From: cburian@ux4.cso.uiuc.edu (Christopher J Burian)
Subject: Re: resisting electromagnetic radiation
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: misc.health.alternative
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 09:14:24 GMT

denise@isl.stanford.edu (Denise M. Cuevas) writes:


>Call me an ignorant, radical fool, but the fact remains that I want to
>decrease my exposure to electromagnetic radiation. I've heard the
>pro and con arguments on whether this is a true hazard, and I've
>decided to be on the safe side. Unfortunately, I'm surrounded by it,
>most noticeably from powerlines near my house and computer terminals
>and copiers in my office.

The power lines outside your home are irrelavent.  You get a much greater
exposure from the wiring inside your home. The danger (if there is any
danger) is from things with motors like air conditioners, refrigerators
and hair dryers. Computer monitors may be risky because one usually sits
so close to them.  Photocopiers generate ions and ozone which are known
to cause health problems, particularly for people with allergies. 

Perhaps your employer has low radiation computer monitors available or
is willing to procure one for you.  I believe they are required by law
in some European countries. 

>I've heard of people using some device which sprays negative ions in
>the air, I believe, in order to reduce the hazard. This doesn't make a
>lot of sense to me and leads to the question - is a spray of negative
>ions dangerous? 

Negative ion generators attract dust in the air, helping people with
allergies and as a beneficial side-effect freshen the air.  They will 
absolutely not diminish magnetic fields or electromagnetic radiation.

>Has any research been done on blocking electromagnetic radiation? I
>assume that planting trees between my house and the power lines
>would be ineffective. How about buttressing the walls of my house with
>some sort of repulsing material?

Plates of steel will work, but as I said above, exposure to EMR and
magnetic fields from house wiring and home appliances is MUCH greater.

>I would like to get pregnant soon, so I'm wrestling with whether I
>should quit my job (to reduce my exposure to the copiers and
>computers) and lose my medical coverage.

>Any thoughts?

If you will get *ANY* less prenatal care because you can't afford it
or whatever---you're taking a much greater risk than that posed by
office equipment.  

My suggestion is use common sense first before making extreme changes.
Don't sit up close to your computer, don't sit with a colleague's 
computer 5 inches behind your back.  Don't hang around next to copiers
and laser printers.

Personally, I don't think there is any danger at all; but you're not
an ignorant fool as long as you keep in mind that there are many much
greater dangers to a developing pre-born than environmental radiation.
It hasn't yet been shown whether there is a link to EM fields and ill
health because if the link exists at all it is very small.  Analogous
to using a seismograph to detect a large truck driving by while an
earthquake is going on.  Point is---don't be distracted from other
risks by concentrating too closely on a small or negligible one.

>Thanks,
>Denise Cuevas

	Chris Burian---