Electrosensitivity - Can Earth-Sheltered and/or Earthen-Walled Structures Help Us?

This thread is one I've wanted to post for some time.

Maybe it goes without saying that until they have a family member or close friend who is electrosensitive (or discover that they themselves are electrosensitive), many people will not take this subject seriously.

All right. 👍

This thread is for those who are already seeking a solution.


Part 1: Peer-Reviewed Evidence Of Adverse Bio-Effects

https://bioinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/BioInitiativeReport-RF-Color-Charts.pdf

I am not familiar with electrosensitivity so I don't have a strong opinion on it, but speaking purely from the electrical-systems side of things I would guess that if electrosensitivity is an issue then walls and floors made from earth at minimum don't hurt.

Conventional construction methods account for both grounding (securing a path for electricity to flow into the ground--that's your ground rod(s), connected to your main panel via heavy gauge copper wire) and bonding (securing a path for electricity to flow back to the main service and toward its source--that's the various jumpers between your metal pipes and the ground wires or in older cases, also neutral wires in your electrical system), so that only if something fails or is built wrong should there be any buildup of load potential.

Wood, compacted earth, drywall, and plastic are all conductive to some degree (if I had to guess, probably most to least in that order), it's just that if there is also a copper wire passing by them then the electricity would "much rather" take the path along that wire because it is conductive to such a greater degree.

If the idea behind electrosensitivity is that you're getting harmful effects from proximity to things like your phone or wireless laptop, I don't see any reason why those effects would vary depending on whether you are in a room framed with drywall-on-studs or a room whose walls are formed from cob. (Unless the idea is that the proximity can be quite large--like, it being in the next room--in which case you probably need a lead apron to use them safely! But I don't think that is what's being claimed.)

If I wanted to build a structure to minimize the possibility of stray electrical signals flying around, I'd build it like a Faraday cage. That is sort of accomplished anyway when we build to modern electrical standards, with overhead lighting and outlets on each wall and so forth, because these necessitate multiple grounded circuits being run around and above the room.

So, from my standpoint of partial ignorance (and please clue me in if I'm missing something), I'd say earthen-walled structures are neither necessary nor sufficient to help with electrosensitivity, but can't hurt and should be considered for many other good reasons anyway, primarily having to do with air quality and sustainability.

For what it's worth, I get much better cell reception in the basement of my new wood siding/asphalt single house than anywhere in my old metal roof aluminum siding house even though the old house was closer to the cell tower. Earth-sheltering a house probably won't hurt, but making your house into a big Faraday cage will likely be more effective.

Have you read this book? The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life by Arthur Firstenburg

(just for more information: https://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Rainbow-History-Electricity-Life/dp/1645020096 )

I have not read the whole book as it takes time to absorb the information and my library has only 1 copy and other people were waiting, so I'm not sure it will answer your specific question, but at least it will help you recognize all the ways we are being exposed in the modern world, not to mention how solar weather may also be an impact.

There are absolutely people here on permies with similar issues who will hopefully add their input.

While I don't have the answer or even know anyone with this.

My suggestion is to take a tour of one of the many caves in your area.

Pick a day when other folks are not there or ask for a private tour.

Make sure the cave dose not have electronic equipment inside.

Maybe find an old missile silo to tour.

You might even be able to find a earth sheltered home to tour though these might have loads of electronics.

Certain areas in West Virginia and parts of Virginia are part of a National Radio Quiet Zone, where cell phone use is restricted, find a cave in this area or an earth sheltered home.

Based on this article - https://eyenetworks.no/en/wifi-signal-loss-by-material/

Concrete and brick/concrete walls disrupt wifi signals quite a bit (presumably cell signals as well). I don't have any tests, but if bricks and concrete can block a lot of the signal, then I would assume thick earthen walls (particularly with lots of clay) would probably also block signals significantly. I like Anne's suggestion of trying to tour some places built that way. To see if it helps.

A farady cage would allow you block signals with a much thinner wall, but as has already been mentioned, a natural wall will include other benefits too.

I am very electrosensitive.

From all the things I have read and learned and felt with it, yes, earth sheltering helps. Anne suggested going into a cave, I deliberately did so on a high solar activity day, and the difference in the cave was amazing, I went from high head noise and pain to zero as soon as I was underground. Coming back up assured me it wasn't a fluke as the noise and pain hit me like a wall when I came out.

My suggestion is to try different levels of dirt overhead and figure out exactly how much you need to feel your best. I have seen some people call a house "Earth sheltered" when it has 6 inches of soil on the roof. Is that enough for you? It may or may not be enough to mitigate YOUR personal issues with it. I know a cave is enough for me, but that was at least 20 feet of rock overhead, I'm not going to be able to find that easily. I'm still trying to figure out how much actually is enough for me.

I would say a rough estimate for most people would be "Do you have cell service in this structure?" If so, you probably need more shielding.

Jay linked the book The Invisible Rainbow above, I highly recommend reading it IF what you need to know is "What is going on with so many people getting sick from this?" But if you are at the stage of "I KNOW I react, and how it affects me and I'm trying to mitigate it" that book will not be any help.

A thought on Faraday cages, mentioned above: A Faraday cage is a tight enough metal mesh on all 6 sides to keep electrical noise out. Solid metal does that also. BUT the human body (and all animal bodies) get VERY sick when not in contact with the energy of the earth. My personal solution is to use metal, earth or other shielding on the top 5 sides, and make SURE the earth energy is not impeded though the bottom and any other areas I can let it in.

So putting all of this into my answer to the question "Can Earth-Sheltered and/or Earthen-Walled Structures Help Us? " I vote yes, as if it's thick enough it blocks a lot of the extraneous energy that hurts us, while facilitating the connection to the earth's energy flow.

Pearl, on a related note, would it help if the metal sides/top were grounded to a proper grounding rod?  

Better yet, would be to run grounding rods all the way around the house and have all of them connected connected together with a very heavy gauge wire.  That wire does not have to be insulated--all of this is supposed to be in contact with the ground so the whole grounding rod/connecting wire assembly should be buried but still connected to the siding at multiple places around the house.  You can also ground all of your electronics this way too.


I understand that you want to maintain contact with the earth, but I am wondering if there are any techniques that would make that easier/better.  For instance, would electrical conductivity to the ground help?  Hurt?  Not matter?



Just my curiosity running a bit wild!



Eric

Eric: from what I have learned, and I have been studying this for a long time, yes. Any metal you want to help with electromagnetic shielding HAS to be grounded to dissipate the excess. If all you are trying to do is block it totally (like the metal box I keep my computer in when I'm not using it) that is easy, just 6 tight sides. But the human body doesn't like that. So if it's an open system, with some sides and the rest earth open, yes the metal sides NEED to be grounded to dissipate the energy.

I talked to a place that does electrical grounding systems for power plants etc, and learned a LOT from them. Basically the more you can make the metal connect with the earth, the better it will work. You mentioned grounding rod, they were suggesting several of them, connect it many times to good solid ground points. Dry soil doesn't work as well as wet, so make sure the rods are where they will be in good contact. If it were possible to have the metal itself contact the earth that would be even better, but that leads to rust damage etc. and the rods are made to be corrosion resistant.

In the house here I have some places where the EMF comes in loudly through the walls due to smart meters and the neighbor's TV systems. (I got an RF meter to figure out where it's worst) and I put metal on the inside of the wall to block it from hitting me in the places I send most time. Those all had to be grounded well before they functioned correctly. They needed a way to dissipate the energy, not just bounce it around. Metal tends to bounce energy off of it, and that's not the plan here.

Yes, ground all metal as well as you can, and then some more :D

Ned Harr said:

"...only if something fails or is built wrong should there be any buildup of load potential."

Hm....this would probably pertain to the 'dirty electricity' side of the topic.

So, upfront: I don't have any special electrical training or expertise. What I've read as a novice leaves me with the belief that this may not fully capture the complexity of modern electrical systems.

Modern electronics often use switching power supplies or inverters, which manipulate electricity in ways that introduce high-frequency distortions into electrical systems - even when they're working as intended.

(The biggest culprits in this regard tend to be devices that modify electrical flow - phone chargers, dimmer switches, solar panel inverters, CFL and LED lightbulbs, smart meters and 'smart home'-devices, energy-efficient appliances with switch-mode power supplies (SMPS), etc.)

This, in turn, can cause a buildup of 'load potential' on certain branch circuits which is then dissipated into adjacent rooms.

"If the idea behind electrosensitivity is that you're getting harmful effects from proximity to things like your phone or wireless laptop, I don't see any reason why those effects would vary depending on whether you are in a room framed with drywall-on-studs or a room whose walls are formed from cob."

Well - that's a different slice of the pie, yes. =] (There's a lot of slices to this particular pie...)

With the difference that it's not just the stuff in the room that gets you. The proximity of emission sources can actually be quite large.


Jay Angler said:

"Have you read this book? The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life by Arthur Firstenburg"

I have this in PDF format, Jay - thank you for the recommendation. Seems that others have already read it, and commented....that means I don't have to.


Anne Miller said:

"My suggestion is to take a tour of one of the many caves in your area."

This was my thought, too, Anne - exactly.

One difficulty: I myself am only mildly electrosensitive. If it were not for the fact that I have multiple family members with electrosensitivity, I would never have made the connection between my own occasional EMR-tied symptoms and their likely cause. We'd need a more sensitive 'antenna' for the cave and earth-sheltered home tour.

Some one who is highly electrosensitive (I'm thinking about the folks who can feel certain types of EMFs the minute they enter a new environment - similar to what Pearl Sutton describes) could simply visit a number of earth-sheltered/earthen-walled structures in their vicinity and see if they feel any differences while inside.

One sidenote: using an EMF meter might enable a useful univariate analysis - insomuch as human electrosensitivity seems to involve several covariates such as whether it is daytime or nighttime, whether one is lying down or standing up, etc.


Pearl Sutton said:

"Coming back up assured me it wasn't a fluke as the noise and pain hit me like a wall when I came out."

That observation is indeed telling. If I can ask - do you have any feelings about what types of emission sources are creating the bad energies for you?

The traditional homes in the villages of morocco have 80cm (31") walls of earth bricks and at least some earth on the roof as well to shield against the heat.
There is no cellphone signal inside whatsoever. The only way to get any reception is to put the phone in the window or outside.

To have lighting without EMF, DC LEDs current limited by a resistor or linear current regulator powered by a battery and probably a good amount of filtering between anything that feeds into the battery.
Even many flashlights now use DC/DC converters which create emissions.

I would avoid metal in the construction of the house as it reflects radiation rather than absorbing it like earth does, except for metal cabinets to contain electronic devices that can't be avoided.

Pearl,

Everything you said about protecting your house from EMF sounds exactly how I would want to ground my house from lightning, power surges, etc.  When we were building, we had the opportunity to do a "whole house ground."  We declined on account of yet another unanticipated cost and our budget was already busted as it was.  In retrospect, I wish that I had done exactly that.  I do wonder just how difficult/expensive it would be to do whole house grounding now, after the main construction has long finished.  Is is just a matter of pounding in a bunch of grounding rods and connecting them?

At any rate, thanks for you explanation.


Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Pearl,

Everything you said about protecting your house from EMF sounds exactly how I would want to ground my house from lightning, power surges, etc.  When we were building, we had the opportunity to do a "whole house ground."  We declined on account of yet another unanticipated cost and our budget was already busted as it was.  In retrospect, I wish that I had done exactly that.  I do wonder just how difficult/expensive it would be to do whole house grounding now, after the main construction has long finished.  Is is just a matter of pounding in a bunch of grounding rods and connecting them?

At any rate, thanks for you explanation.


Eric

Typically, houses of conventional size (which I'm think of as between 1000 and 3000 feet) are grounded by pounding into the earth 2 six-foot grounding rods, 6 feet apart, near the main electrical service entry. Clamped onto those rods is a single continuous piece of thick copper wire that is terminated at the first point of disconnect, which is often in the main panel (but is sometimes in a box on the side of the house). This has the effect of grounding the "whole" house.

A house built without those grounding rods and wire would probably not be code compliant.

The good news is it's fairly easy to add this after the fact, especially if you already have a wall penetration near your main panel through which you can feed the grounding wire. In fact, all the bits and pieces you need are commonly sold at hardware stores. By my estimation you could add this to your home for well under $100:

25 feet bare #6 wire, $30: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Cerrowire-25-ft-6-Gauge-Solid-SD-Bare-Copper-Grounding-Wire-050-2200A/202564820

ground rod, $18: https://www.homedepot.com/p/ERICO-5-8-in-x-8-ft-Galvanized-Ground-Rod-815880UPC/202195736

ground rod clamp, $4: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-5-8-in-Grounding-Rod-or-1-2-in-Rebar-Ground-Rod-Clamp-for-10-SOL-STR-2-STR-Wire-65176440/312648487

(Unless your house is very small, you should probably get two ground rods and clamps, and you might need a longer cut of wire if your house is huge or if the place where you are terminating the ground wire--your first point of disconnect--is far from where you are able to drive the ground rods.)

You would also need some caulk or putty if you are going through a wall, and a fencepost driver for the ground rods, and if you can't feed the wire through an existing hole you might need a drill andlong  drill bit to make a new one--so add these to the cost if you don't have them already. (Renting specialized tools you'll only use once is often smarter than buying them.) But the point is it's an easy fix.

Donner MacRae wrote:
Pearl Sutton said:
"Coming back up assured me it wasn't a fluke as the noise and pain hit me like a wall when I came out."

That observation is indeed telling. If I can ask - do you have any feelings about what types of emission sources are creating the bad energies for you?

Do you mean can I tell apart things like solar flares vs high tension power lines? Yes. I don't have a word for the difference, as it's a sense most people aren't aware they have so there are no words in English, but they are different "flavors."

If you mean do I know all the things I react to, hard to say, some places there is so much noise it can't be picked apart as to sources.

When I came up out of the cave that day we had a solar storm running and there is a cell tower very close to it, the contrast between that and the cave was really unpleasant.

Were any of those the answer you wanted?  :D

Eric Hanson wrote:Pearl,
Everything you said about protecting your house from EMF sounds exactly how I would want to ground my house from lightning, power surges, etc.  

Yeah, it's all very much the same thing. Excess electrical potential is treated the same regardless of source. Lightning is a very abrupt very high power source of excess, solar storms are a few days duration medium intensity source, cell towers are a constant medium high source, the neighbor's wifi is a constant low source.  All are mitigated the same way.

Pearl Sutton wrote:Do you mean can I tell apart things like solar flares vs high tension power lines? Yes. I don't have a word for the difference, as it's a sense most people aren't aware they have so there are no words in English, but they are different "flavors." ...  :D

I will stick my neck out a little here and suggest that just because most of us aren't "sensitive" to electricity in all it's forms, and certainly can't sense the different flavors, that doesn't mean that it is not decreasing our quality of life or harming us without us being aware.

This is not the sort of topic that can be easily researched the way traditional formal research is done. There are simply too many variables. So is it strictly "chance" that yesterday evening after I shut my sister's metal roll down window covers that when I thought I'd call a friend on my cell that it only had 2 bars and this morning after I opened them the phone has 4?  Seems to me that in my sister's concrete block with clay brick cover and metal roll-down shutters on almost every window, she might just be shutting a bunch of stuff out... except for the stuff she's inadvertently shutting in?

This is why I find threads like this so valuable. I may not *have* to go to the extremes that at least 1 permie does due to a family member's extreme sensitivity, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't be aware of the risks of certain equipment I have in my house and find ways to limit the issue. One example is that I'm now making an effort to use our wireless phones on speaker on my desk, so it's not right against my body. I consider this due diligence, not paranoia. We are experimenting on humans on a world wide basis which barring some rumors of ancient advanced civilizations, we have not done for an entire generation yet, let alone multiple generations, in an effort to observe the results.

So that issue of the difference between "absorption" vs "reflection" is important to me. How do we make our homes better able to absorb what's inside, and possible reflect what's outside, without breaking the bank or living in a cave? (Caves up here average only 52F which is too cold for my bones!)

Jay Angler wrote:So that issue of the difference between "absorption" vs "reflection" is important to me. How do we make our homes better able to absorb what's inside, and possible reflect what's outside, without breaking the bank or living in a cave? (Caves up here average only 52F which is too cold for my bones!)

Personally I am not very concerned about negative health effects from ambient radio and electrical signals (I am open-minded to the possibility they are harmful, I just haven't been shown any evidence that convinced me of it--keep in mind I've never really looked into it or witnessed an informed person argue the case in the first place) but I like your approach to the matter, and I like how you employed the notion of due diligence. I think that's a smart move.

People on this thread are not the first I've heard say they can feel a difference when in an electrically sheltered place, and that it feels better. I default to thinking about the environment of our ancestors, which for millions of years until very recently was, well, not free of these signals (there are still plenty of non-anthropic sources) but certainly there were way fewer of them, and that is the environment in which the bodies we inherited spent the most time subject to the process of evolution. So one approach to healthy living seems to be keeping our current environment, to as great a degree as is feasible, similar to our evolutionary one. I can get down with that.

You could have electricity-free zones in your house, surrounded by thick earthen walls. An interior courtyard might be a great way to accomplish this. If you already have a house, you could have an interior room with earthen walls and no electrical circuits in it (non-permitted of course), if your foundation can bear it.

I will think about lighter options...clearly just a metal cage isn't enough, because that's how office buildings are framed (with metal studs).

Ned Harr wrote: If you already have a house, you could have an interior room with earthen walls and no electrical circuits in it (non-permitted of course), if your foundation can bear it.

That's the catch alright - the code where we are has electrical outlets at specific intervals pretty much everywhere!

What about having some specific fuse boxes for shutting off the electricity in a room - you would loose light except for windows, but you might at least reduce the issue.

I like the concept of computer equipment being in designated areas so that WiFi isn't required.

It bothers me that so many people are using their phones for everything. I intentionally leave my cell phone away from where I sleep, unless there's some specific need for it, but my son uses talking books to help him get to sleep and many people now use them as their clock and their wake up alarm.

Earth berming one's house only goes as far as then being able to spend chunks of time without adding interior sources of electronic pollution!

Jay Angler wrote:
What about having some specific fuse boxes for shutting off the electricity in a room - you would loose light except for windows, but you might at least reduce the issue.

I like the concept of computer equipment being in designated areas so that WiFi isn't required.

Those are both pretty common in the elctrosensitive world, having breakers to shut off the bedrooms, and dedicated computer areas with only wired devices.

I'm under code, and that's why I won't make a straight earth house. BUT I CAN put in a good cinder block basement, and I CAN block as much as I can on the first floor, and I CAN ground everything as much as possible, and I CAN make things so they can be shut off, and I CAN make it so wifi is not in the house. I also made sure my meter was put way away from where I want the house, so that when they switched over to smart meters (as I KNEW they would eventually) it is farther out of range. I have to run a longer service line, but it's worth it to me.

But to go back to the subject of the thread, yes, it WOULD help, IF you can do it. A lot of us can't due to other factors.

Jay Angler wrote:
What about having some specific fuse boxes for shutting off the electricity in a room - you would loose light except for windows, but you might at least reduce the issue.

It's trivial on a new build to split circuits up by room. In the electrical trade we do that all the time, per customer request in some cases, and per code in others (e.g. bathrooms and kitchens)--though lighting circuits tend to be shared across larger areas. Sometimes it's possible to rearrange existing circuits on an older house to do this as well. (Actually, it's always "possible", with enough time and money!)

...but the catch is, I don't think that would make much difference. Once the circuitry's in the wall it's doing what circuitry does, as far as stray airborne electrical signals go.

Ned Harr wrote:...but the catch is, I don't think that would make much difference. Once the circuitry's in the wall it's doing what circuitry does, as far as stray airborne electrical signals go.

I think the idea is to install them to be compliant with code, but have the ability to completely switch them off. A series of copper wires without an electrical source shouldn't be producing any electrical signals.

In THEORY, wires in the wall only produce emf when they have something plugged in/turned on. They need current flowing to create the field. In practice, they are always an antenna and can reflect/redirect signals from other things. Usually that is a low enough level to only affect the most sensitive person, but it’s there.

If you want to build a code compliant house with minimal emf, wire it like a commercial building—metal conduit, boxes, cover plates. That should mitigate the antenna effect.  Put switched outlets (old lamp switch style) in places to easily shut off electronics at night.  Locate all the utilities as far from the bedroom as practical. Use metal roofing and siding and GROUND IT.

R Scott wrote: In practice, they are always an antenna and can reflect/redirect signals from other things. Usually that is a low enough level to only affect the most sensitive person, but it’s there.

I stand corrected.

Matt McSpadden wrote:

R Scott wrote: In practice, they are always an antenna and can reflect/redirect signals from other things. Usually that is a low enough level to only affect the most sensitive person, but it’s there.

I stand corrected.

But you are practically right 99.999% of the time.

Jay Angler wrote:How do we make our homes better able to absorb what's inside, and possible reflect what's outside, without breaking the bank or living in a cave? (Caves up here average only 52F which is too cold for my bones!)

I have heard (I haven't tested it) that mixing bio-char in paint can absorb EM radiation. The story I heard is they lost cell phone reception in their bathroom when they painted the walls with bio-char to help with humidity, it was the only room in the house that they got cell phone signal.

A spectrum analyzer (https://geni.us/QzwcT)would be useful tool to look at the different EMF in an area and there strength, it can help find "noisy" appliances.

Ham radio operators are great at finding RFI/EMF. Here is an example, start at 8:15.

*He is checking one range of frequency for ham radio. The appliances show could be noisy on other frequencies.

https://youtu.be/n5BOFsiDpYQ?si=uZrdk7Fa9j5Dy899

Here is a recent video on commercially available charcoal paint.

They do mention the details like grounding the paint that you need to do. I have seen videos on diy paint that had ok results, but it was still expensive for the benefit.  

There are grounding/earthing bed sheets and bed nets that will let you sleep in an emf protected space way cheaper than the paint solutions. Lots of overpriced snake oil out there so do your research carefully.

R Scott wrote:In THEORY, wires in the wall only produce emf when they have something plugged in/turned on. They need current flowing to create the field. In practice, they are always an antenna and can reflect/redirect signals from other things. Usually that is a low enough level to only affect the most sensitive person, but it’s there.

If you want to build a code compliant house with minimal emf, wire it like a commercial building—metal conduit, boxes, cover plates. That should mitigate the antenna effect.  Put switched outlets (old lamp switch style) in places to easily shut off electronics at night.  Locate all the utilities as far from the bedroom as practical. Use metal roofing and siding and GROUND IT.

I don't see why this would make a difference. Metal conduit/cladding/boxes/cover plates isn't different, from the standpoint of the electrosensitive, from Romex that's properly grounded to modern devices (in which even simple 2-way switches have ground lugs) regardless whether the boxes, cover plates, and sheathing over the wire is plastic. It's the antenna made of a continuous metal (i.e. conductive) substructure within the walls that is being claimed to aggravate the sensitivity, and that's there regardless what kind of material you use so long as it's code compliant circuitry.

(The reason for all the metal conduit/cladding and boxes in commercial work isn't to reduce or protect against stray electrical signals, it's to physically protect the electrical system from damage--especially since commercial buildings often have metal framing members!--and lengthen its serviceable life.)

Switched outlets would still have electricity flowing to the switch even when it's off, so you'd want to locate the switch outside the room, and then you're either back into problems with code or problems with ergonomics/usability (it's confusing to have a switch outside a room for controlling something inside a room). Though that would at least be more convenient and sustainable than cutting off the circuit using a breaker in the panel every time...

Romex lays the wires flat, which is optimum for making an antenna and building the maximum field from the current in the wire. There is a ground wire in the middle, which grounds the current in a failure but does not ground the field.

The conduit is a grounded shield on the outside that absorbs the field.  Plus prebundled conduit wire is twisted which greatly reduces the antenna effect (that’s why telephone and Ethernet wire is twisted pairs).

Electric code was written mainly for physical safety, but with unintended consequences that are actually good sometimes.

Dr. Ben Lynch's book "Dirty Genes" talks a bit about this. He mentions that supplementing electrolytes helps with his symptoms.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062698141/

I'm not sure if I'm sensitive but I use Ethernet instead of WiFi whenever possible on general principle.

Maybe a cob house with metal roof would be a good way to go? Mount solar panels away from the house, put inverters and batteries in a cob outbuilding? Park much of my computer gear in that outbuilding... hmm. One of these years.

Hello Pearl,

Thank you for your reply - as a highly electrosensitive person, your input on this subject is in my opinion invaluable.

Based on your experience, it seems the Earth itself possesses a natural shielding ability which may at a minimum alleviate symptoms of one ‘flavor’ of electrosensitivity. (Leastways, for those who can access it.)

In reading over your posts, I notice you've mentioned the following types of EMF as being among those you are sensitive to (please feel free to add any others you can think of to this list):

• Space weather/solar flares
• Cell towers
• Power lines
• Nearby wi-fi networks
• Smart meters
• Nearby electronics

Your inclusion of solar storms is particularly intriguing. I would be curious to hear what (if any) effects you experience during the upcoming solar storm/CME over the next 2 days?

Donner MacRae wrote:Hello Pearl,

Thank you for your reply - as a highly electrosensitive person, your input on this subject is in my opinion invaluable.

Based on your experience, it seems the Earth itself possesses a natural shielding ability which may at a minimum alleviate symptoms of one ‘flavor’ of electrosensitivity. (Leastways, for those who can access it.)

Yes. All the flavors were gone in that cave. It was very peaceful

In reading over your posts, I notice you've mentioned the following types of EMF as being among those you are sensitive to (please feel free to add any others you can think of to this list):

• Space weather/solar flares
• Cell towers
• Power lines
• Nearby wi-fi networks
• Smart meters
• Nearby electronics

Each of those listed are a different "flavor"  to me. They feel/sound/sense different from each other.

**Hospitals, with all the equipment in them! That's one of the worst. I can feel 5-6 individual "flavors" or "layers" of EMF coming off them. I navigate the local city by things like "I hear the hospital, time to turn right at this light." They are like those big spotlights they used to put at used car lots... Hard to miss.

**High tension power lines are horrifying. I was on the highway west of Phoenix long before I knew what was affecting me (in the 90's) and I felt the Palo Verde lines crossing the road about a mile out, and mile past them. I always wondered if there are a lot of wrecks in that area.

**Wifi is drowned out by so many other things these days I hardly notice it in all the rest of the noise. When it was new, and the world wasn't so electrified, I had an ex who used me as a Wifi detector (that was also before people were putting passwords on them!)

** 5g.  Oh my god. THAT is evil. I HATE going by high schools screaming 5g, what's it doing to those kids brains?? That one is in the "chainsaw inside my brain" category. Nasty.

I'll think on this list.

Your inclusion of solar storms is particularly intriguing. I would be curious to hear what (if any) effects you experience during the upcoming solar storm/CME over the next 2 days?

Well, I'm expecting to be pretty unhappy about it     The solar flare that threw the CME was last night about 7PM central time. I felt like I was scythed. Just full on weakness, wanted to fall down. I checked my favorite site, nothing showing. I told it "you lie!!" and checked again in 10 minutes.. There it was. I KNEW what I was feeling. I'm a very good flare detector these days (Can anyone think of a way I can get paid to this? )  I guarantee I will be VERY aware when the CME hits. I always am.  "OOF, CME impact!"  

So yes, I will "experience effects" as usual.

It's hard to explain what it feels like, as, like I said, there aren't words in English for it. If it was a light, a CME impact would be like a sudden spotlight to the face. Bad ones feel like airport landing strip lights to the face...

Another common effect is head noise, like tinnitus, but not. When it's bad it "sounds" like there is a running gas chainsaw in my brain and I can't shut it off. I defy you to try to think through that  Nasty. And that's a common effect of 5g....  And the schools have 5g....

I also go weak, sudden pain, or numbness. My back sometimes feels like I can't stand up, and I suddenly flop hard at the waist like a puppet with the string cut.

It's vile stuff. I don't wish it on anyone.

I seriously believe just as previous generations had to deal with things like factories belching black smoke that killed people, or rivers catching on fire, the generation coming up will be having to fight EMF pollution. I  often wish it were visible, like the factory smoke was, might make people more aware of what exactly is going on. A good trick is to ask your phone where the best WIFI or 5g coverage is, and avoid those areas.

End rant. I need to mow my lawn before dinner.

R Scott wrote:Romex lays the wires flat, which is optimum for making an antenna and building the maximum field from the current in the wire. There is a ground wire in the middle, which grounds the current in a failure but does not ground the field.

The conduit is a grounded shield on the outside that absorbs the field.  Plus prebundled conduit wire is twisted which greatly reduces the antenna effect (that’s why telephone and Ethernet wire is twisted pairs).

I thought the premise of the idea about wire in the walls acting as an antenna was that it did this even when the wire was not energized. If it isn't energized, then a continuous circuit of Romex is not much different from a continuous bonded circuit of wire sheathed in MC or pipe* and run to metal boxes--it's all just metal encircling a room (either like a Faraday cage or an antenna). But if it is energized and it's the electromagnetic fields emitting from the circuitry itself that electrosensitive people are concerned with, then yes Romex and plastic boxes will be a lot different from a commercial-style install.

Personally, I know that somewhere in my house there is a bad neutral connection (I suspect it's in an open splice inside a wall or ceiling, based on what I've uncovered in the house so far) which makes it so some of my devices give a subtle buzzing sensation when you touch them. Troubleshooting issues in the house of a person who claims to be electrosensitive, I would probably first recommend a due dilligence search for bad neutrals just to rule it out.

*PS. Prebundled conduit wire comes on spools; when you unspool it and pull it through conduit it isn't twisted (not much anyway; it does sometimes like to twist up on its own, but that's incidental). But I think you're referring to MC (metallic-clad) wire, which is indeed twisted inside its sheathing, similar to data wire. One of the wires on the inside is still a ground wire complete with green insulation, but if installed correctly it is bonded to the boxes, to which the MC is connected by metal connectors, so that's all bonded too and thus acting as a ground.

Ned Harr wrote:
I thought the premise of the idea about wire in the walls acting as an antenna was that it did this even when the wire was not energized. If it isn't energized, then a continuous circuit of Romex is not much different from a continuous bonded circuit of wire sheathed in MC or pipe* and run to metal boxes--it's all just metal encircling a room (either like a Faraday cage or an antenna). But if it is energized and it's the electromagnetic fields emitting from the circuitry itself that electrosensitive people are concerned with, then yes Romex and plastic boxes will be a lot different from a commercial-style install.
.

The bonding is the important part. A piece of insulated metal can act as an antenna, a capacitor, and or a waveguide conductor depending on the power and frequency of the energy around it.  The conduit grounds those fields in both directions (in and out). What it does at 2 GHz is very different than 60 Hz.

Our house has clay-based paint on the walls. One of the things the company making it was advertising is that it blocks some EMFs, so if this is true, even if you are in a conventional house, using earth in small amounts like this could make some difference. I'm interested to see what it's like in a real earth sheltered home.

I'm still trashed from the CME and some other factors, not thinking easily today. But thinking about what Kate said about clay paint makes me wonder why sheetrock doesn't block much EMF, a small amount, but not much. Wondering about cement board. Thinking how I can test it. I'm going to the city tomorrow, I'll take my RF meter to a lumberyard, see if I can test it somehow.

A lot of us are dealing with building codes, can't get away with a lot of earth sheltering. That's why I keep looking at stuff codes won't argue with.

I'm just imagining Pearl building a little temporary box out of cement board in the middle of home depot

HD Employee - You can't do that here

Pearl - I need to test something!

Matt McSpadden wrote:I'm just imagining Pearl building a little temporary box out of cement board in the middle of home depot

HD Employee - You can't do that here

Pearl - I need to test something!

That's pretty much what I'm thinking, problem is the stuff is HEAVY and I'm not sure I can move it around....  
I can talk my way out of a LOT of weirdness. What I might need is to talk an employee or customer into doing the muscle work for me... THAT might be tricky.
"Look this debate would end MUCH faster if you'd just move this here for me, ok, now hang on a sec, let me take a reading..... Got it! Thank you! Put it back now, please!"    
That may end up happening  

I can think of a lot of materials worth testing.

Similarly, what thickness does what, does a thickness with an air gap or insulation followed my a second layer do more, less or no difference etc.

It seems to me that with all the push for electronic everything, particularly WiFi and it's relatives, I would particularly like to understand the low hanging fruit that doesn't look too out of the ordinary!

It's cool that Pearl has a tester. It would be interesting to test the house I'm staying in. They put that foil covered bubble wrap on all the basement walls, which are already underground. I haven't tried to see if my cell phone works down there.

However, the computer is running on WiFi. I suspect it could run on a cable, but don't know where the right cable would be. Seems to me that protecting from outside waves doesn't do any good if we can't find a way to absorb what's inside.

Jay Angler wrote:It would be interesting to test the house I'm staying in. They put that foil covered bubble wrap on all the basement walls, which are already underground. I haven't tried to see if my cell phone works down there.  

Grounded foil works, not real well, but better than nothing. If the foil is reaching a ground, it might be helping. Concrete floor might be enough ground for thin foil.
Check your phone in there!

Anyone try making curtains or wall/floor coverings out of faraday cloth? https://amzn.to/3CnJruk