Our homes are our abodes – a place where we can relax and have fun with our loved ones, where we lay our heads to sleep at night. We all spend a lot of time at home, and we certainly want our homes to be safe for our families. But safety does not just come from having secure door locks and a good perimeter fence – it comes from being aware of EMFs (electromagnetic fields) and their potential harm to you and your loved ones, especially if you have young children.

EMFs are everywhere around us, and we suffer constant exposure to EMFs from the time we awake to the time we sleep. When we go out, we are exposed to EMFs as well, and there’s virtually nothing we can do about outside exposure. But if you’re inside your home, you can limit your exposure to EMFs, so you and your family are safer and better protected. If you are worried about excessive exposure to electromagnetic fields in your home, here’s your essential guide to making your home safe from EMFs.

• If you have any young kids or infants, it would be a good idea to have a survey done on your home to determine the degree or level of radiation, especially around your kids’ bedrooms and the areas where they usually play.
• You should arrange the furniture in your bedroom in such a way that no one sleeps with their headboard against a wall where there is an electric meter or an electrical socket or panel, or where there is a plugged-in television, computer, or refrigerator.
• If you have young children, don’t let them use a cordless or wireless phone or a cell phone. Young kids are more vulnerable to the effects of electromagnetic field radiation as their bodies are more delicate than ours.
• Don’t use an electric hair dryer on your child. Let their hair dry the natural way or use an electric fan.
• Avoid sleeping with gadgets such as electric heating pads or blankets on your bed.
• Make sure that the space between you and gadgets such as a toaster, an electric kettle, an electric stove or oven, or a microwave oven is at least 1 metre. In other words, don’t place these gadgets too near a seat or resting area.
• If you have to use cordless or wireless phones, don’t recharge them during the day – charge them in the evening and make sure to place the charging units away from where you sleep.
• If you have a clock radio that uses electricity, replace it with an alarm clock which is battery-powered.
• Make use of products which are designed to combat the harmful effects of EMF radiation, such as an EMF pendant, EMF shields, and phone chips.
• It may also be an excellent time to replace your old CRT computer monitor with an LCD, flat-screen model, which emits lower levels of EMF radiation compared to CRT monitors.
• Try not to use too many electrical devices in your home, even if they are small ones. If you can replace an electrical device with a manual one, you should do so. Some examples include tin openers, pencil sharpeners, food processors, coffee or spice grinders, and mixers.