fabric itself, it wouldn’t be too difficult for her to put together a small rectangular ‘sarcophagus’ like canopy that I could put a small mattress inside of and sleep within. It might even work out that my actual body might not be in contact with it and so long as the mattress didn’t have any metal in it, I can’t see any drawbacks.
But would like to know your thoughts.
Jeromy
Hi Shane,
Sounds like you have a good plan. Seems like an ideal situation to use/create a canopy.
Have you measured the RF in your bedroom? Is the shielding even necessary? This meter is good for the price:
http://www.radmeters.com/Cornet-ED78S-esh.html
You can get just fabric here, but I also wonder if there won’t soon be Chinese manufacturers at a much lower price. It is very difficult to beat the quality of the Swiss manufacturing though – especially for something this important.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/fabrics/
Jeromy
Shane
It’s funny you should mention Chinese manufacturers. I was surfing around on the net and came across a bunch of suppliers of RF shielding fabric on a wholesaler site, but I wasn’t able to figure out if they’re selling cotton-woven fabric like Naturell or New-Daylite that ‘breathes’ a bit, or more sort of actual completely solid sheeting like used for the faraday ‘tents’.
Here’s the link:
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=rf+shielding+fabric
I live within proximity of a couple of cell towers, have surrounding houses with wifi routers/smart meters, so I’m almost certain RF is a problem, but yeah, I’ll buy the appropriate meters first and actually figure it out conclusively.
Jod
Hi Shane, these Fabrics will help a lot :D.. I bought the Stretchy Fabrics and made a Cover for my Blanket… Yes it’s Expensive but helped a lot and I sleep better at night and my Dog even goes under it :D,
He had NEVER done that before… I used to fold my Blanket so it doesn’t get Hair all over. But once I have the Blanket out, he would crawl under immediately. First it was Strange, but then I said he must also affected by EMF as well 😀
Jod
Eivind
I’ve been using an earthing sheet connected to the ground of an electrical socket now and then for a couple of years now. I’ve gradually suspected that there had to be something wrong. Sometimes it felt right and I woke up relaxed and fine, but more often I woke up pretty dull and not feeling very good, sometimes with a headache, and I’ve often felt restless legs or an inner agitation, as you describe in the article. But I’ve usually brushed it aside as some “healing crisis” or something like that. I never imagined that earthing could be bad for you, only good or neutral.
I live in a medium sized city in Norway (50.000 inhabitants). I live pretty close an airport which also hosts a lot of military activity and a rather large radar (maybe 1-2 kilometers from my home). And with that I suppose my neighborhood is exposed to some EMF and other bad things.
After reading your article (and some other information on the Internet) I’ve now stopped using my earthing sheet. But I wonder if I instead should consider using an earthing spear directly in the ground instead of connecting it to an electrical socket? Or am I better of just forgetting about the whole earthing sheet as long as I live where I live? I’m also a bit worried how much damage I already may have done to my body, but done is done.
Do you have any thoughts on this?
Jeromy
Hi Eivind,
I think your experience is common and most people do not connect the dots like you have because they are told that Earthing can only be good for us.
The airport / radar could have something to do with it, but the biggest culprit is the electromagnetic frequencies that are usually found on all wiring. Very few homes – whether in urban or rural areas – are free of these frequencies. This is why grounding into the home electrical system is rarely a good idea.
You could try Earthing into the actual ground to see how you feel, but in urban areas this too can tricky.
In my opinion, the best thing is to take walks in parks or in nature to do your Earthing. 30 minutes a day works wonders. Then reduce the EMFs in your home as much as possible – especially where you sleep. Turn off the circuit breakers at night and see how good you feel in the morning.
Finally, I wouldn’t worry about any damage that may have been done. Our bodies do a good job of healing when they are in a healthy environment. Hopefully the risks of EMFs will soon be acknowledged so that people can heal much more easily.
Jeromy
Kay
Thank you, Jeromy, for this article and a terrific website! Your website not only looks great but has so much information!
I only learned about Electromagnetic Frequencies and effects they have on the body, April 2014. I’ve kept a journal since that time regards what I’ve been experiencing. It contains some fairly graphic language because at times I didn’t care if I stayed among the living.
I’ve purchased lots of books on and remedies for electromagnetic hypersensitivity and after all that I still, at times, am very miserable.
Along the way I’ve connected EMF and changes in atmospheric conditions to be a contributor to my electromagnetic hypersensitivity. I mention this because before the weather changes and now after, my symptoms get worse. At times it’s almost unbearable and I say, “almost” because I’m still here.
June of this year, I purchased Stetzer filters. I had them for almost two months and I kept thinking, “I feel worse off than before” and I developed this horrible rash on my hands, both topside and palms. I don’t know though if the rash is in connection with the filters or just a coincidence. The filters weren’t a purchase I made lightly as I had learned about them in late 2014.
I’ve been an infrequent visitor of ES Forum and have tried some of the suggestions people have posted there. Nothing I’ve tried from their suggestions has worked for me but we’re all different and what works for one won’t work for another.
I believe it’s dirty electricity that’s causing the ill effects but I’ve run low on funds and don’t know if I could trust someone to check the wiring in my home. I have lots of reasons for believing it’s dirty electricity but my comment has become more than I intended!
Anyway, thanks for reading!
Jod
Hi, I was the SAME as you… Pulling all my Hair out of my Head and can’t Pin Point what is wrong with my House :(((… But I kept trying…
Here is what I suggest… Shut down EVERYTHING that is Electric in your House, including your Lights. Go and get some CHEAP Candles you will need to live at least 2 Weeks without Lights and some Electric Devices, yes it SUCKS during this time.
Now, once you have EVERYTHING OFF, including your main Circuit Breaker and everything electrical are PULLED from your Grid. Each Day or Half a Day PLUG your Vital Devices or Appliances in. If you FEEL something, then Eliminate that Device(s) or Appliances.
That it was how I was able to Pin Point things that effect me. IT was Hard, but it is now more manageable because the Route I took.
Here are some Hints and common Appliance that affect me… The Refrigerator, Microwave, LED Clock or Alarm, CO2 Detector(s), Electric Smoke Alarm, My Wifi Modem, Wifi Ethernet Card(s), Drill Battery Charger, Tablets, Bluetooth Products like Keyboard, Mouse, Etc… Printer(s), Wireless Phone(s), Wireless Head Phones, CFL / Florescent Light Bulbs, LED Lights, LED TV, LED Computer Monitors, New Washers, Digital LED Clocks…
You will need some OLD Incandescent E27 Light Bulbs so you can see around your House. Although it’s Electricity, it doesn’t affect me at all… But LED and Florescent Lights affect me.
I hope that this will help someone else who is on this Journey as well.
Jod
Kay
Thank you, Jod, for your suggestions!!
Eric Z
My girlfriend bought me an earthing kit after reading the book thinking it would be great for me. I always slept very well and don’t really get sick. The only thing I really have is some anxiety which is what she hoped to soothe with the earthing mat.
I got the kit yesterday and plugged it in my apartment in Hollywood when I went to bed. My apartment was built in 1934 I should mention also. At about 3 am I woke up feeling restless like I had too much energy, it wasn’t a peaceful feeling, I also could feel like there was an electric current going through me, it wasn’t very comfortable so I quickly unplugged the ground from the socket it was plugged into. At 4 am I woke up with loud weezing and heavy breathing. I felt dizzy and electric, something wasn’t right, my body wasn’t feeling like what is normally did, I started to panic and went to the emergency room to find out what was wrong, they checked and everything was fine, and as I got to the hospital I felt better.
4 hours later I came back home feeling normal and decided to plug the mat again and get some rest. But all of sudden I started to feel sick again, so I looked up if this had something to do with the mat and found this article… Did I just conduct a bunch of dirty electricity through my body through the mat that got me sick?
Really??! I am so happy that I found this article….
Jeromy
Eric,
Glad you were able to figure this out so quickly. Great work!
It sounds like your building has a wiring error (very common for older buildings). The ground/neutral wire is obviously carrying frequencies/harmonics that it shouldn’t. By tapping your body directly into this, you experienced these symptoms almost immediately.
There should be no long term harm from this. As you see, you felt better just a few hours after removing yourself from the Earthing product.
Does the anxiety get better when you are away from the building for an extended time? Anxiety is sometimes reported as a symptom of EMF exposure. You inadvertently figured out that your building does have a dirty electricity problem. In the long term, finding a home without this problem may serve you well.
All my best,
Jeromy
Jane
Hi. I am living in a new apartment situated on a major intersection and opposite a major shopping centre complex and wondering if I am exposed to emf or other frequencies. I identify with the symptoms of not being able to sleep and tired all the time. I have been walking on the ground and found it helped immediately. Am addicted to my mobile phone with internet. May have to reduce the hours I use it. Do you have a list of doctors that deal with this in Australia?
Jeromy
Hi Jane –
Yes, if you sign-up for the EHS Guide on this page, the information you are looking for will be sent to you:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/ehs-treatment/
If your health changed when you moved into the new apartment, then it’s safe to say it may be the culprit. Try to find an EMF consultant near you to come measure things. It may save you from a lot of health troubles down the road.
Jeromy
Sandy
I need to do something about EMF as I have EHS symptoms and other serious health problems. From your experience does the Tesla Blushield Active EMF Protection device protect from EMF?
Jeromy
Hi Sandy – I tend not to recommend these devices. I have tried many and none helped me. Some people have good results, but the science is not clear on any of these devices.
I explain more of why I don’t recommend these devices and provide alternative solutions here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/products/
Jeromy
Av
Thanks for a really great website!
Earthing Japan
Is there any way to test whether the earthing solution in your home is positive or negative for you? How do you know if you’re grounding yourself to “dirty electricity”?
Jeromy
There are two primary ways:
1.) See how you feel after “earthing” for a while. Some people can feel something is off right away. They tend to have homes where hooking into the electrical ground is not a good idea. There can be many reasons why it is not working for them – not just the dirty electricity.
2.) You can actually measure your home for dirty electricity. I layout four ways to this here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-measure-dirty-electricity/
I would want to measure all four types of EMFs before “earthing” in a home. You also want the electric and magnetic fields to be low. You can read more about this here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/measuring-your-home/
Jeromy
Lynette
My earthing stockist of Clint Ober products is an electrical expert himself and states the following:
“No it is not true Lynette. Clint Ober refuted this years ago. DE can only – if you have it – exist on a live wire and it has no affect on the Earth at all. In fact if it were possible then those frequencies, just like the AC in the Body, would be immediately discharged to earth.
This is easily proven by taking body voltage readings. Now if people earthed were to suffer in this way as the above ridiculously states, then these frequencies would be measurable in the body given the frequencies they operate at.
Nothing to worry about Lynette. Sometimes Google can be a false ‘god’ with so many idiots out there!”
Jeromy
Lynette,
Thanks for sharing this. In addition to the replies to your comment below, I want to share a few things.
First, the purpose of this website is to get to the truth of how EMFs affect our health and to find practical solutions. If the truth ends up being that Earthing products are good for us, I want to promote that. However, after using the products myself, speaking to many others and after researching this thoroughly, I think there is more than enough reason for caution. I clearly state that above in the article above, but I want to reiterate my reasons here one year after writing the article:
1.) All wiring in the home (including the ground/neutral that you are plugging into) has artificial frequencies on it. Some homes have more, some have less. To have a home electrical system with nearly zero EMI (electromagnetic interference) would be quite a display of engineering that very few homes have.
2.) The body voltage measurement is misleading when you are using Earthing products. Of course it goes to zero because you are measuring the potential difference between the ground and the ground (which is zero if you become part of the circuit). This is why the videos by people like David Wolfe (see below) are misleading. With a more expensive digital electric field meter, you will see that the electric fields are still present in the air and that the Earthing products are not reducing these fields, nor protecting you from these fields.
3.) The actual ground in most urban/suburban environments has return current in it. It may be the cleanest thing we have, but in most cases you do not want to be attaching yourself to it while you sleep. In fact, most areas of the United States (except for older major cities) has a Wye electrical distribution system. In these areas, it can be measured at the power plant that 25% of the return current is through the earth/aquifer. Thus, it is hard to argue that the ground does not have electrical current running through it that could be affecting anyone who is using Earthing products. The difference between Wye and Delta electrical distribution systems can be found here: https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
4.) The only true protection is to 1.) measure and 2.) minimize the magnetic, electric, radio-frequency and dirty electricity pollution in your home. Once you do this successfully, then utilize the so-called protection products if you want. If you utilize them before reducing the electromagnetic fields, then you are likely causing more harm than good.
Finally, some people do feel better initially with these products. It could be the specific situation of their home (they lucked out) and the particular biological aspects of the individual. We are all different and we simply do not have a complete understanding yet of how EMFs interact with the body. If someone feels there is a benefit, then use the products with caution. Just know that the placebo effect can be strong at first and take the precautions laid about above in order make sure you remain healthy for decades to come.
Jeromy
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Jeromy: I really appreciate how clear you are regarding Earth grounding, and the potential to cause physical harm by grounding into energized electrical fields. Your explanation of Delta versus WYE electrical distribution is excellent and quite germane.
The main issues that readers should focus on, are the massive amounts of ambient RF being generated into our environment. Reduction of these emissions will require a huge social commitment to elimination of unneeded technology, and a sober return to a more healthful economic paradigm…
More technology is not a solution to basic hunger and homelessness… The world is choking on technology that maims and kills. It’s time to sober up…
Lynette Rodwell
Hi Jeromy, thank you for answering my comment taken from my Clint Ober Stockist’s response to info set out by you regarding the uncertainty of whether earthing products are good for one’s health.
I, too, would not want to fall prey to the placebo effect, but rather to judge objectively what effects using my earthing ‘Throw’ has on my body. I purposefully did not read the positive reviews in my ‘earthing pack’!
I live in the UK and it is quite ‘chilly’ to ground outdoors except really for the few summery months we have. I am desirous of grounding to alleviate my over-sensitivity to cold temperatures and the constant infections that exposure to chills causes. So grounding outdoors is a tough one for me, but I am going to try it anyway. Did you say that using a grounding rod sunk into the ground outside one’s window is OK? – although, living on the ground floor of a block of flats, mine could be tampered with by mischievous youngsters.
I appreciate your genuine concern in helping people get to the truth of the matter concerning earthing, EMF exposure and the eradication of as much of this as is possible! I sent your response, and the following very relevant comments on to my ‘earthing stockist’ and I will see if he offers any retort on the matter.
Maybe, or decidedly, the placebo effect sells medicine’s, products, etc on a unprecedented scale through the internet!?
Lynette Rodwell
I have to say .. I DO like my stockists reply :-
“Hi Lynette,
A couple of things in answer to his lack of knowledge of Electrical Systems in the UK. He may well be correct for some installation in the US because they have a poor system and it is not uniform across the country.
“…With a more expensive digital electric field meter, you will see that the electric fields are still present in the air and that the Earthing products are not reducing these fields, nor protecting you from these fields.
3.) The actual ground in most urban/suburban environments has return current in it. It may be the cleanest thing we have, but in most cases you do not want to be attaching yourself to it while you sleep. In fact, most areas of the United States (except for older major cities) has a Wye electrical distribution system. In these areas, it can be measured at the power plant that 25% of the return current is through the earth/aquifer. Thus, it is hard to argue that the ground does not have electrical current running through it that could be affecting anyone who is using Earthing products.”
Of course any such fields will still be in the air and will still be measurable. They are just not on the earth wire! That is a ridiculous statement to make regarding earthing.
In the UK we have the best and safest electrical system in the world. If you use an Earth Loop Impedance Tester this will check the quality (purity) of the Earth on your system. In the UK (as long as the installation has been carried out correctly and it is supplied by the local Sub Station), then the quality/purity of the earth is the best you can get.
You will never get rid of the 50/60Hz fields, but that is entirely a different issue and has nothing to do with earthing at all. The whole point of earthing is to drastically reduce the AC man-made voltage from the body, because this is what causes the most damage to the body. As biophysicists discovered way back in the 1980’s. The second point is to increase the life-giving and life-sustaining Free Electrons in the body because the body, like the earth, is a DC System and needs this for optimum health. Also these Free Electrons are anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, both of which offer the body numerous benefits.
Which is why so many people buy more products for themselves and their family and friends.
So this guy is wrong on so many levels and simply doesn’t understand earthing, or biophysical science and the biophysical nature of the Body.
Best wishes,”
Jeromy
Hi Lynette,
Just a few points and then it’s time to move on:
1.) I think Upton Sinclair’s quote may apply in this case:
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
2.) What is on the ground wire (and all home wiring) are the harmonic frequencies from various dirty electricity and RF producing items both within the home and outside the home coming from the grid. If your person in the UK is interested in learning about electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatability (EMC), this book a good place to start:
http://www.emiguru.com/kgb/preview/EDN-Design-Preview.pdf
Chapter 12 covers grounding facts and fallacies.
3.) You can indeed nearly eliminate the AC 50/60 Hz magnetic and electric fields from a home. It takes an electrician that wires your home correctly and the use of shielded wiring, such as MC Cable.
In Delta served electrical distribution areas, you can get the magnetic fields in grid-tied homes as low as 0.002 milliGauss. You can get electric fields down to 0.01 volts. Along with eliminating RF and dirty electricity sources, this is the true path to having a healthy, low-EMF home, but it takes more work than buying a $100 product.
4.) AC voltage is not necessarily being discharged from the body. It’s just that all the videos out there using a body voltage meter make it look that way because the readings of the meter go to nearly zero. It’s just that the body is now part of the circuit, so the differential is zero. The AC electric fields from your wiring and devices (which cause AC body voltage) are still there and affecting the body. Again, the only real way to reduce this effect is to reduce the source of the AC electric fields in the home (using MC Cable or turning off circuit breakers – especially where you sleep at night).
5.) I’m curious where the “Free Electron” idea comes from with Earthing proponents. It sounds great and must be a wonderful selling point, but can it be measured? Can it be proven?
Perhaps the UK has the best electrical grid system imaginable and miraculously has no ground current. I live between the US and Europe, and most long-time EMF professionals on both continents advise people to do their grounding in nature. This is something that is definitely healthy for everyone.
Jeromy
Paul Vonharnish
Good points Jeromy. Not to worry. There are only about 300 million persons living in the United States, so grounding them all into an electrified pulsed field environment is quite suitable to persons making a living on the other side of the ocean…
As I stated quite clearly at the top of the page: “All electrical wire has inductive reactance. That is: There is a frequency dependent relationship between the wire’s conductance or resistance to electron flow at any given frequency.”
To put it in technical English: A house wire (typically 14 gauge) may have less than an ohm of DC resistance dependent upon it’s length. However: If a person is attempting to “ground” a 900 megahertz pulsed digital inductance away from the body, that same piece of wire may have 100’s of thousands of ohms of inductive reactance. Thus: The wire is no longer acting as an effective “ground” point for frequencies occurring above DC.
Lynette Rodwell
Okay. We’re moving on now Jeromy as you suggest! This whole geeky discussion has gone way over my head. I am merely going to use my Clint Ober £124 Earthing Throw and turn off my electricity and see for myself how well I feel from earthing via the UK’s best and safest electrical system in the world! 🙂 Lynette
G Tucker
“Free electrons” is chemical parlance, it’s opposite being “free radicals” or protons. The theory is, by grounding to the Earth, you become part of its circuit. You will then collect electrons from the ground based on your charged potential.
Paul
I am one of those idiots out there that warn about earthing. It’s difficult for me to be quiet on this issue when watching first hand people dying and becoming sick due to misinformation spread by those not having a clue what they are talking about.
When troubleshooting live wiring in a home, I make sure not to attached myself to the earth. Why? The earth is a conductor and I don’t want to become part of a circuit.
Electricity returns to the source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_network
Electricity, from the typical home’s wiring, radiates around 6 feet but could go as far as 10′. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_field
Electricity delivered to the home carries transients or harmonics that are biologically active typically around 100 kHz and below. A switched mode power supply is on most electronics and creates dirty electricity. It is well known that there are adverse health effects caused by dirty electricity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Floydian/Electrical_pollution
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply
I spoke with a famous Doctor that unfortunately died 1 month later from leukemia symptoms. He was an earthing proponent and practiced it nightly.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?pid=171533258
He told me “they were going to run me out of town” because I spoke out and warned of the dangers and side affects due to attaching one’s self to the ground when sleeping.
Those that listen and insulate themselves from the earth along with all artificial electric and magnetic fields are getting positive results the first night. No need to “detox” like those that earth…….
Paul Vonharnish
Hello Lynette and other readers:
The “grounding” issue has become seriously clouded by persons who have no working experience in home or industrial electrical systems. There are also many uneducated persons attempting to mislead potential buyer’s into purchase of their quackery products. In short: Electrical engineering and biological science’s make for unfortunate bedroom partners…
1.) Man’s electro-industrial nightmare, is now pounding 10’s of tera-watts of power into Earth’s mantle at any given moment. Terra watts is 1 watt with 12 zeros following the first digit… Sorta like this:
Watts to Terawatts Conversion Calculator
http://www.unitconversion.org/power/watts-to-terawatts-conversion.html
In other words: There is no such thing as a “natural” Earth ambient ground in most areas of the planet.
2.) Stray voltage fields:
Effects of Electrical Shock on Cattle
Dr. Donald Hillman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Animal Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Conclusions from Careful Examination of Published Research
https://www.msu.edu/user/hillman/elecshok.htm
Also see:
http://www.electricalpollution.com/documents/Hillman/ShockingNewsv3-072004.pdf
http://www.feb.se/EMFguru/EMF/ground-currents.html
http://www.feb.se/EMFguru/EMF/stray-volt.html
Also see: Video film and extended discussion: Mike Holt discusses Stray Voltage – YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAs_FmdxXhQ&feature=watch-vrec
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/pmc/articles/PMC3184892/
http://www.cellphonetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/environmental-impacts-of-stray-voltage.pdf
I could quote electrical engineering studies from my data base all day long, but the bottom line regarding all these quackery/health products would remain unchanged.
3.) Here’s an excerpt one of over 51 EM/health studies completed by Andrew Marino.
Excerpted from: Numerical analysis of recurrence plots to detect effect of environmental-strength magnetic fields on human brain electrical activity
“Environmental magnetic fields may activate the neuroendocrine stressor system leading to some human diseases. The stressor theory predicts that the fields can trigger changes in brain electrical activity, like known stressors. We exposed subjects to 1 and 5T, 60 Hz while recording electroencephalograms (EEGs) from six derivations, and used a novel method based on numerical analysis of recurrence plots computed from the signals to detect brain electrical potentials evoked by onset and/or offset of the field. The EEGs were also analyzed using linear methods (time averaging). Evoked potentials occurred in all 22 subjects (family-wise error rate less than 0.05 for each subject); the average latency was 250 ms, as expected based on earlier studies using stronger magnetic fields. Field-induced changes in brain electrical activity were not found using time averaging. Control procedures and measurements obtained from electrical phantoms reasonably excluded recording artifacts or chance as explanations for the effects. Onset and offset of magnetic fields produced immediate changes in brain electrical activity, suggesting that the fields were detected by sensory transduction, like ordinary somatic stressors.”
Excerpted from summery statements:
“In summary, 1–5T, 60 Hz, produced changes in brain electrical activity indicative of a detection process based on sensory transduction. These results, taken together with the environmental measurements [29–39], implied that brain activity in a substantial portion of the population, worldwide, is more or less continuously affected as a side-effect of the commercial electric power generation and distribution systems. The results also implied that environmental fields were detected by means of sensory transduction, like other stressors. To that extent the results supported the stressor theory linking field exposure and disease because they explained how environmental energy could be converted into a biological signal.”
http://andrewamarino.com/PDFs/163-MedEngPhys2010.pdf
There are another 7000 studies that refute anything Mr. Ober may-or-may-not have said or researched… Please take the time to fully investigate all the information Jeromy has to offer regarding this important issue… It could save your life…
Paul
The sad thing is that all that research will be ignored by those that follow gurus like in this video. So wrong……and yet an expert with a $30 multi-meter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E46Fm0dtE2c
Are sales the motive here?
http://www.longevitywarehouse.com/earthing
Shane
Hi Paul,
I do a lot of reading about EMFs across the web and see that you are quite a prolific poster. I am impressed by your depth of knowledge on the subject and applaud you for dedicating your life to persevering to understand a severely technical field of knowledge – it’s a sacrifice few of us are willing to make.
Anyway, I’ve heard Jack Kruse, who I also hold in high regard, in a few of his many interviews that can be found throughout the web state that he removes his shoe and sock and places his bare foot on the metal of the seat in front of him when flying, as all metal in planes is grounded (apparently – ?), and as I am sure someone such as yourself would be aware, more and more airlines these days are introducing on-board WiFi, and with airplanes being structurally analogous to a coke can, the microwaves would essentially just bounce around back and forth throughout the plane during the whole flight.
But your comment higher up in the page:
“Earth” grounding using a wire in an ELF/RF environment is plain stupid. The inductive reactance (impedance) of the “ground” wire can be in the meg-ohm range – dependant on wire gauge and length to field ground. Thus there is ZERO shunting affect of high frequency propagations, and the body remains an optimal RF antenna”
…has me wondering if grounding on a plane is safe/beneficial/advisable? Would the WiFi microwaves ‘seek’ ground via you being grounded? The gigahertz range of the microwaves is the relevant aspect here as to whether or not to ground, I’m guessing…
*sorry Jeromy for taking the discussion slightly off track, but hopefully others find this of interest as well
Paul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLOx1kWCWoc
Just imagine all the people that took this horrible advice and became ill. They call it “detox”. An excellent way to become a sponge for the electricity in the room.
Notice that the meter was never switched to DC. Don’t try this at home kids…..
Lisa Stephens
After 12 months of earthing, via the house neutral, I concluded I was getting more symptomatic and symptoms were becoming much more noticeable when using these products. I have still been earthing with a grounding rod while sleeping in a room with what’s considered ‘safe’ emf levels and it keeps any body pain to a negligible level.
After reading through all the comments I intend to retest my reaction by sleeping ungrounded for awhile. I’ve also started wearing rubber soled shoes in the house as it is on a concrete slab and of course that reduces body voltage and essentially I am earthing the whole time I am barefoot inside my house. I would be interested in any comments, experience on the concrete floor issue. With any emf product I think it is simple to determine whether it is a detox reaction or an adverse reaction by comparing how you feel after spending time in a natural unpolluted environment, I never have had a detox reaction from a day at the beach or going barefoot in nature.
Deb
I had to detox after going barefoot in nature. I picked up parasites – well, either from that or something else. I wear leather mocs when I ground now, as it protects against this other kind of “environmental illness.”
Singingway
I’ve read this thread, and now realize that some technologies can make exposure worse instead of better. What effect might magnets and ceramic fibers have, in bedding material?
I have a mattress and a blanket (which I have not used yet) with “radial-axis magnets” embedded in them. They are supposed to shield you from outside frequencies and cocoon you in your own ( or earth’s? ) frequencies while you sleep. The magnets are said to be omni-directional rather than one-direction, which is supposed to be the healthy kind, stimulating healing, helping cells work better, etc… The blanket has ceramic fibers that reflect far-infrared from your body back at you.
In your opinion, could these, theoretically, make EMF exposure worse? I do live in a high EMF environment, plus we’re constantly strafed by radar from the airbase. Thank you for your opinion!
http://www.nikken.com/barnlofter/product/technology/kenko-sleep
Jeromy
Hi,
I don’t think things like magnets or even metal springs in a bed are anything to worry about. They are likely beneficial. A bed that gives you good rest is most important – and that often entails springs of some sort.
Magnets can often be healing, if use properly. I have used them myself (a shoe insole product with high powered magnets that supposedly help with detoxing).
I know others who use the Magnetico Sleep Pad that Dr. Jack Kruse recommends (www.jackkruse.com). They have had to use the Magnetico for short periods of time though as they were quite sensitive and could feel it after 30-60 minutes.
Big picture – beds materials (as long as they are non-toxic) and magnet therapies are likely much less of an issue than the potential drawbacks from attaching one’s body to the home electrical wiring system.
John
Great article/thread, thanks!
Are you familiar with the Earthpulse product? Does it somehow circumvent this issue/concern you’re raising?
Jeromy
Hi John,
Are you talking about this one? https://earthpulse.net/
I have heard good things about this for sleep.
However, my main point in this article is that none of these things will really protect a person if they are sleeping in high microwave, magnetic and electric fields. The products may provide some benefits, but the main thing people need to do is measure and then reduce/eliminate these biologically damaging artificial EMFs.
It’s actually quite easy to reduce these fields. Once you do this, then use these other products that may add something beneficial to your body.
Jeromy
John
Ah, I understand your point better now, thanks!
(And yes, that is indeed the one I was talking about.)
Kay C
What about shielding with a shielding paint and grounding that – would that create more problems? I’m considering doing that in a home I’m moving into soon with my one month old to reduce electric fields that I measured with a body voltage meter and would hate to make it worse! Or is shielding paint different from a grounding device? Thank you!!
Jeromy
Hi Kay,
I like to go the bed canopy route because it leaves you more options down the road. If you do use paint and foil on the walls, you will need to properly ground them. This can be done relatively easily though.
EJ
Hi Jeromy,
I just purchased a canopy from Less EMF. It is called the “Dream Canopy” and it comes with a grounding plug. Is there any reason I would want to ground the canopy? It shields the RF great, un-grounded.
Jeromy
Hi EJ,
You don’t have to ground the canopy, but if you do, it will slightly increase the shielding capability.
Sheryl
Jeromy
I purchased an earthing pad for my bed to use while I sleep. Unfortunately my body prior to purchase has been damaged from several surgeries and an implant (tens unit on spinal cord) that my body rejected n it all started after I had a T.I.A. my docs tried everything to help me with my original pains n then the severe pains after those several surgeries. I ended up with greater occipital nerve damage left side my head n surface nerve damage to back of neck ( lite touch hurts only) severe muscle spasms that are off the bio feedback charts n possible spinal cord damage due to implant rejection over 2 yrs. N somehow ended up with autonomic dysfunction.
I always had a hard time sleeping for most of the evening for my head can’t touch the pillow for the heat build up, severe pain n then sets off my automatic dsyfunction which is as doctors know can be deadly….I purchased the pad to see if I can get any kind of pain relief, not be nauseated, actual sleep without waking to my heart flying, severe sweating n less painful menstrual cycle.
Since I’ve used the earthing pad I’ve been sleeping longer n have more energy n eating 2xs a day when 1 was my best n my periods don’t effect my nerve pain in my head n now doesn’t set off my automatic dsyfunction n no more severe menstrual pain that kept me chair bound. Life as normal is over for car rides kill my neck muscle spasms n that sets off the occipital nerve pain terribly. So of course I don’t get out except to all my doctor visits With all my nerve damage etc I’ve got to have nerve block’s monthly to survive it all.
I was able to go 1 month past my regular injections n still sleep good n eat throughout the day n feel energized n like I’ve had a great sleep. I still had the nerve pain but it wasn’t causing the domino effects I normally suffered.
Due to all these counter claims I’ve stopped using my earthing pad n my sleep back to barely nothing, nausea back, eating less n tired all the time again, weak n in tons of pain again.
So now I’m confused for i went backwards when I stopped using the earthing pad n suffering as usual. Not a life at all. Any ideas as to why the pad was working on all my health issues that docs can’t fix. I was only using pad 2 months
Jeromy
Hi Sheryl,
Every person, home wiring system and neighborhood will be different. What works for one person may not work for another. If the Earthing pads are working so well for you, then of course you should use them.
My intention in writing this article was to share that there are some cases where Earthing may not be appropriate. There are people who use these products and actually get worse. Yet, there is little information available on the web that would help them understand why there can be detrimental effects to Earthing.
We all need to think for ourselves and weigh all the options. It is rare that something is 100% good for us or 100% bad. We have to find the solutions that work for each of us.
Hopefully this blog provides some of the information that will help you come to your own, educated conclusions.
Jeromy
Seth Aaron Yellin
Himalayan salt lamps will do the trick then!¡!¡ ((;; So will a humidifier and diffuser. XD. Right? (:
Great article indeed! I was wanting to get a mat and/or sheet for grounding, but now I’ll check more into this stuff.
B Furuta
I think you’re right that measuring the EMFs in your house and reducing them as much as possible are the first things to do. Turning off the breaker switches at night makes a big difference. If you are concerned about EMFs, then buying the meters to measure EMFs and body voltage is worth the money.
I think grounding is a different issue. The main benefit is getting the negative ions from the earth, not protection from EMFs. It is still important to measure the induced body electricity while grounded, to make sure that the you are properly grounded and not increasing your EMF exposure. I have plugged a grounding mat into an outlet and actually gotten a higher body voltage reading when touching the grounding mat, than when not touching the grounding mat. I have also gotten a higher body voltage reading when touching the ground in certain places, than when standing at the same place on a rubber mat. So when touching a grounding mat, make sure your body voltage is near zero.
The thrust of your post is to warn people to not use grounding mats. In some of your comments, you do say to use them if you find them helpful, but you still suggest benefits may be the placebo effect. I think this is overly cautious advice because you are focused on EMFs and not the real benefits of grounding. If EMFs are high, then that is a problem that should be addressed, grounding or no grounding. After you lower the EMF levels in your house, then grounding is beneficial, especially if you have any kind of pain or inflammation. The most beneficial time to be grounded is when sleeping, because that is when your body cleanses and heals itself.
This was reinforced for me when I realized that sleeping on a home-made grounding mat eliminated a pain in my back, and when the cord to the mat was accidentally disconnected, the pain returned. When I discovered the mat wasn’t grounded and reconnected it, the pain went away again. This was definitely not the placebo effect. The problem was diagnosed as an inflamed seborrheic keratosis and triamcinolone cream was prescribed, which helped. At the time I began using the grounding mat, I had no pain because I was using the cream. After a while I realized that I wasn’t applying the cream anymore, and I couldn’t feel the raised growth on my back; it was flat. I didn’t attribute it to grounding until the pain returned more than a year later, and I realized that the mat wasn’t grounded. On reconnecting the mat, my back returned to normal.
I think your cautious approach is suitable for those who are hypersensitive to EMFs. For most people, grounding is beneficial. (Everyone should seek to get EMFs as low as possible.) If you want to reduce inflammation or quicken healing, ground the inflamed or injured part of your body. You can use electrodes or wrap conductive material (available at LessEMF.com) around that body part.
Jeromy
Thanks B Furuta for the very thoughtful comment.
A couple points I want to bring up:
1.) I know of people who have become electrically sensitive because of using grounding products. There is a misconception that there is just this set of “other people” who are electrically sensitive. The reality is anyone can become electrically sensitive from too much exposure to a given set of frequencies. I never thought such a thing could happen to me – until it did. Watch my TEDx talk where I talk about this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0NEaPTu9oI
People can become electrically sensitive from grounding if they happen to have a home with high EMI pollution (this is electromagnetic interference or “dirty electricity”). These higher frequency electric fields are on all wiring – including the home safety ground, which the grounding mats/sheets attach to. So, if a person is in a home with high EMI and is attached to this for a few months or a few years, there could be bad health outcomes down the road.
EMI is a growing problem (see my comment directly below this one – solar inverters are creating a lot of EMI in our communities). Some homes may still be fine in this regard and Earthing would pose no problems. However, it is really just luck unless one first takes the time to understand their electromagnetic environment before they attach their body to their home wiring system.
2.) I have no doubt there are benefits to grounding or Earthing. I do this all the time in nature and experience this first hand (I go camping in the mountains often). I also realize that there are hundreds of anecdotal experiences like your own (I’m glad you experienced benefit). My primary intention in writing this post is to show people that it’s not as simple as the Earthing company makes it seem. There may be benefits of the “negative ions”, but there are also the downsides of connecting your body directly to EMI. I don’t think that the negative ion benefit can outweigh the problems associated with unnecessary EMI exposure (the latter being easily measured and part of the well established field of EMC engineering).
So, the solution seems to be to understand your home before using these products. If you don’t have high amounts of EMI (see how to measure this in the following comment), then Earthing could be beneficial for you. If you do have high amounts, then be cautious about attaching your body directly to it. Use the earth outside and reduce the EMF pollution within your home first.
As a very health conscious person myself who has used Earthing products in the past, this seems to be the only prudent path when it comes to Earthing.
Jeromy
B furuta
Jeromy,
Thanks for your reply.
1) I fully agree with your first point, that people can become sensitive to EMFs with high or prolonged exposure, not just of EMI but any kind of EMFs, through contaminated grounding or without any grounding. I think this fact underscores the importance of taking extra precautions for your sleeping area, because that is the time when the body cleanses and heals itself, and reduces some of the damage done to the body by EMF exposure.
In today’s world, it is impossible to avoid increasing EMF exposure. I periodically take my meter with me when I go out marketing or wherever, and there are high EMFs almost everywhere in my city (Honolulu, HI). Magnetic fields are especially high on any street, possibly due to the electrical cables running along the streets. Microwaves are moderately high everywhere, and very high in some places. EMIs are growing, not just with solar inverters, but with more and more products using transformers, those fat electrical plugs or boxes in the cord, that create dirty electricity. Where possible, I unplug those types of cords, and plug them in only when I am using the product–e.g., my printer. Switch taps are a convenient way to “plug and unplug” electrical cords. We can’t avoid exposure, so we need to create a safe sleeping area to mitigate the effects of daytime EMF exposure.
2) I mostly agree with your second point, but I don’t think that EMI can be easily measured, and those Stetzer and Greenwave filters have problems of their own. They may clean part of the room where they are installed, but they do not remove EMI. They move the dirty electricity. They also create dirty electricity. Michael Schwaebe has a good discussion of dirty electricity. I think the MxDNA products are better than Stetzer or Greenwave, because the DNA products dissipate the dirty electricity as heat, although they also create some dirty electricity. They are more expensive than Stetzer or Greenwave.
Leviton Switch Taps – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01894YMX4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
MxDNA products – http://rfreduce.com/mxdna2/
Michael Schwaebe’s Dirty Electricity talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErBISqF6Afs
Jeromy
Burt,
I definitely agree that the EMF situation is getting worse each year. It will likely continue to do this before it gets better.
One thing I would say is that it is possible to find and create homes with low-EMF pollution. Even near metropolitan areas. This is basically what I have been focusing on for five years. And, having a healthy home is the most important thing we can do. As you mention, if we sleep and rejuvenate well at night, this is key to good health.
If you want to read my book about it (a how-to guide in finding and creating a low-EMF place to live/work), here is the page:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
I explain what you are looking for and how to measure things. It seems to be helping people.
Jeromy
Burt Furuta
Jeromy,
I turn off the breaker switch to my bedroom at night. My meters show extremely low EMFs in my bedroom, which is what one would expect if there is no electricity flowing in the wires of that room. Would you consider this environment safe for grounding? If not, what risks do you see?
Thanks,
Burt
Jeromy
Burt,
It depends on what meters you have. I go over the basics and have a video in this article:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-create-a-healthy-home/
The issue with Earthing is determining if there is EMI (or “dirty electricity”) on your home wiring. You can do this with a Radio Shack AM radio, a Line Noise EMI meter, the Stetzer meter, a digital electric field meter (such as Gigahertz Solutions) and a spectrum analyzer.
Turning off your breakers won’t necessarily stop the EMI, because it will still be present on the neutral/safety ground (circuit breakers only disconnect the hot wire).
The way to fix this is to install a triple pole contactor with a remote control that physically disconnects your bedroom wiring from the grid at night. Once this is done, then Earthing should be safe (but you will have to ground into the actual ground outside because your bedroom wiring ground is no longer connected).
As I mention above, I go through this in more detail and lay out the meters and the process much more in my book. It’s got about five years worth of trial and error in there that you can read in an afternoon.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
Jeromy
Sherry Jones
How do you know if the ground outside your home is okay to use for earthing? Also I have been battling Candida for several years I have done several cleanses and seen some results, but I can never seem to get over the last hurdle. I am currently detoxing heavy metals and chemicals from my body using and infrared sauna and other vitamins and antioxidants. I have experienced several symptoms due to the detox program, very hard to deal with symptoms.
The newest symptom I have seems to be what I think is static electricity in my body and it won’t leave my body. Keep in my mind the air in my home is very dry also it is very cold with low humidity and I have very dry skin and I am very acidic due to my chemical and metals leaving my body. This all started when I put on a pair of pants that seemed to have a lot of static electricity in them and then I noticed it when I got under my sheets also I felt the static in my body when I put my hand barely over the hairs on my arm. It was in my electrical blanket as well. My husband and kids don’t seemed to be bothered by it. I was wondering if it is because I’m more sensitive because of the detox and the candida or do I have EMF problems or dirty electricity or whatever it is called. This a problem because I didn’t sleep well and it is causing tons of pain in my body, such as needling pains,nerve pain,muscle pains, etc.
Thank you for listening I will be waiting on a response.
Jeromy
Hi Sherry,
Thanks for writing and for your questions.
It sounds like you have an EMF issue in your home. Have you had it tested by a consultant? Let me know your city/state and I’ll recommend one I trust.
It is not as though the static electricity stays in your body, but it sounds like there is a dirty electricity/EMI issue in your home that needs to be fixed.
As for testing if the ground is safe to use, a good Gauss meter will help you determine this. If the readings are close to 0.01 mG, then you likely have very little ground current in your neighborhood.
Btw, have you also looked at limbic system retraining programs? These are generally beneficial when you have so many different health issues that you are dealing with. Here are two:
https://retrainingthebrain.com/
http://www.guptaprogramme.com/
My best,
Jeromy
Jen
Wow interesting. So much information out there that conflicts.
I’ve been using a grounding sheet for over 2 years and will now unplug it to see if I see any changes. It’s confusing as people have different opinions.
So the following information on this reference page: https://www.earthing.com/electrical-connection-conductivity/#a18
is not entirely factual?
Jeromy
Hi Jen,
I read through that page an no where does the Earthing company warn their customers that connecting their body directly to a home’s electrical grounding system will expose them to EMI (electromagnetic interference).
Perhaps this truth is just too inconvenient to bring up.
Today’s home wiring systems have an increasing amount of EMI. These frequencies come from solar inverters, CFL and LED lighting and any electronic device that has a switch mode power supply (SMPS). Even microwave radiation from items like wireless smart meters will be conducting along your home wiring (including the ground wire). You can measure these frequencies with a digital electric field meter, a spectrum analyzer, a “dirty electricity” line noise EMI meter and even a Radio Shack AM radio, which you can find here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-measure-dirty-electricity/
This is just the basics of EMC engineering the home wiring system will have these frequencies on it and it is suspect that the company does not warn their customers about this. I guess it would negate the benefits of the product (unless one was able to ground the product outside into clean earth with little ground current).
Jeromy
Carl Andrews
The proof is always in the pudding. If what you are saying were true the numerous double blind studies showing dramatic benefits would not occur. 100% of these studies, including one done on premature babies in an ICU full of electrical sources and wiring, 100% of these studies have been done on grounding equipment connected to wall outlets.
There may be isolated instances wherein the house or building isn’t properly wired or grounded. And if someone has given grounding in this manner a decent trial with bad results they should suspect such a situation and correct it.
The fact remains that, as in the double blind, placebo controlled studies, many people are experiencing such dramatic benefits merely by grounding to outlets.
Sorry, but you don’t get wonderful results like that from something that is harming you. Your argument, in a nutshell, fails the results test of common sense.
Jeromy
Carl,
Perhaps you can help me to find Earthing studies that 1.) are not associated/funded by anyone linked to the Earthing Institute or products; 2.) have more than a small amount of participants/controls, which can skew results; 3.) are actually double-blind; 4.) test for results that are not subjective and 5.) gets the incredible results you and others talk about by using the power company safety ground (outlet) rather than an isolated Earth ground (outside) that was used in this study:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/291541/
I’m open minded and love researching things, so please enlighten me. Thus far I have not found the above requirements met in the studies referenced here:
http://www.earthinginstitute.net/research/
Jeromy
Sally
Hi, I am quite new to learning about the dangers of EMF etc, and have recently purchased a Trifield Meter and a Cornet.
Could someone please tell me what are considered ‘safe’ readings, and what level readings would you then consider buying a bed canopy to protect yourself?
Cheers, Sally
Jeromy
Hi Sally,
With you being new to this subject, I honestly recommend my book for these questions. I laid it out in a way that is easy for a beginner to understand these issues and it covers your questions:
You can download the Ebook here and I will have a paperback out this winter:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
Keep in touch,
Jeromy
Rick
Hi Jeromy. Thanks for the article. Been following your stuff for a while now. What’s your opinion on negative ion technology products like fusion ionz bands? They purport to continuously emit ample amounts of negative ions 24/7 due to the tourmaline, titanium, and germanium content in the bands. They also have a product that slips into a phone case and does the same, supposedly reducing harmful cell phone radiation by 97%.
If something like these bands works, wouldn’t that be a form of grounding for people whose lifestyles make it difficult to go barefoot on the earth every day for 20+ minutes?
Jeromy
Hi Rick,
I just don’t think these products are doing enough to help people who continue to surround themselves with wireless technology. And, saying that such a product will reduce harmful cell phone radiation by 97% is outright snake oil. It is dangerous to give people a false sense of security like that.
I always point people toward first reducing and eliminating their nnEMF exposures in their home. This is where you have some control over the environment.
After doing this, make sure your diet is excellent and that your exposure to other toxins (chemicals, mold, etc) is minimal.
Finally, and only once the above have been done, utilize any of the Earthing, negative-ionizing, orgonite EMF “neutralizing” or salt lamp “absorbing” products that feel right for you. None of these will really do much to protect health if the first steps have not been taken. But, they may provide some benefit if you have first reduced your overall nnEMF exposures.
Hope that helps.
Jeromy
A.
I am interested in earthing/grounding for myself and family and more, and i just read this article of yours about potential ill effects of grounding through the ground of a typical house’s electrical outlets and system…
I have also seen many demonstrations measuring the voltage of a human body while grounded, not grounded, on an electric blanket, near electrical devices, and many other situations… and they show the body voltage always going down to 0 or very near when touching an earthing sheet plugged into an outlet’s ground plug, while most other typical ungrounded situations read at least 1 volt, and up into at least the teens…
What would you say about this and how it relates to what you shared in your article about grounding?
Jeromy
Great question. There are two issues with the body voltage test that has been popularized in videos by David Wolfe and others:
1.) A body voltage meter measures a very small spectrum of the electric field frequencies (below approximately 400 Hz). This leaves out all of the electric fields in the Kilohertz and Megahertz ranges, which are a large proportion of the fields we are exposed to in a home (the electromagnetic interference – EMI – on home wiring). So, the BV meter is basically only telling you if you are around the ultra-low 60 Hz electrical frequency from unshielded wiring.
2.) The bigger issue with these body voltage videos is that the “zero” reading when you magically touch the grounding pad is meaningless. The reason is that a body voltage meter is measuring the difference in voltage between you and the “ground”. So, when you touch a grounded “Earthing” product, you are now part of the ground and the differential showing up on the meter can only be “zero” because it is a closed loop. It’s not that the electric fields have gone away (they are still affecting the body). It is simply that the BV meter is measuring the difference between the ground and the ground, which, naturally, is zero.
Hope this helps clear up things on the Body Voltage test as it pertains to grounding.
Jeromy
Joe
Hi Jeromy,
Say I am willing to run a dedicated ground wire to the outside of my house. To test the setup, does the following make sense?
1. Drive a steak into the ground in a nearby park, and use the Greenwave EMI meter to test the Earth’s natural voltage. Should be somewhere close to the Schumann??
2. Then, run a dedicated ground wire from my bedroom to a ground stake in my yard, kill the bedroom breaker, and test the line with the EMI meter.
3. Analyze the differential between the readings and determine whether the frequency actually obtainable in the bedroom is close enough to the earth’s natural reading.
Jeromy
Hi Joe,
This test won’t really work because you need a hot electrical connection (circuits not off) for the Greenwave EMI meter to measure anything. And even then, it is only measuring the EMI on the hot wire (differential mode) – not what is additionally present on the ground/neutral wires (common mode).
A better test is to measure the magnetic field in your backyard with a very sensitive Gauss meter (sensitive to at least 0.01 mG). If your magnetic field readings are low (say below 0.02 mG), then you likely have minimal ground current.
Having minimal ground current around your home is one thing that would make grounding safer. This is more common in Delta electrical distribution areas, which are discussed here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
To measure the common mode EMI on your home wiring (which includes what is on the neutral/ground wires), you really need good electric field meter (such as the Gigahertz Solutions ME 3851A) and a Radio Shack AM radio. These will help you determine if there is a lot of EMI in your home, which could then make in-home Earthing not such a good idea.
I talk about these here: https://www.emfanalysis.com/meter-packages/
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
Joe
Very helpful thanks! So, I have a minimum of .5 Mg in my backyard. Does that suggest that I shouldn’t even do barefoot grounding there?
Jeromy
Joe,
It depends on what Gauss meter you are using. If it’s a simple one, like a Cornet ED88T or 78S, then the minimum reading is 0.5 mG. So, the actual magnetic field could be much lower. Cheaper meters are often not sensitive enough for ES people.
I use the Alpha Labs UHS2, which is sensitive down to 0.01 mG. I also have the Gigahertz Solutions ME3851A, which is sensitive down to 0.001 mG.
From this picture, you can see what a really good magnetic field reading is ~ 0.02 mG.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Alpha-Labs-UHS2-Gauss-Meter-EMF-Analysis.jpg
This would mean there is little ground current. I would say if your backyard is below 0.1 mG, you are good to go. But, being in nature is typically your best bet.
Jeromy
joe trombetta
Jeromy…incredibly helpful. I’m going to buy a better Gauss meter….one more thing, when choosing a location to go barefoot, is there a max RF level you would consider?
Jeromy
Joe –
As always, the lower the better.
EMF sensitive people will all have their own limit. Ideally, you would get out in nature, away from cell towers, so that the RF is below 1 uW/m^2 (-50 dBm).
Obviously, if you are in a field of 100 or 1,000 uW/m^2, that’s not healthy for anyone. And, certainly, grounding will not counteract the negative effects.
Get this RF meter and use this discount code to get 10% off: EMFA-10
http://slt.co/Products/RFMeters/RFMeter-HF35C.aspx
Jeromy
Adena Compton
Hi Jeromy,
I have had dramatic healing in the last month from sleeping grounded using an indoor device, so I was a little disturbed to read this article as it’s not something I want to give up. I don’t want to cause any lasting damage though and so I think I would like to use the rod that goes outside (I live in a small town in Alaska and there 2 feet of snow on the ground, otherwise I’d go barefoot).
So in simple terms, what device do I need to check the current of the ground outside and is my backyard good enough as far as “untouched by man” or do I need to take into the forest a bit?
Also, what do you consider to be a good or low reading when checking outlets for dirty electricity?
Thanks,
Adena
Jeromy
Hi Adena,
As you are in a more rural area, you may not have the EMI problems that urban and suburban homes can have. You really only know if you measure.
If Earthing is working for you, stick with it (especially until the snow melts!).
If you would like to know if you have ground current, the best way is with a sensitive Gauss meter. It will help you determine what is going on in your neighborhood (such as whether there are big current loops). I like and use the Alpha Labs USH2 seen here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/meter-packages/
Wye electrical distribution systems will have greater ground current than Delta. You can check with your utility company, but in Alaska, they likely have Wye. Read here for more on this:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
Finally, for DE measurements, below 100 with the Stetzer meter is generally good. Below 200 with the Alpha Labs EMI meter is good (some electrically sensitive people need much lower). I don’t use the filters by Stetzer and Greenwave to reduce the DE/EMI readings. Instead, I figure out which circuits and appliances in my home are creating the DE. I then turn them off or unplug them.
Read my book for more on this and to have a good foundation in this topic:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
My best,
Jeromy
Adena Compton
Thank you for your prompt reply, Jeromy. I will look into those meters.
So you say it’s ok to keep doing if for now, until I get the ground and outlets tested?
I have only been Earthing for 1.5 months and have only positive benefits to report. You said that 1-2 years would be considered a long exposure and that’s where one might really see consequences if it wasn’t a “clean” connection?
Thank you for bringing this topic up, I feel sort of let down by the Earthing company, so weird that wouldn’t tell people about this major thing! And sad.
Thanks again, Adena
Jeromy
Thanks Adena.
I would say continue with what you are doing if it is helping you. Then, this summer when it is warmer and the ground isn’t frozen, you can do more grounding outside and you can put your Earthing stake into the ground (rather than using the home wiring outlets).
Long term, it’s best to understand the EMF situation in your home to make sure you are not making things worse (by attaching your body to an EMI source). This is the piece that the Earthing products makers don’t mention – either because they don’t know this or because it’s tough to sell something that is complicated to explain.
Keep in touch and let us know how you do with this later in the year.
Jeromy
Adena Compton
Jeromy, thank you again so much.
I will be ordering a Gauss meter (and I’m sorry I have one more question …)..
Can I use it while there is 2 ft of snow on the ground to check return current in the back yard or do I need to wait for the snow to melt?
Very inexperienced with all this …
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time and answers. I really appreciate it .
-Adena
Jeromy
Not to worry, Adena. It’s how we learn! I’m learning new things every day in this subject. It’s fascinating.
Snow won’t make a difference in the magnetic field readings. What changes things is the amount of current flowing on lines (and possibly ground) in your neighborhood. This is dependent on usage (when people come home after work, the readings will typically be the highest).
Jeromy
Rosemary Langdon
Hi Jeromy,
Thanks for your article. I am a 62-year-old woman who tried using an Earthing sheet in February this year. I plugged it into the grounding port of my wall socket. I know people that use them successfully and thought I would give it a try.
The first day I felt kind of funny and the second day I ripped it off my bed. My blood pressure shot sky-high and I had incredible anxiety. I am now on my fifth week off of work dealing with this, and on medications for the anxiety and blood pressure. It’s been one of the worst experiences of my life.
If there was any way to let people know that this can be highly detrimental, I would want to get the message out. Most of the information on the Internet is la la good but it can harm.
Rosemary Langdon
Jeromy
Thanks for sharing your story Rosemary. It’s actually quite common.
Indeed, this is what happens when a marketing campaign is based only on positive anecdotal stories. If it sounds too good to be true, it generally is.
Your home likely has an EMI issue on your wiring. You inadvertently attached your body to this.
I would suggest hiring a local EMF consultant to come check things out and see what can be done to reduce this EMI and other fields within your home. Often times, there will be a couple things plugged in throughout your home that are causing the EMI. You can usually just unplug them or turn off their circuits.
It is especially important for you right now to sleep in a clean environment. Turn off the circuit breakers to your bedroom to see if this helps with the sleep/anxiety.
Your nervous system just needs a rest.
If you want to be put in touch with a consultant or if you need help figuring this out, send me an email through the contact form above or read this page:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/work-with-me/
Jeromy
Carl Andrews
The double blind, placebo controlled studies are not “anecdotal” “marketing.” If someone has a bad experience then something is wrong with the wiring in their house. That’s the only conclusion one can make after the astounding results of placebo controlled studies, all of which have been conducted with wall outlet grounding, including one done on premature infants in a highly electrically charged ICU unit of a major hospital. Sorry but that doesn’t happen if what these anti wall grounding guys are saying is true. They have no logical answer to the double blind studies. Lies such as “anecdote-based” marketing, are just that. The truth is the opposite. Not placebo, not anecdotal. Period. Please, you guys, stop lying about that.
Jeromy
Carl – I responded to you above with the following comment:
Perhaps you can help me to find Earthing studies that 1.) are not associated/funded by anyone linked to the Earthing Institute or products; 2.) have more than a small amount of participants/controls, which can skew results; 3.) are actually double-blind; 4.) test for results that are not subjective and 5.) gets the incredible results you and others talk about by using the power company safety ground (outlet) rather than an isolated Earth ground (outside) that was used in this study:
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/291541/
I’m open minded and love researching things, so please enlighten me. Thus far I have not found the above requirements met in the studies referenced here:
http://www.earthinginstitute.net/research/
Jeromy
Burt Furuta
Rosemary, sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with the grounding sheet. I initially had good results with mine, but I stopped using it because the EMFs are increasing, especially dirty electricity. There are more devices on the system that create DE, and some like solar inverters and electric car chargers create a lot of DE.
I am writing to suggest that you try some energy medicine exercises. At first, you might think they are strange, but I find they work. They are from Donna Eden, who from childhood could see people’s energy fields, like auras, chakras, and meridians. Some of her exercises are similar to acupressure, and she uses the language from Traditional Chinese Medicine when talking about the meridians. The Triple Warmer meridian corresponds to the Western ideas of the immune system and the sympathetic automatic nervous system. Today everyone’s Triple Warmer is overactive because we are subject to so much pollution–including EMFs and chemicals in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the products we use on our bodies. An overactive Triple Warmer leads to anxiety, high blood pressure, allergies, and auto-immune diseases.
You might try an exercise to calm your Triple Warmer. Here are six: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIjx4Wu9RQ&index=15&list=PL78ntFjGtZ-srXVSyMoKHOoyz2Td28DS5
A simple one I like to use is to massage the tip of your ring finger, holding the side of the finger, not the fingernail. That is the start of the Triple Warmer meridian. You can do it on both hands.
Both of my sisters like to use the Temporal Tap. My older sister uses it for anxiety. When I first showed them the exercise they laughed at me. But they both use it, and it works. Donna Eden explains that technique in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6yH0gdyu8Q&index=14&list=PL78ntFjGtZ-srXVSyMoKHOoyz2Td28DS5&t=39s
One caution when calming Triple Warmer–don’t overdo it. Triple Warmer’s job is to protect the body from any foreign substance or perceived attack. Sedating Triple Warmer can be perceived as an attack on itself, which will make Triple Warmer fight back and become even more active. So relax when doing the Triple Warmer sedating exercises, and think that you are safe and Triple Warmer doesn’t need to become alarmed.
Donna Eden has a post called “Sedating Triple Warmer is not for Sissies.” http://www.innersource.net/em/80-sedating-triple-warmer-qis-not-for-sissiesq.html
Burt
Quint
Thank you Jeromy, Paul and everybody else for the many teachings in the above article and replies…..
I understand (from a video from Mike Holt) the stray current is mainly (till 9-12M deep) on the superficial level of the Earth’s crust and the quality of the ground increases the deeper you get. Here in Amsterdam, The Netherlands we live on a canal and have ground water at 1.5M depth. I understand water is an excellent conductor of energy and therefor my earth field is huge when my ground rod touches the groundwater. Does this mean it is safer to ground ourselves during sleep in a sensitive safe / low-EMF room with a wire (with resistor) and a ground rod touching the ground water? Does this mean there is less ground current on the ground water? Is there any current left at the ground water level or is this the absolute zero?
Quint
Jeromy
Hi Quint,
Good question. It’s known that a portion of return current of an electrical distribution system travels through the ground, rather than completely on the wiring. When it travels through the ground back to the substation, it takes the path of least resistance. This is usually metal pipes and aquifers. You can see where this is headed. . . .
Water and wet ground are excellent conductors of electrical energy – especially in a city environment like Amsterdam where there is surely ground current. I would not want to be attached to a grounding rod in that environment.
In general, I don’t recommend “Earthing” products in cities like yours. The downsides are greater than any possible benefits. Just go without it and have a low-EMF home. This is the best thing for good long-term health.
To see if you have a ground current issue directly where you are, use a really sensitive Gauss meter that will measure to 0.01 mG. Some will measure to 0.001 mG. If you are getting readings that low, then you likely have a relatively safe ground to use. Any stray current would be picked up by the Gauss meter.
Jeromy
Quint Sebastiaan Snel
Thank you, Jeromy,
This means a lot to me!!!
The MF just above the earth surface (while grounded in the same earth) I measured is 005 nT; Which is 0.05 mG and, when I understand correctly, 5 times higher than your recommendation…
So I moved on to the garden house with no electric lines, which is 2 km outside of Amsterdam. The MF I measured there is 000 nT. This means I can safely do overnight grounding, right?
For this I’ll be putting a 2M ground rod in the garden.
Can I use different measurements methods to see whether grounding is safe?
Another thing I’ve learned in the meantime: I understand the earth water is a conductor, yet also a very sound insulator. It therefore might turn out to be safe to ground ourselves on when the ground pin actually is in the ground water. This might be similar to a 12M ground rod without groundwater.
When I just put a 2M ground pin just for testing. Do you know another way to test the stray current in the actual wire coming directly from the ground rod? With a multimeter or clamp on multimeter i.e.? If yes, with a clamp on how precise (mV or so) should it be able to read?
Kind regards,
Quint
Jeromy
Quint,
A sensitive clamp meter that can measure any low amounts of current on your ground rod would be good. Here is one I recommend:
https://www.amazon.com/Extech-MA430-400A-Clamp-Meter/dp/B00FF3X3I8
Body voltage kits can’t really do the trick because you need a good ground reference that you know is clean. Otherwise, your results are basically a circular reference (it shows “zero” mV when it really isn’t).
In general, I would not “Earth” in any home/building and would not use the ground of a city/suburban area. In less populated areas, I would do the checks mentioned above just to make sure you are not inadvertently in an area with high amounts of ground current.
It sounds like your garden property is pretty good. Spending time barefoot in the garden is likely quite healthy. Going through all the trouble of utilizing Earthing products for sleep is just something I would no longer do. The positive effects are likely overstated and the real risks are ignored.
Jeromy
Jeromy
Hi Quint,
Here are a few more videos that illustrate how to measure ground current at your properties:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhIPgdOt3SE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7dlQxHfw6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTxhOXk6WOM
The more one understands about how electrical frequencies interact with the ground and our bodies, the more “Earthing” products become one of the last things anyone would implement to improve their health.
Jeromy
Andrew Chin
Hello Everyone,
I stopped using my grounding products at home. We have new town homes going up next door, and they’ve installed Smart Meters. I believe they were negatively impacting my health because the two properties share the same power grid, and because we’re so close in proximity. So it wasn’t really the above-ground transmissions so much as what’s going on underground, in my opinion. I’ve been experiencing fatigue, numbness, agitation, heart palpitations, etc. I also developed a sore on my right foot, and a sore in my mouth. I unplugged two days ago, and I’ve been feeling better. I mean, my energy levels increased right away. Grounding used to work well for me at my old place, since we didn’t have any Smart Meters next door.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with Smart Meters going up nearby?
Thanks so much, Jeromy, for this article! I might not have made the connection so soon if not for this information. 🙂
Jeromy
Hi Andrew,
Glad this article helped you figure this out.
It could be multiple variables, but most likely there is a lot more EMI on your new home’s wiring and that is why the Earthing products were not working for you there.
Smart meter pulses will get on the wiring of homes (both as conducted and radiated RF emissions). I think this is the primary reason why smart meters have injured so many people.
Hopefully you can have someone out to measure all aspects of your home or do some measuring yourself. Feel free to contact me if you ever need a recommendation or help with this.
Jeromy
Andrew Chin
Thanks, Jeromy!
Nadia
Hey,
Sorry if I’m commenting late inside this article … well done and thank you for the valuable information!
Kindly may I ask:
Do we need to walk barefoot in nature to ground ourselves?
If we can use shoes, what kind of shoe bottoms are best?
Is it healthy or detrimental to walk barefoot inside a house full of plugs, a wireless router and a smart meter?
Thanks again 🙂
Nadia
Jeromy
Hi Nadia,
To your questions:
1.) Barefoot is best. I like to do this on the beach or just sitting out on the grass.
2.) You can get special Earthing sandals and shoes. Something with leather soles, rather than rubber/plastic is what you need.
3.) Grounding/Earthing in a home with a lot of EMF pollution can sometimes be more detrimental. I would suggest you get rid of the smart meter, setup a wired internet system and have your home checked for EMFs. This is way more important that Earthing/Grounding.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-install-wired-internet-in-your-home/
My best,
Jeromy
Nadia
Hi Jeromy,
Thank you so much for replying after years of posting the article! This is so much appreciated 🙂
I do love walking barefoot on a beach and in a nearby park (although I don’t walk on the grass anymore, as I’m quite sure it’s sprayed).
I have never heard of Earthing shoes and sandals. Thank you! Many shoes are marked as Earthing shoes on Ebay, but I’m quite sure that they have rubber soles. I did find some individual online shops though.
You are absolutely right though, it’s best to tackle my house’s EMF issues first.
Thank you for the link about installing wired internet! After reading several of your articles, I have bought two cheap EMF meters online (with the hope that one of them is accurate) and a long ethernet Cat-7 cable to connect with my laptop and switch off my wifi router. I have also sent an email to my utilities company to remove my Smart Meter … hoping for the best.
I do believe in your research and I want to make friends and family believe in it too. When my better half was approached with regards to EMFs, he replied with the following, which I did not fully understand (note: Malta is the European island where I live) :
RF tx power is proportional to distance from nearer cell – as there are around 600 cells in Malta, on 300 sq km, this means that on average cell is 3-600 metres, thus reducing substantially power emitted from mobile phones to sub tested levels
Q.E.D.
How can I make him believe in this? He is an electrical engineer, and very skeptical. Is there a collection of studies which I can show him?
Thank you so much for this eye-opening research!
All the best,
Nadia
Jeromy
Hi Nadia,
Great to hear you are taking steps! And, if I ever make it to Malta, would be wonderful to meet. I travel to Europe often as my wife is European.
For your partner, I would explain that it is not necessarily the cell towers that are the problem (unless one if quite close to your home). The biggest sources of RF are often in the home (WiFi router, baby monitor, DECT cordless phone, smart appliances). We should never be within 20 feet of an operating WiFi router, yet most people sit with them on their desk or near a bed.
The other big source of RF is obviously the smart phone, tablet computers or laptops using WiFi. Then the antennas are often right next to the body/brain.
I have two articles on my website that are good for electrical engineers to read. This may help him see both sides of this issue. We are not asking him to change, just to realize that what he has been taught is not the fully story (I had to realize this for myself as well).
https://www.emfanalysis.com/new-paradigm-emf-science/
https://www.emfanalysis.com/tedx-wireless-wake-up-call/
Hope this helps.
My best to you,
Jeromy
Tanya S
Amazing info! I’ve read so much on how they are beneficial! This article “makes sense” and even though I’ve greatly considered an earthing mat, I’m glad I never purchased one now. Thanks for sharing!
joe t
Hey Jeromy,
Just got a Dream Canopy. Using my Cornet’s electrical field function, I’m not picking anything up in the canopy (3-5 v/m). Do you think this is enough assurance, or do i really need to measure with a body meter?
Also, one other thing. I swim in my backyard pool for 1 hour every night. I would love to be able to ground when I’m in there. I think the fields are ok back there: my alpha reads .3 mg; and cornet readings of .005 mw/m2. In such a circumstance, do you think I can start to consider connecting the water to the earth with a dedicated spike, or is the “antennae” risk still too high?
Your input is always very very helpful. Thank You! Joe
Jeromy
Hi Joe,
Sounds like you are in good shape.
I’ve never heard of anyone grounding their pool. Not sure what you are proposing is either beneficial or harmful.
The Dream Canopy will reduce the electric fields, but I would cut the breakers at night.
To truly know what current is flowing through your backyard, you need a good Gauss meter that will measure as low as 0.01 mG. When it’s that low, then you know you are in good shape to ground.
Here are the meters I recommend:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/meter-packages/
Keep us posted!
Jeromy
joe trombetta
Regarding grounding my pool, my understanding is that a natural body of water is the most optimal place to ground. The ocean is best, because salt water is a better conductor than fresh. But lakes on ponds are also excellent. I believe the fact that you have much more surface area exposed to the grounded area (the water) than you do by just walking with your feet on dry ground, makes a huge difference.
My understanding is that any body of water can be grounded (including a pool) by just bringing the water in contact with the earth. So my idea was to insert a grounding stake in my backyard, and run a short piece of heavily insulated copper line from it, into the pool when I’m in it. Therefore I am proposing that I can capture both the benefits of swimming and grounding at the same time with this setup!
Regarding the risk of the anntenna effect into the pool with the copper;
my background measurements are .3 mg per an Alpha meter, and .005 mw/m2 RF per a Cornet meter.
So my question is: Where is the “fly in the ointment” here?
Mur Say
I think putting a doide in the circuit (between the wall ground and your grounding mat) to cut out the oscillations and make the electron flow only towards the body.
Jonny
I bought a mat then tested my sockets. Everything seems to be fine. I was excited to give it a go. The day I got it I was playing my PS4 and had my arm lean on it. I left it there for hours. I felt more relaxed than normal and much less irritable but then I had a weird anxiety attack. I left the mat plugged in overnight but wasn’t touching it and all night I was having really mad, weird vivid dreams. I know for a fact these things were all none placebo and linked to the mat because it was obvious.
Anyway, I was happy to carry on with it and see how I got on but then I read this. Now I’m concerned and I really wanted to try it out but this has made me think otherwise. I live in the UK, all our electric is correctly wired and working. I live in a two floor house, at the side of me is a grass pathway and on the other side is a neighbors house. In front of the house is lots of abandoned ground that has been reclaimed by nature, behind that is big fields, trees, grass etc. Behind me is a row of houses and another field. I’m pretty sure I’m not in an area full of dirty electricity. I do have a powerline adapter in my room for direct connection to my MacBook and PS4. I have wifi for my phone, also a smart TV. This is what’s worried me about using it and made me think it was possibly the cause of the anxiety attack. I have now started turning off all the electronics when I go to bed including the power line. In the morning I’ve started to plug my grounding mat into the powerless socket and just have it underneath me in bed for an hour or so before I get up, then I unplug it and switch things back on again until I go back to sleep.
I’m just wondering if you think this sounds like a safe environment? I’d love to go out barefoot every day but it’s just not an option at the moment. This is the best I can do, is it worth the risk, does it sound safe?
Thanks.
Jeromy
Jonny,
Thanks for your question.
I know of quiet a few people who have become electrically sensitive by using Earthing/grounding products in environments that were high-EMF or had EMI on the wiring of their homes. Earthing in a home is just not something I would do, especially if you are already experiencing symptoms like anxiety after using these products.
There is excellent marketing hype in the Earthing world and everyone wants to believe it is so great. However, I’ve just heard of too many people getting worse with these products (it’s not a detox reaction). And, from an engineering / EMF consulting perspective, it’s really a bad idea to physically attach your body to the copper wiring of your home/building.
You will want to test your home for EMFs. That is the only way to truly know what is going on. You can’t really eye-ball it. Here is a page I have for the UK that will help you do this:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/united-kingdom/
Keep in touch and happy new year,
Jeromy
Jaime
Hello,
I’ve been using GIA’s EMFs protecting devices. I wear a pendant around my neck daily, and have one of the Home Harmonizers always plugged in. What do you think of these products? Do they help?
Thanks
Jeromy
Hi Jaime,
In general, these products are providing a placebo response and provide no actual EMF protection. I write about this in the opening paragraphs here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/products/
The most important thing to do with EMFs is reduction and elimination, which is possible in nearly all situations. I write about how you can detect the four types of EMFs here:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/how-to-create-a-healthy-home/
My book has the solutions for creating and finding a low-EMF home:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/healthy-home/
All my best,
Jeromy
Gordon
Unless someone is at least 5 miles from a power line, they are living in an area saturated with 60 Hz and its harmonics.
Plugging in a grounding mat to an outlet ground can be suicidal in many older homes or in one with poor wiring.
KE7RYM
General Class Amateur Radio Operator
BERNA
Hi Jeromy,
I got a little confused. I hope you can help me to clarify one thing. I have tried to reduce the EMF of my room as much as possible and I was thinking to buy a Dream canopy bed (which has to be grounded) because my bed is close to three walls that emit too much electrical field from the wired system (I already tested it), I can not turn off the switch off at night because I share the apartment with other people, so for me a EMF canopy seems to be the best option to deal with this problem, but by reading this article I get concern about using it, especially because it has to be grounded, but I found another of your articles where you actually recommended them (https://www.emfanalysis.com/products/), so are recommending maybe the ones that are not grounded?? Also, do you think that maybe using the fabric used to make the canopy such as Daylite to cover the walls instead the bed would be a safer way to protect myself from EMF without the side effects or grounding??
Jeromy
Hi Berna,
First, the Dream Canopy does not need to be grounded. However, it will work a bit better if it is properly grounded.
If you do use material on your walls, I would use the Naturell fabric. But, you need a full enclosure for RF, which is why a bed canopy is what works best (it creates a cocoon).
The canopies will help reduce the electric fields emanating from the wiring in your walls.
Grounding a bed canopy to reduce RF is not necessarily related to the points I make in the article above about Earthing products and other grounding techniques that are popular with health conscious people.
Jeromy
Berna
I got it. Thanks so much for you reply!!
Jarvis Paille
Thanks for the article.
Sarah
I wear grounding sandals (earth runners) and walk through my suburban neighborhood to get to hiking trails every day. At the start of the trails there are some high voltage power lines that I walk under. Would you consider this unsafe? Should I wear non-grounding shoes? I could potentially bring the sandals and put them on once I am past the power lines. About how far would you recommend I be before putting them on?
Jeromy
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your question.
I would not worry about short term exposures like this. It’s okay to walk under or next to one of these lines. Unless you are spending a two hours walking under one or you live next to one, it won’t be a high exposure in the grand scheme of things.
Also, your grounding sandals also won’t affect this exposure enough to be concerned.
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
Penny
Great article, thanks Jeromy!
Mary ann
Good written article, however, low emf in the house is not a good reason not to ground. You walk with rubber on your feet? House built on concrete, plastics, synthetics? Science proves sleeping 8 hours a night charges the electrical body which is necessary!!!! We can’t so take a it a step further rather then tell people you personally with drew and are fine. A whole huge chunk of info is missing. If you knew what a big deal this was you would be all over it.
Cheers
VL
Interesting study released last November Jeremy:
http://alternative-therapies.com/openaccess/26-6_Elkin.pdf
Any Thoughts?
Donna
Very interested to find this article. I came across it after I had been using an earthing mat (which made my feet tingle) but woke up one morning and felt really “off” and rather rough. The only thing I could think of which was different in my routine was the earthing mat – so Googled and found this.
I have since stopped using the mat and had no more problems. I have recently learned however that the human heart has its own EMF – fairly strong? I was fascinated to learn it emits a shape and we are in like a funnel?
How does our own heart EMF interact with those which it comes into contact with? Do the external EMFs penetrate our heart EMF radius, or do external EMFs just dent it or do they bounce off? Does our heart EMF aura act like a Faraday cage?
https://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/energetic-communication/
Jeromy
Glad you found this article to be helpful Donna. Many people have noticed the exact same thing, for the reasons I explain above.
Heart Math / HRV training is a worthwhile thing to do. I have been doing this for years and find it to be beneficial. When the heart is humming, the entire body is much more healthy.
My readings have improved over the years as I learn what works for me. Here are the results from a recent session:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EMF-HRV-May-2019.jpg
I use the EM Wave 2 from HeartMath.org to track things.
Jeromy
Millie Hue
Thanks for helping me understand that a person can have restless legs or inner agitation when they keep experiencing static ground. With that in mind, I will call professionals to get rid of this before I experience that. This is because I usually feel that sensation whenever I touch metal parts inside our home especially the ones in the kitchen. It really shocks me at times, and there are times that they are just mild.
Len
Is grounding safe? I’m a 69 year old male and my experience with grounding, which includes sleeping on a grounding mat for almost 2 years has been nothing but positive. You can call it the placebo effect, but when I went to my neurologist for my annual test on my legs and feet to see where my neuropathy was at, he came away mystified. In his words he said, “The best we can ever hope for with neuropathy is that it doesn’t get worse, but for some reason yours seems to be improving.”
I didn’t say a word as I wasn’t going to open up that can of worms with him. Shortly after I went to my urologist who had been concerned with my rising PSA levels over the previous couple of years. His comment to me after my last PSA test was…”Well you don’t need to see me anymore”.
My own observations have been, I used to get infections whenever I cut or injured myself. That is no longer the case.
My blood pressure readings dropped from borderline high to those in the optimal range.
My A1C levels have gone from prediabetic levels to normal but I also cut out excessive sugar and refined carbohydrates from my diet.
I used to sleep almost every day in the afternoon. Now I rarely feel the need for that.
My sleep at night is deeper and more refreshing and averages between 7 and 8 per night.
I rarely get a cold, or the flu.
All of this before I dealt with the EMF pollution in our home. So you can tell me that what I am doing is unsafe and I am just experiencing the placebo effect but almost 2 years later I am still enjoying the positive health benefits.
Jeromy
Hi Len,
Wonderful that you are having such positive effects.
Are you grounding to the outside (actual ground) or the electrical safety ground?
In some lucky circumstances, the ground/neutral wires don’t have a lot of EMI on them. Then you will be getting the positive effects of Earthing without all the negative.
If you are grounding to the outside, then you are fortunate to most likely be living in an area without a lot of ground current.
As I mention in the article above, if you are living in a low-EMF situation, Earthing won’t be that bad for you (and likely positive).
Keep in touch,
Jeromy
Len
Hi Jeromy,
We do live on a quarter acre parcel with the forest behind us and a park on one side and the closest neighbour about 75 ft from our home so maybe that is the difference. I have been and still do grounding through the ground/neutral but I did switch to an actual grounding rod and wire to my bed grounding mat this past spring after reading some concerns.
We don’t have DECT phones, and we don’t use WiFi in our home and I did clean up the dirty electricity this past spring by getting rid of dimmer switches, CFL’s, and using Graham Stetzer filters. Also we stopped using the electrical wiring as a network(which produced a ton of dirty electricity!) and now we are using standard network cabling.
Our only concern is there is a cell tower recently installed about 1/2 kilometer away but the micro watt per sq cm is between .0001 and 0 throughout the house except for one room which seems to fluctuate between .0015 to .0002.
Ganesh
Hi Jeromy,
Thanks for this information, and your work. I disconnected our grounding mat based on what I read here.
However, I’m having a little trouble understanding what kind of current would be running through the ground in a backyard, and where it would be coming from.
I’m thinking of putting a grounding rod in the backyard and connecting to an earthing mat.
Jeromy
Hi Ganesh,
Some areas have ground current flowing through the ground, underground aquifers, pipes, etc. This is because not all current flows back to the utility substation on the neutral (return current) wire. This happens primarily in Wye distribution areas:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/delta-wye-comparison/
The way you test this is to see what the magnetic field is in your backyard. If it is below 0.1 mG, then there is likely no ground current and it she be just fine to attach yourself to that ground.
The outside ground in almost all areas is going to be better than attaching grounding products to the electrical safety ground of your home wiring. This wire inevitably has some EMI on it.
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
ALEJADNRA FORERO
Hello Jeromy, great information! What do you think about Nikken products? (magnetic products that create constant magnetic fields). Do they really work?
Jeromy
Thank you Alejandra!
I speak about these types of products here for a couple minutes:
https://youtu.be/bH2CQba0M8U?t=1053
There is no shortcut to actually reducing and eliminating as much EMF as possible in your home.
Jeromy
Shirley
Hi Jeromy, I’m really undecided about grounding indoors now. I do appreciate that you take the time to reply to questions.
I started grounding barefoot in our backyard last summer and felt fabulous but we live in the Pacific Northwest where it gets cold and wet in the winter so we purchased grounding mats that friends recommended.
As the outlets in our old home are not grounded my husband placed a grounding rod in the front of our yard and I felt some benefit sleeping on the grounded mat but not as much as sitting in our yard. There is also a smart meter attached to the front of the house. Would you recommend covering the smart meter in a shielding material? If so, what kind and how?
Also, since grounding, it’s like I’m more sensitive to the negative effects of EMF’s. Or is it that I’m just realizing where some of my headaches come from? Which is it? In any case it led me to replace some of our LED light bulbs and now I have less headaches when sitting near a lamp. Another development is that my finger started tingling in pain when texting so now I use a stylus. No more finger pain but is that enough? Do I need to shield my phone as well?
Again, why did this happen after I started grounding? Sometimes I feel like I need to see an doctor who specializes in EMF sensitivity but how do I begin to search for one in my area?
Finally, when you commented, “In my opinion, the best thing is to take walks in parks or in nature to do your Earthing”, did you mean barefoot or in leather-soled shoes? Or just the act of being surrounded by nature is enough to ground oneself?
Thanks for any help and references you can offer!
Jeromy
Hi Shirley,
Thanks for writing and for your questions.
As you have so many important questions, it will be best to do a Zoom consult. 30 min should do. I work with electrically sensitive people like you every day in this way. It will ultimately save you a lot of time and money figuring out things the hard way.
Here are my email and Zoom consulting options:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/work-with-me/
Enjoy the holidays,
Jeromy
Jared
Thank you for this article. Let me preface this that I am a layman.
I’ve seen incredible health improvements since grounding with the outlet in a suburban densely populated area.
Because of this, I’ve tepidly told people I know about indoor grounding and the benefits it’s given me. A few people I know have tried it. Every single person has reported huge health benefits except one person who has had a paradoxical reaction, so they stopped using it, which is why I wanted to look more deeply into it.
My best guess at this time is that grounding with an outlet will improve bloodflow. For someone with bloodflow issues, they may see improved health despite any downsides from EMF/dirty electricity concerns. So the pros outweigh the cons.
But for someone who’s blood is flowing fine, perhaps the cons of the dirty electricity win out?
It seems clear to me that grounding yourself naturally, by placing your bare feet (or plain leather moccasins) into the grass would be good for health as we would have done this for all of time. So with that assumption, what drives the paradoxical problem?
Is it the shared ground connection with electrical appliances/live wiring? (So a grounding rod is the solution?)
Is it putting your body on a piece of metal that could act as an antenna? (So a separate grounding rod wouldn’t matter? The only solution is to move to the rural area, build a log cabin, and sleep on the dirt floor?)
Something else?
Jeromy
Hi Jared,
Thanks for your intelligent comment. Apologies for the late reply. I was on a retreat.
The short answer is that every person and every home/neighborhood electrical system is different.
Most home electrical wiring is going to have some EMI on it. And today, with much more solar and appliances with inverters, the amount is only increasing.
The question is whether the amount of EMI is going to outweigh the benefits of grounding, and whether the person reacts to it.
You will really only know by trying it out for yourself and properly measuring your home.
Grounding to the outside is almost always better from an EMI perspective.
I wrote this article 8 years ago and I stand by it today. I don’t know one long-time EMF professional that works with electrically sensitive people who ever recommends connecting their body to the home electrical safety ground. We’ve all just seen too many people who were negatively affected.
I tried this myself 11 years ago and quickly realized it was not for me. I do ground in nature as much as possible though.
It could be that only people who have the genetics to be more chemically/electrically/mold sensitive can feel the negative impact right away. However, that could be 20-30% of the population. I would also want to see long term studies of Earthing on a more typical population. What happens after 10-20 years of attaching yourself to a the electrical safety ground?
Having a blanket statement that Earthing is good for everyone is just not wise. As you saw for yourself, it’s much more nuanced than that.
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Jane
I found this article in a Google search after searching for answers as to why my feet turned bright red, and burn and are even a bit swollen after using my ‘new’ earthing pad today while on the computer. I am also “newly” emf sensitive from over-exposure to very dangerous chemicals.
I tried this earthing pad, however I am definitely returning it. My feet are on fire!!! The pad basically burned my feet! If that isn’t a supportive enough argument that you become one big antenna, I don’t know what else is. I also have trouble near huge power lines at the moment too, if that’s helpful to anyone. I just want to be well again. There is a lesson here! You can’t duplicate mother nature! As inconvenient as it may be when it snows, as soon as it melts, I will be walking in leather soled moccasins and spending time on top of big boulders. Lesson learned!
Ama
Hi Jeromy,
I can’t turn off breakers in my room because it doesn’t have room specific switches and I live with other people. My walls have tons of electricity measured with a meter it goes beyond 300 V/m but I am a bit confused by your recommendations.
In one of your comments you say “canopies will help reduce the electric fields emanating from the wiring in your walls”. Can you clarify whether you are referring to grounded or ungrounded fabric?
From reading into this topic, electric fields can only be reduced by grounded fabric, correct? If so, I am confused why Naturell fabric would be safe if it blocks RF but the high-emf is not yet solved. So, what can be done for people in this situation that can’t turn breakers off, and can’t change the wiring construction inside the walls.
Jeromy
Hi Ama,
The ideal situation is where you can reduce/eliminate the electric fields by turning off breakers, creating distance or using electric field shielding material. Then you use a Naturell canopy for the RF.
Using canopies that can be grounded may seem like a great solution, but there can be significant downsides.
You might be breathing in metalized ions that are on the outside of the fabric (which make it conductive). There is also a risk of electric shock if your ground wire ever comes in contact with something electrical or there is a lightning strike.
You also don’t want to ground the canopy into an electrical outlet as you will be attaching the canopy material to the EMI on your electrical system. And, finally, most long-time EMF consultants have found that their clients just don’t do well in groundable canopy materials.
So, it’s more nuanced that simply getting a canopy that allows you to ground the electric fields.
Question: What meter are you using to actually measure the electric fields? Cheap meters will give you wildly inaccurate readings (both high and low).
Also, what about moving your bed to the center of your bedroom, away from the electrical wiring?
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Ama
Hi Jeromy,
That clears a lot of things up so thank you. If Naturell fabric was used for a canopy and does not need to be grounded, would this block the beneficial earth frequencies like Schumann Resonance?
I choose a Trifield TF2 meter because it had 3 settings for low frequency electric, magnetic and RF fields – not necessarily cheap or the most expensive one out there.
My room has space enough for a single bed and I’ve managed to keep it at least 50cm away from the walls. At the moment it’s reading below 1V/m where my pillow since I’ve positioned myself as center as possible in my room which I hope has reduced my exposure to the wiring.
Eric
Can you please comment on Andrew McAfee’s “Nuisance Current Blocker” aka “NCB”? This is a $300 patented product but schematics are offered freely to the EMF community so I wouldn’t just call this a cash grab. Andrew is an EMF Consultant such as yourself and is concerned for all the same reasons as you.
Patent and very detailed descriptions of how it works: https://patents.justia.com/patent/20210194219
According to him, this device is what allows you to utilize grounding products *inside* your home but gets rid of the “EF antenna effect” that you speak about.
Q: In your opinion, does this device make it safe to ground in your own home if all you’re currently concerned about is grounding and not necessarily EF sensitivity more generally?
Jeromy
Hi Eric,
I have not tested this product myself, nor seen any 3rd party verification that it eliminates common mode EMI.
EMI is the reason I don’t like to connect my body or devices to the home wiring, if at all possible.
If you run across any tests like this, please let me know.
Jeromy
Eric
Can you review the testing shown in this video? It’s over my head, unfortunately, and the presenter isn’t confidence inspiring. But I don’t want to discount someone because they’re not a good presenter – many very smart people are terrible on Zoom.
Link: https://youtu.be/5P6ki8-zZbw?t=789
Jeromy
Hi Eric,
This product doesn’t do anything for the common mode EMI, which is the primary issue with grounding to your home electrical system. I show examples of this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9m2CQcBrEc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf7N3eOf0co
It’s best to ground items in this way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJznQ8BcAQ
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Dean
respectfully…..the Nation Library of Medicine of NIH.GOV concluded POSITIVE effects of grounding. EMF is ALL around us 24/7. I agree that direct body to earth is the best and most immediate route, however the majority of people sleep on METAL bed frames with electric wiring encapsulating their homes and apartments. which already act like giant antennas. Unless you line your walls, ceiling and floors with a minimum of 0.5-1.0 mm lead sheeting…..you are and will be….bombarded by EMF and radiation. Academically….you make sense theoretically…..but the proof is in the pudding. Many people, including myself experience less inflammation of joints. You neglect to acknowledge that the average bedframe is a giant antenna…especially the newer styles with metal fence type grids connecting the heavier frames. Any multiband watch I have that fails to receive the Atomic signal…..quickly gets the signal if I place the watch on my bed ….and this was BEFORE I used a grounding matt or bracelet. The NIH study was also supportive of grounding after using people in the study. Academic knowledge is nice, but useless when the majority of those grounding, prove otherwise.
Jeromy
Thanks for your comment Dean. I want to address a few of your points:
1.) The studies you mention have been done with a clean ground outside. Not the electrical safety ground in homes/buildings.
2.) My article is not just academic. It’s based on decades of real world experience from dozens of professional EMF consultants and electrical engineers. It’s based on what they and myself have observed working directly with tens of thousands of clients.
Many people do worse with grounding products, usually because their home electrical system is filled with EMI and stray current. You just don’t hear their testimonials from the companies selling the products.
3.) Some people do experience benefits from Earthing, such as less joint inflammation. However, just because you have a short term benefit doesn’t mean there are no long term dangers from attaching yourself to all the other frequencies.
We simply don’t know yet.
4.) I have had many clients that feel they are getting some benefit from grounding products, but they are still sick. When we measure all the other electromagnetic fields in their sleeping area, they are often very high. When these fields are reduced or eliminated, which is often relatively easy to do, they get better.
5.) Even in an apartment building, you can turn off the circuit breakers to your bedroom area and use an EMF bed canopy for all the surrounding Wi-Fi and cell towers. You don’t even need to change your bed frame and bed if the electric fields are lowered.
The basic remediation process is orders of magnitude more effective than using a grounding product when it comes to reducing your EMF exposures.
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
Scott
My wife and I both utilize “earthing” outside in the yard. It definitely helps relieve our symptoms after EMF exposure. We live in a rural area so the EMF pollution from the powerline “return” through the earth isn’t as bad. We have found that swimming (in a lake or ocean) is the ultimate form of earthing. It does wonders for us.
Jeromy
Excellent to hear Scott.
Indeed, when done properly, Earthing is a very healthy practice.
Spencer Crowe
Jeromy, what is the difference between EMI and RF signal I use grounded bedsheets with EF around .07 and RF is around 1-200 with fluctuation. What is your thought in RF and grounding
Jeromy
Hi Spencer,
Grounding/Earthing does nothing to protect you from RF. You would use a bed canopy for this.
https://www.emfanalysis.com/bed-canopies/
Earthing can also increase your exposure to the lower frequency AC fields, especially when you ground to the home electrical safety ground.
I personally never use grounding products inside the home and would only recommend them in a situation where all the EMF levels in your home are already incredibly low and you ground to a clean ground outside.
It’s not always the panacea that the marketing and positive testimonials make it out to be.
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
Dylan L
Sorry, just came across this article. See that it was written quite a while ago but the thread keeps going because I think a lot of people have this question like myself. Curious, if I am able to shut off the breaker to my bedroom, would it likely be okay to use a grounding mat or pillow by running the cord out of the window and into the ground in my yard?
Jeromy
Hi Dylan,
Thanks for your question. That would likely be the healthiest way to ground indoors. If your bedroom environment is low-EMF and your outside environment has little ground current (low magnetic fields), then this situation should be quite safe to ground.
Go by what you feel. If you feel great like this, stick with it. Some people are attaching themselves to a source of EMI or stray current, feeling worse and thinking it’s a “detox reaction.” It’s actually their body telling them something is wrong.
Hope this helps.
Jeromy
Jacob henry
Thank you for saving me my money! Can you ground by hand? What is the minimum time needed for any benefits of grounding?
Jeromy
You are welcome Jacob.
You can ground any part of your body to the actual Earth. Not sure on the most beneficial length of time as the studies are lacking. However, 15-30 minutes should suffice when you have the opportunity.
Jay
What a excellent database for this topic. I read every comment and this has helped tremendously with my earthing journey. Thank you, Jeromy.
Jeromy
Thanks Jay. Grateful to provide a place where people can access grounded EMF information.
Jeromy
David
What if your earthing /grounding things are grounded via the earth outside, not in the electrical outlet in the home while you sleep? Will you become an antenna still?
Or what if you are earthing grounding via the earth outside your window, and the room you are in, has the electric breaker turned off?
Thanks
Jeromy
David,
Earthing to the ground outside is better. However, you are still subject to having current flowing through your body if there is stray current in the bedroom or your neighborhood has ground current.
Turning off your breakers reduces the voltage, not stray current.
No long-time EMF consultants / engineers advise Earthing while inside of your home. We’ve just seen it be detrimental in too many situations.
The real issue is to reduce/eliminate the four primary types of EMFs in your home/bedroom. Focus on this rather than Earthing, which is really more of a gimmick that distracts people from doing the real EMF work.
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Rosemary
I live in the UK and have been using a grounding sheet for 6 weeks. Since starting I have always had a tingling feeling going through my body. The various Facebook groups all say this is normal and to be expected to start with and many people have it. They say it’s a detox symptom??
I tried the sheet with an outlet first and then an outside pole. Sadly the area outside was small and full of earth and gravel and the cord went past an external light. The earth was poor, so I am now using a radiator pipe (tested as being grounded).
I shut down my upstairs outlet breaker at night, but not the lighting as I need to see my way up and down stairs safely.
However, I still get the tingling and no improvement in sleep issues or inflammation.
I was beginning to feel more and more unsettled about grounding, and then stumbled across your page. I was convinced I was shielding myself from EMF by grounding because of what I have read. Your blog has made to think otherwise.
What has concerned me most was when I used my EMF detector on the sheet. It was displaying high levels of EMF, yet when I touched the sheet the level went to zero? Where had the EMF gone?? Same with body voltage. But more concerning when I touched the ungrounded sheet, the voltage increased. No one on any group could give an explanation for this. Were EMF being radiated from the sheet? Was this the tingling ??
The other issue is I sadly cannot turn off my WiFi at night as my security system uses it.
I was however looking at the various faraday covers for WiFi routers to cut down on EMF from them. Do they really work and still allow some signal to work my system??
My lounge sadly is also next to the router in the hallway, and I have nowhere else in my small home for this to go, so if the faraday cases work this could be an option?
My lounge is also next to my kitchen which has my fridge next to it. I don’t have a microwave .
I do have some smart devices, plus mobile phone etc .
To be honest before I started grounding I lived in blissful unawareness, but in the last 6-7 weeks I have become increasingly anxious about my living setup, plus grounding and how this is impacting on my health and my dogs. So much so I am permanently stressed about it all and worrying.
I don’t feel safe in my house and worry about any long term health issues I may end up with.
I moved here 18 months ago and I’m sure my previous house was equally a problem.
I lost my hubby to Cancer 7 years ago, and also 3 dogs to cancer, and I am now convinced they all died due to EMF exposure causing the cancers knowing what I now know.
One advantage of my new house is I am nowhere near any cell towers or over head power lines. I don’t have a smart meter either and never will.
But my house is not rural and I do have neighbors.
I welcome your input.
Jeromy
Hi Rosemary,
It’s very common to get that tingling feeling with grounding products. This is NOT a “detox reaction.” It’s because your body is now connected to stray current and EMI in your home/neighborhood.
Get rid of your Earthing products and you’ll do much better.
As for the effectiveness of router guards, watch my video on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iJS9obfGxI
If you absolutely need to have Wi-Fi in your home, you might instead use an eco router like this:
https://www.jrseco.com/p/jrs-eco-100-wifi-d2-on-asus?c=6680
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Jan
What about the Wellness Blanket.
https://thewellnessblanket.com/pages/faq
Does it protect against EMF’s as it claimed?
Jeromy
Hi Jan,
$1,700 for a blanket? I discuss products like this at the top of this page:
https://www.emfanalysis.com/products/
Hope this helps,
Jeromy
Sarah
Thank you for your informative articles, Jeromy! I’ve been following your site for a while and always find helpful EMF solutions.
I’m struggling with a tingly sensation and brain fog when working at my computer. To reduce EMF exposure, I’ve set up a silver thread canopy and grounding mat (computer placed outside, connected with external cords). While initial RF readings improved, dirty electricity seems high (AM radio test) and my EMF sensitivity has worsened. I struggle to work for more than an hour without feeling worse.
Unfortunately, I live in a Manhattan apartment on the 14th floor and cannot ground to earth. My unit still picks up RF from neighbors’ Wi-Fi despite using ethernet.
Do you have any suggestions to further improve my situation?
I plan to do outdoor earthing in a nearby park as often as possible. I’d appreciate your wisdom!
Jeromy
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for reaching out. Sorry to hear you are going through this.
I have some ideas for you and will respond via email.
Jeromy
Erik
Hi Jeromy. Does this also apply when I connect the notebook to the ground socket inside my house with the USB ground cable or via the notebook power supply if it has a ground connection?
Jeromy
Hi Erik,
Can you email me a video of what you are doing? This will make it easier for me to help.
Thanks,
Jeromy
Erik
I’ll try to explain it better.
When I connect this cable https://www.geotellurique.fr/protections-telephones-sans-fil-et-filaires-/178-cable-usb-de-mise-a-la-terre-pour-modem.html
to the Laptop to eliminate the electric fields my symptoms get worse but not only while I’m at the PC, also anywhere in the house. I live in an apartment building.
Jeromy
Hi Erik.
I wouldn’t do anything like that. If you contact me via email I’ll explain what you want to do to eliminate this issue.
Thanks,
Jeromy