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9 Ways to Reduce EMF in Your Bedroom for Improved Sleep and Health

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Sleep is an incredibly important part of our day. It’s when we rest, our bodies recuperate from the prior day, and regenerate for the next day. Getting good sleep is essential for our health. And EMF exposure harms and disrupts our sleep. Which is why cutting EMF exposure in the bedroom is so important.

EMF and Sleep

Exposure to EMF radiation is linked to numerous negative health effects, many of which I discuss in more detail on this site, including suppression of our immune system. EMF radiation causes a whole slew of problems. It has been linked with cancer and stress. It affects your autoimmune system, reproductive system, and even your melatonin production, among other health issues.

Among the negative health effects of electromagnetic fields is sleep disruption. Exposure to EM radiation interferes with our body’s melatonin production and circadian rhythm. The link between EMF exposure and sleep is a very well investigated area of research into EMF health effects going back decades. 

As just one of many examples, a 1999 study demonstrated that magnetic field exposure can disrupt sleep, “decreasing total sleep time, decreasing sleep efficiency, increasing time in the second stage of sleep, reducing rapid eye movement (REM), and lengthening the delay to rapid eye movement (R.E.M.) sleep.”

Unfortunately, EMF is an inescapable fact of modern life. Electromagnetic radiation comes from power lines, electrical wiring in our walls, appliances and any device that communicates wirelessly, including cell phones and WiFi. (The power lines and electrical wiring are not only a source of EMF, but also of dirty electricity, which brings additional health risks.)

Where do you carry your phone?

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If you want to know how much EMF is in your room, I suggest purchasing an EMF meter and learning how to use it to test the radiation levels in your environment.

But the point is, you can’t eliminate it entirely from your environment.

Types of EMF Present in Your Home

Among the many types of human-made EMF we face today, radiofrequency (or RF) sources pollute our homes the most. Wireless devices like cell phones, tablets, WiFi routers, and smart meters produce RF-EMF.

One of the reasons for this is that, unlike electrical appliances, RF-emitting gadgets become outdated quickly.

As a result, we’re constantly running out to buy the latest gadgets, adding to our already EMF-polluted environment.

RF may be the most popular type of EMF in our day, but this doesn’t mean that other types of EMF aren’t harmful. They contribute equally to your EMF exposure and EMF-induced health issues.

Some other EMF types are electric fields, magnetic fields, dirty electricity, static electricity, and blue light.

Electric Fields

Today, homes without electricity are close to none. Humans have become massively power dependent in the last 100 years, and because of this, we have numerous electrical wires running throughout our houses.

Electric currents form because of the electron flow inside the wires. And there would be no problem if the electrons stayed inside the cables and flowed linearly.

But this is not the case. The electrons move in a circular fashion occupying 6 to 8 feet of the space outside the wires.

To put it another way: being around 6-8 feet from electrical wires will expose you to the massive electric fields coming from the wires.

The average bedroom size in the United States is 11 x 12 feet, or 132 square feet. Therefore, escaping the electric fields coming from wires inside the bedroom walls becomes almost impossible.

Besides, people usually keep their devices like table lamps, alarm clocks, and cell phone chargers plugged in near the bed.

These electric fields in your bedroom bank up, and the more of them there are, the more likely they’ll reach a level that your body can’t handle. 

Now, if you have a hard time accepting that electric fields pose a risk to your health, that’s completely understandable. Electricity is such an ingrained part of our lifestyles that we assume it must be safe.

But electricity is more recent than you think. It’s only been a little more than 100 years since we adopted electricity. And 100 years is nothing compared to the time humans took to evolve and adapt to the Earth’s nature.

Evolution hasn’t prepared our bodies to handle an unnaturally high level of EMF. If we analyze the health statistics of the past 100 years, we can see a major decline in human health as we continue to live in electricity’s presence.

From inability to get good sleep to chronic health issues, humans face a number of problems today. And if you look closely, you’ll find one of the many reasons for these problems in the electrical wires inside our home.

(Now, I’m not about to suggest you go back to reading by candlelight – there are things you can do about all this. More on that below.)

Featured Webinar: Slash Bedroom EMF

Magnetic Fields

Magnets exert forces that attract or repel each other, and this process is called magnetism. You may have seen this process in action with refrigerator magnets.

When electric current flows, it creates a magnetic field, similar to the force that your fridge magnets exert. Magnetic fields always accompany the flow of electricity.

Although invisible to the naked eye, magnetic fields are present in your home and, like electric fields, are harmful to your health.

Common sources of elevated magnetic fields come from:

  • Overhead or buried power lines
  • Wiring errors, current on your water pipes, gas pipes, or cable lines
  • Appliances with variable speed motors, like refrigerators, blenders, hairdryers, electric toothbrushes, electric shavers, etc.

Radio Frequency EMF

Radiofrequency, or RF, is one of the most common and most dangerous EMF types present in today’s world. 

Radio Frequency EMF generally comes from:

  •  Cell phones
  • Cell towers
  • Cordless phones
  • WiFi
  • Smart meters
  • Wireless earbuds
  • Smart speakers
  • Anything with Bluetooth
  • Fitness trackers
  • Wireless mice and keyboards
  • Baby monitors
  • Appliances 

The list goes on.

There are many ways to reduce your RF radiation exposure. But you can begin with minimizing your use of, and maximizing your distance from, wireless gadgets.

Dirty Electricity

Dirty electricity, also known as electricity pollution, is not a scientific term. It is, however, commonly used by experts to indicate corrupted or transformed electricity.

Electricity flows in the standard frequency of 50 to 60 Hz, depending on where you live.

One Hertz or Hz means the completion of one cycle per second. And when we say cycle, it means one complete wave of alternating current or voltage.

Now, if we don’t disturb the electricity flow, its cycles will complete smoothly, and there will be no dirty electricity.

But, many of us find huge convenience in using energy-saving devices. And, when we use these devices, they change the sine wave and cause micro surges in the electricity flow.

As a result, the EMF comes out about 6-8 feet into your living space, creating a highly EMF polluted environment.Although dirty electricity does not get much attention, this field can cause a variety of symptoms, especially among the most electrically hypersensitive people.

Static Electricity

Static electricity is another one of the EMF types which you may find hard to believe has anything to do with EMF-induced health issues. Despite its innocuous appearance, it contributes to your EMF load more than you’d think.

Static electricity is different from electrical current. It forms when the positive and negative charges of an atom are out of balance.

For instance, you may have noticed some tiny sparks while taking off your woolen clothes along with an audible noise. This is caused by the woolen clothes rubbing with your body.

When you rub two objects with each other, one item supplies electrons to the other one. Meaning, one item loses some electrons, and the other one gains that lost electrons.

Objects like wool, glass, human skin, and hair are more likely to gather electric charges and have static electricity.

Blue Light

This one may also be surprising, but blue light does qualify as EMF. All EMFs are a form of light, and some are invisible to the naked eye. You will find blue light emissions from LED screens like modern cell phones, TVs, and laptops.

According to health experts, exposure to blue light for an extended period can cause eye strain, skin damage, and fatigue.

Blue light is also known as one of the most common causes of insomnia.

This is because the human body works on a circadian rhythm – a system designed to make you wake and sleep according to the rising and setting of the sun.

Blue light mimics natural sunlight. And when you expose your body to blue light for a long time, it temporarily loses the ability to tell if it’s night or day.  This causes suppression of the hormone melatonin. Production of melatonin induces REM sleep, without which you will wake up tired and fatigued the next day.

So ultimately, exposure to blue light disrupts sleep and results in sleep issues like insomnia.

Cutting EMF in the Bedroom

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your exposure while you sleep. Like I always say, the best EMF protection is free. So, let’s dive in and look at the things you can do to create a safer, healthier, and better night’s sleep.

1) Keep Electronics Out of the Bedroom

All electronics emit electromagnetic radiation that is harmful to your body. It’s one thing to expose yourself to EMF radiation from wireless devices when you’re getting some benefit from those gadgets (like when you’re talking on your cell phone or watching Netflix). But when you’re asleep, you’re not enjoying your wireless tech. 

So if you have these wireless devices in your bedroom at night, you are exposing your body to radiation that is not necessary, and brings you absolutely no benefit.

And, for these same reasons, I also strongly advise you to not sleep with your cell phone (or to turn it into airplane mode if you do).

Let your bedroom be a technology free zone. Which is why our SYB Healthy Living Tip #23 is ‘Keep Electronics Out of the Bedroom.’

Keep Electronics Out Of Your Bedroom

By keeping electronics out of the bedroom, you’ll make a significant reduction in your overall radiation exposure, which itself reduces your radiation health risks, improve your immune system health, and you’ll also be taking a big step to improving the quality of your sleep.

Instead of bringing your electronics into the bedroom try:

  • Reading a book before you sleep;
  • Take a moment for meditation, reflection, or prayer each night;
  • Create a night-time ritual without electronics;
  • Spend time talking to your partner or family about how their day was;
  • Do relaxing yoga or breathing exercises.

2) Turn Off Your WiFi at Night

Most people keep their routers on 24 hours a day, leading to a significant level of cumulative non-stop exposure. 

WiFi is an incredibly convenient way to access the internet. But that’s no reason to keep your WiFi routers on when they’re not in use – most notably, when you and your family are asleep. 

So just like you want to keep electronics out of the bedroom (because you’re not enjoying or getting any benefit from them when you’re asleep), you should also turn off your WiFi router at night to make a big reduction in your nighttime EMF exposure and improve your sleep.

3) Don’t Use Electric Blankets

An electric blanket to heat you at night sound like a nice, warm idea, right? Well, that is until you know they emit very high levels of radiation and your body is getting all that exposure, right against your body, while you sleep, all night long.

Which brings us to SYB Healthy Living Tip #73: Don’t Use an Electric Blanket.

If you use a heating blanket or electric blanket at night, you should stop. This type of electric blanket literally blankets you in high powered low frequency radiation, which penetrates your body. If you leave your heating blanket on at night, this is considered chronic exposure.

There have also been studies showing these types of heating blankets are linked to childhood diseases like leukemia and can lead to an increased risk of miscarriage in pregnant woman, and infertility in men.

So the best way to protect yourself is to just ditch the heating blanket.

Instead of using a heating blanket why not:

  • Use a heavier comforter or a duvet with feather down
  • Use flannel sheets or sweatshirt sheets 
  • Turn up your heat at night
  • Wear socks or a night hat to bed
  • Utilize a hot water bottle under your blanket or sheets

Keep your family and yourself safe by getting rid of electric blankets altogether.

Or, if you really love your electric blanket too much to say goodbye to it, try using it to heat up your bed before you get in, then switching if off. That way you can get into a warm bed but at least don’t get the constant exposure while you sleep.

4) Don’t Sleep on a Metal Coil Mattress

EMF exposure can come from many sources throughout your home such as your cellphone and tablet. But did you know that your box spring or mattress can expose you to additional radiation? It’s like laying on a radiation antenna.

Which brings us to SYB Healthy Living Tip #32: Don’t Sleep on a Metal Coil Mattress.

Healthy Living Tip #32: Don’t Sleep On A Metal Coil Mattress

Most metal coil mattresses and box springs have coils of metal inside of them. This metal can act like an antenna and amplify EMF radiation from your wifi and bluetooth devices in your home, especially from sources in your bedroom.

The electromagnetic waves actually get trapped in the metal coils and then can amplify and conduct them up towards your body. In fact, any metal that is similar in length and size can amplify these wavelengths of EMF radiation exposing you to greater amounts of unhealthy EMF.

Can you imagine sleeping on a bed night after night where you EMF radiation is just being transmitted throughout your body? This is exactly what happens when you lay on a bed made with metal coils in a world that is filled with EMF radiation.

Choose a mattress and box spring that does not have metal coils.

There are plenty of mattresses such as memory foam mattresses that do not incorporate metal coils. And if you choose to buy a platform style bed you won’t need a box spring at all!  Platform beds support the bed and only require a mattress.

5) Turn Off Your Bedroom Adjacent Breakers

If you have an EMF meter, test the electrical fields to see the EMF level in your bedroom. And if you don’t, you can get a consumer-grade EMF meter at a fairly reasonable price.

After you acquire an EMF meter, the first thing I recommend you test is the level of EMF right above your pillow. If the levels are outside the safe range – and they almost always are – then there are a few things you can do. 

First, you can move your bed away from the wall by at least a few feet.

Actually, you should do this regardless of if you have tested the electric fields or not. The further you get from those wires, the better, as EMF, in general, weakens with distance.

While testing, I suggest that you turn off the breaker to your bedroom.  It’s easy to do. You just go out to your main breaker panel, find the bedroom breaker, and switch it to the off position. 

Although, take a reading above your pillow right before switching off the breaker.

Next, recheck the measurement after you de-energize the room.  The numbers usually go down, and this is precisely what you want. If the numbers are still elevated (above .3v/m), then the second thing you can do to mitigate your electric fields is to turn off the adjacent breakers. 

Bear in mind though, that we don’t recommend switching on and off your breakers every day. You should only do this for testing purposes.

However, once you identify which breakers to turn off, you can then have an electrician install a kill switch or purchase a remote cut off controller. Either of these options will turn off the specific circuits without you needing to turn off the breakers.

Third, avoid any wires near you or underneath your bed. This also applies to the lamps and alarm clocks that you keep right next to your bed.

If you need a reading light, use a clip-on book light and if you must have an alarm clock, put it on the other side of the room or use a battery-powered version.

6) Keep Your Furniture Away from Appliances

Never place a bed, a chair, or a couch on the other side of the wall where a large appliance or the breaker panel is present.

Building biologist and EMF expert Cathy Cooke shared an incident from when she was doing a standard magnetic field assessment in a client’s house. There was an unusually high magnetic field reading around the daughter’s bed. She began searching for the source of this magnetic field, and she found a refrigerator directly on the other side of the wall.

Cathy then suggested a simple solution. She asked the client to move the bed to the other side of the room. Once they did as Cathy told, the magnetic field around the bed reduced dramatically.

You can do this assessment in your home even without an EMF meter. Check your house to see if there are electrical appliances present near the furniture. And try to move the furniture as far as possible from the electrical appliances.

7) Get Rid of Dimmer Switches

Dimmer switches disrupt the flow of electricity and cause micro surges. They are one of the significant contributors to dirty electricity in your home.

If you don’t have one but are thinking about getting dimmer switches — don’t. But if they are already installed in your home, you can simply call an electrician to switch them out. Doing this will significantly decrease your exposure to dirty electricity.

If you need ambiance, you can use candles. And you can also opt for the old incandescent light bulbs. They’re the safest by far. 

In any case, avoid LED and CFLs as they contribute to dirty electricity, which is already bad and also radiofrequency.

8) Avoid Using Synthetic Materials

Synthetic materials increase your risk of exposure to static electricity. So, avoid using products made from synthetic materials. Doing this will not only decrease your exposure to static electricity but as an added bonus, it will improve your air quality.

Focus on natural materials in all areas of your home, but especially your bedroom. Materials like cotton, bamboo, linen, silk, and wool are natural and will benefit you greatly.

You can also easily find natural bedding material. And for flooring, I strongly recommend avoiding wall to wall carpet, but you can find wool throw rugs or even natural grasses like sisal and jute. And if you must have it, you can find a wall to wall carpet made from wool, which is a much better option than the petroleum-based carpet you find in most places.

9) Consider the SYB Faraday Bed Canopy

I strongly recommend doing everything I suggested above. That will make a huge difference in your nighttime EMF exposure and sleep quality.

But even if you take all of those precautions, you will still be exposed to some EMF. Because the tech that emits this stuff is all around us, and you aren’t able to turn off your neighbor’s WiFi, or turn off your nearby cell tower, or disable nearby base stations at night when you go to bed.

If you really want to block all EMF while you’re asleep, a powerful option you can consider is the SYB Faraday Bed Canopy.

SYB EMF & 5G Bed Canopy
The SYB Faraday Bed Canopy is powerful, 5G-tested EMF protection– all night long.

This is the first product from SYB that protects your entire body from all sources of EMF. And it protects your entire body all night long.

It’s made from 100% silver thread, for incredibly powerful shielding. In fact, it is the only EMF protection faraday bed canopy available that has been tested against 5G frequencies up to 26 GHz. 

And it includes shielding floor mats, so you can create a fully enclosed protective space for your sleep. You’re protected in every single direction.

It has slits for easy entry and exit on both sides of the bed. And it’s even machine washable.

The SYB Faraday Bed Canopy is an incredible EMF protection solution. You’ll feel the improvement in your sleep on the first night.

Ready For Your Best Sleep Ever?

As we’ve discovered above, there are multiple types of EMF radiation in the home. And most, if not all, are bouncing around inside your bedroom. 

These fields disrupt your sleep and negatively impact your health. But there are things you can do to minimize the effects. 

Try putting some of the above measures in place. If it all seems overwhelming, start small – by simply switching off your WiFi at night, for example, or moving one or two electronic appliances away from the bed. 

From there, you’ll find it easier to gradually make more changes that will lead to better health and give you your best sleep ever.

If you have questions about what you can do to eliminate EMF in your bedroom, you can get answers from a certified EMF expert, on your schedule, from the comfort of your own home, with SYB EMF Consulting.

Where do you carry your phone?

Want to Slash Your EMF Health Risks?

Good! Learn the one small change you should make right now.

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About the Author

Cathy Cooke is a certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant and certified Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist through the Building Biology Institute, and a board certified Holistic Nutritionist with the National Association of Nutrition Professionals. She helps people achieve optimal health by addressing the body, mind, and home. Cathy has been featured on numerous podcasts and webinars including: The Kelly O Show, The Project Kuwait, Learn True Health, The Divine Insight Show, The Lifestyle Locker with Dr. Josh Handt, A Whole New You, Natural Wellness Tips, The Skin You’re In, Digester’s Dilemma, Shield Your Body and others. Previously, Cathy worked in the non-profit sector for nearly twenty years, including seven years as the Health and Safety Director for the American Red Cross of Alaska, managing the health and safety training department and responding to local and national disasters. She holds a degree in Historic Preservation and spends several months each summer as a project supervisor for the non-profit HistoriCorps which aims to save historic buildings on public lands. Cathy is very active her in own community and is a sought after speaker on health related topics, specifically regarding the growing EMF issues. She is also the founder and director of the non-profit Idahoans for Safe Technology. She received her Bachelor’s Degrees in Anthropology and Spanish from Creighton University. She is originally from Kansas City, MO and currently lives in Boise, ID. You may book time with Cathy through SYB Remote Consulting.

Have a Question?

I take pride in designing great, effective products, based on real, measurable science – AND taking the time to ensure that each and every one of you has the information you need to understand EMF and make informed decisions.

So if you have a question, just email me and ask.

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