EMF Meters
I.
Introduction to EMF
A.
EMF meters are
not ghost detectors!
B.
Causes of EMF
1.
Electrical
appliances (i.e. TV’s, toasters, microwaves, computers)
2.
Power lines
3.
The earth itself
4.
Carrying the
meter while walking, especially on a rug, wearing a watch, or having a cell
phone in your pocket. Even one type of meter (The TriField
Natural EM Meter manufactured by Alphalab, Inc.)
states this: “One thing is certain- this meter is so sensitive to EMF
changes that it will detect the motion of your hand as you wave it back and
forth in front of the device.” Talk about a false positive!
C.
Why is EMF
thought to be indicative of paranormal activity?
1.
Bernard Newman in
his book The Flying Saucer suggested
that electromagnetic energy could be used to propel UFO's.
2.
Professor John
Joe McFadden hypothesized that the brain’s electromagnetic field does something
called “binding”, which is considered to be a characteristic of consciousness.
Conscious processing of information is associated with EM of ULF brainwaves. (http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0516026.htm)
3.
Dr. Robert Becker
further hypothesized that the brain’s EM field could survive death due to the
fact that we are all made up of protons and electrons. Therefore, we could find
those “minds” by looking for energy with EMF meters. This energy This energy could also change frequency or polarity which is
why EMF can be either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC). (http://www.unisci.com/stories/20022/0516026.htm)
II.
The science of EMF (in a nutshell)
A.
An electric field
is produced by stationary charges, and a magnetic field is produced by moving
charges, aka current (look up Lorentz
Force for the physics of it all). Basically, when charged particles are
accelerated, the result is an EM field.
B.
EM radiation has
many applications, probably the most familiar of these being X-rays, lasers,
and bar code readers.
C.
Types of EMF’s are: ULF is ultra-low frequency, ELF is extremely low
frequency, RF is radio frequency, UV is ultraviolet, and gamma rays.
D.
Brain activity is
seen typically into ranges referred to by Greek letters: Delta (0.5-4Hz), Theta
(5-7Hz), Alpha (8-12Hz), Beta (18-30Hz) and Gamma (30-50Hz). It is the lower
ranges Delta – Beta that typically cause the subject to experience events that
they may describe as being paranormal.
III.
Types of EMF meters
A.
Single axis –
your meter must be aligned with the orientation of the EM field to get an
accurate reading, which means you will have to turn and tilt the meter
repeatedly until you find the largest reading. Otherwise, you could be standing
right on top of a strong AC magnetic field but still get a 0 reading.
B.
Tri-axis – no
matter what the orientation of the EM field is, you will get an accurate
reading.
C.
AC – measures EMF
fields caused by alternating current
D.
DC – measures EMF
fields caused by direct current
E.
Weighted –
because the human body “absorbs” higher frequencies of EM fields around it,
some meters are designed to compensate by mimicking this amount of energy. So
instead of giving a true field reading at all frequencies, higher frequencies
are "weighted" more as the frequency goes up (i.e. a field with a
strength of 0.1 mG @ 2 kHz might actually read 15 mG.) These meters are calibrated to give an accurate EMF
reading at 50/60 hertz (the most common found in the home). In practical terms,
this meter shows you the field strength as how a human would experience it,
which is useful in attempting to determine if EMF might be causing “the haunt”
rather than the other way around.
F.
Non-weighted -
gives a fairly flat frequency response, regardless of the frequency. This type
of reading is the most accurate for laboratory work, because it will show you
the real field strength, instead of a frequency-dependent strength.
IV.
The pitfalls of EMF meter ignorance
A.
Most of the
meters on the market are calibrated to measure the amount of EMF given off by
household appliances at 60 Hertz, which is much too high a frequency for attempting
to detect paranormal activity.
B.
Laboratory experiments
have indicated that the critical frequencies that affect the mind are much
lower, in the 0.5Hz – 30Hz range.
C.
Folks carrying
single-axis meters but assume they work as tri-field
meters (or don’t know the difference).
D.
Assuming that
solid objects such as floors and walls will stop a magnetic field; this is not
the case.
E.
Assuming that
“lights out” is good enough… other appliances such as dehumidifiers, radon
mitigation system fans, and other “silent” appliances kicking on without your
knowledge will produce EMF spikes, event as far as 30 feet away!
V.
Effects of EMF on humans and animals
A.
Effects on humans
1.
WARNING: Don’t
believe everything you read! If you look up “EMF effects on humans” online,
you’ll get results ranging from “it has no effect” to “it can kill you”.
a)
Look for
scientific studies where the names of the researchers are listed.
b)
Make sure the
researchers are PhD’s and look for the words “statistically significant”.
c)
Avoid sites that
warn you of the dangers of EMF on one page and then attempt to sell you a QRay bracelet or QLink pendant on
another. They also use the word “may” a lot.
d)
Avoid sweeping
generalizations such as “There is epidemiological as well as laboratory
evidence that EMFs change the function of the heart…”
If you look hard enough, you can find that evidence (abstracts of the studies)
yourself.
2.
Various studies
have indicated that human exposure to EMF can produce depression, insomnia,
miscarriages, leukemia, brain tumors, birth defects, immune system disorders.
The results, however, are often inconclusive and misinterpreted, especially due
to the fact that there can be numerous factors causing the aforementioned.
3.
Exposure to
square wave frequencies from 0.1 Hz to 5 MHz (EMF was 70nT at hand level) in
human test subjects show a myriad of symptoms such as tingling, sleepiness,
headache, dizziness, unconsciousness, musculoskeletal pain, heart palpitation,
tachycardia, pressure in the ears, tooth pain, nausea, burning eyes, and even itching.
(http://www.aehf.com/articles/em_sensitive.html)
4.
Human
sensitivities to EMF vary by the individual (the body works, after all, on
electrical signals sent by the brain!)
B.
Effects on animals
1.
EMF-exposed
animals lack the reserve capacity to adapt to the infection as efficiently as
those who are not exposed. (See
http://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:17492762)
2.
EMF-exposed
animals that are pregnant show a decrease in progesterone and insulin-like
factor levels (http://www.ortho.lsuhsc.edu/Faculty/Marino/EL/EL7/Immune.html)
3.
There are a lot
of rumors and speculation that EMF is responsible for animal cancer,
disfigurement, and even death. However, I have not been able to find any
substantiating studies to that effect.
VI.
The use of EMF meters during a paranormal
investigation
A.
Many people have
no idea about EMF and use these meters as “ghost detectors”, which is wholly
inaccurate.
B.
The majority of
paranormal investigators believe that an entity emits an electromagnetic field,
and so the use of an EMF meter is widely accepted. However, it is wrong to
assume that any EMF that is detected is of a paranormal origin.
C.
A spike on an EMF
meter does not necessarily indicate the presence of a spirit, but too many
people believe in that as evidence and discount natural phenomena as causes.
Furthermore, many investigators do not even bother to establish baselines.
D.
It can be used
for locating sources of high EMF and possibly debunking a “haunting”.
VII.
Humans affecting EMF
A.
William Tiller,
PhD conducted an experiment at
B.
Dr. Gary
Schwartz, author of The Intention
Experiment, showed that Reiki masters and other healers could produce
significant fluctuations in magnetic pulses when instructed to focus their
energy. (http://lach.web.arizona.edu/conferences.htm)
C.
Preliminary
scientific testing by Michael G. of a California-based group has indicated that
people can influence EMF by thought alone.
VIII.
Tips for better EMF meter usage
A.
Do not hold EMF
meters in hand.
B.
Establish
baselines and know the environment. Just because all the lights are off doesn’t
mean all the appliances are off. If there is electricity running through the
wires in the walls, there is EMF.
C.
Place the meter
in an area of constant EMF activity, preferably when the reading is 0.
D.
Make sure there
are no electronic devices in the vicinity that could turn on (such as a
dehumidifier) at random during the investigation.
E.
If the meter has
an output, place it in an area of interest and connect it to PC to record
fluctuations.
F.
Place the meter
in an area of interest and focus a camera on it.
G.
If no camera or computer
can be used, perform a visual check (from a distance) at regular intervals.
H.
Tape off at least
a 5-foot radius area around the meter to minimize the chance of human
interference.
I.
In a report,
don't just call it an “EMF meter”. You should
add the type and range so that people will know exactly what you were
measuring. For instance, "AC EMF Meter (13Hz - 75kHz)" is much more
meaningful than "EMF meter".
J.
Always enter the
units you're measuring in so that your data can be usable by other scientists
and researchers, as well as lending credibility to yourself. mG is milligauss, nT is nanoTesla, etc. (1nT = .01 mG)
K.
Cut the power at
the breaker, if possible, for the duration of your investigation.