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Over the years, the advancements we’ve seen in technology has been nothing short of sensational. If we look at the Amazon Echo as an example, we can ask ‘Alexa’ almost any question and she’ll duly respond with the correct answer. What’s more, she can play the radio, offer weather updates, and order products online. However, this leads to a very important question;
Even when going unused, an Amazon Echo will be connected to the WiFi and this may just emit EMF radiation into the home. With Internet of Things (IoT) and devices in constant communication with one another, this could open the door to health concerns. For example, some studies have shown a connection between EMFs and sleep disruption and headaches.
Fortunately, we have some very important advice for you today. In this guide, we’re going to discover the harmful effects of Amazon Echo radiation before then providing some advice.
I am not saying you should sell all your technology and live in the woods for a while, but there are some simple steps you can take to ensure the safety of not only yourself but your family too!
Amazon Echo Radiation – Key Considerations
Before I launch into these harmful effects, I should note that regular users of the Amazon Echo are only exposed to small amounts of EMF.
Later, we’ll look at the steps you can take to keep your family safe (I wouldn’t want to scare you away unnecessarily!). However, negative effects are possible after prolonged exposure to harmful EMFs. Sadly, most of the problems I discuss here come from the interaction between the Amazon Echo and your WiFi.
Since the Echo relies upon a wireless connection with the WiFi, it’s the communication between the two that causes most issues.
Although it has been a hot topic in recent years, the danger of EMFs has been around for some time. Traditionally, this form of radiation would generate after a thunderstorm and through other naturally-occurring events. Now, however, the concern comes from man-made items.
As well as sleeping with a cell phone under our pillows, we have them in our pockets, we put laptops on our legs, and EMFs are always emitted. Compared to even twenty years ago, the number of EMFs penetrating the body has grown substantially and this is why the concern has grown in recent years.
1. Quantity is Important
In small quantities, the human body is able to absorb the EMFs before then returning to center. When in larger quantities, it can cause issues with sleep, headaches, and a lack of energy. If exposed for extended periods of time, the cells can actually succumb to premature ageing (nobody wants this!).
In fact, a study from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine carefully reviewed the relationship between cell phones and bone density.
2. Lack of Testing
When it comes to mobile phones and devices like the Amazon Echo, the testing so far has actually been fairly limited. According to the Environmental Health Trust (EHT), wireless virtual assistants could be exposing children to untested levels of microwave radio frequency radiation. Also read my article on effect of radiation on babies and children.
I should explain that devices are forced through a safety procedure before being made available to the public. Sadly, all compliance testing is completed with eight inches between the user and the device.
Now, various health organizations are concerned that no testing is performed with body contact in mind. What if children are holding or singing into the Echo?
According to the EHT president, Devra Davis, children sitting closely to or holding virtual assistant devices are absorbing radiation levels that ‘greatly exceed government guidelines’.
What could this mean?
The EHT believe this could present a risk of cancer, headaches/migraines, sperm damage, and more.
Harmful Effects of Amazon Echo (Alexa) Devices
Before I offer some advice for virtual assistance devices, there are a number of harmful effects linked with EMF exposure to Amazon Echo which is true for any type of EMF exposure. In the coming years, more studies may confirm these relationships and shine a light on just how problematic this niche is right now.
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia
- Brain fog
- Regular illness
- Dizziness/vertigo
- Hormone imbalances
- Adrenal fatigue (HPA axis dysfunction)
- Increased risk of cancer (see below!)
- Reproductive issues
Cancer
Of course, this is a big word and one we wouldn’t bring into the conversation unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, the link between breast cancer and low frequency EMFs has been quashed by most epidemiological studies.
Yet, there has been an ‘association’ in some studies. Of all the studies that have been completed on this topic, only one showed significant results.
Alexa Radiation Protection Tips
As promised from the beginning, we’re going to finish on some Alexa (Amazon Echo) radiation protection tips. Although there’s a clear focus on the Amazon Echo, I’ll also provide general EMF advice for your whole home.
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- Switch from Wireless to Wired Connections
- Use Ethernet Cables and Consider Shields/Eco-Routers
- Limit Your Child’s Echo Usage (and Your Own Too!)
- Check the Electrical Wiring in Your Home
- Keep the Echo Away from Sitting/Sleeping Areas
- Keep the Echo Away from Sitting/Sleeping Areas
- Consider a battery-powered alarm clock
- Replace old microwave ovens with a steam convection oven
- Use a shield for all smart meters
- Use incandescent bulbs rather than CFL bulbs
- Reduce your cell phone time
- Make your bedroom a device-free zone with nothing electric plugged in
If you pay attention to these tips, you’ll be keeping yourself and your family safe from exposure in the coming weeks and months!
1. Switch from Wireless to Wired Connections
The more wired devices you use in your home, the fewer EMFs will be emitted. As we’ve already seen, the WiFi is normally the guilty party when it comes to devices such as the Amazon Echo.
If you can connect the Echo with an Ethernet cable rather than wirelessly, you’ll be reducing the risk significantly. While there isn’t an ethernet port on the Echo unit itself, a type-C to ethernet adapter should allow you to make the switch.
As well as your Echo, consider moving everything across to a wired connection including games consoles and smart technology. This way, everything will travel through the wires and your body won’t have to absorb the by-product of wireless connections…radiation.
2. Use Ethernet Cables and Consider Shields/Eco-Routers
If you need any sign of just how powerful wireless routers are, go into your settings on a computer or cell phone now. For those in an apartment block, they can pick up a dozen and more connections without even moving. With a pulse rate of around ten times each second, these can cause havoc with brain waves.
How do you prevent this? We’ve seen the first solution in using an Ethernet cable, but you could also turn the router off when it isn’t being used. While some are able to use a schedule, others use a Christmas light timer.
There’s no need to absorb the radiation while you’re asleep, so why not turn it off during the night? Not only will you save your family, you’ll save money too.
If you want some more tips, I’ve got them; for example, you can now find shielded bags for routers. Rather than exposing yourself to the full force of the router, block some of the signal while retaining enough for your internet needs. Also, I recommend researching eco-WiFi routers because these will allow for more control with pulse rate and power.
In the video below, Lloyd Burrell compares EMF readings of eco-wifi routers with normal routers.
3. Limit Your Child’s Echo Usage (and Your Own Too!)
If the Alexa is sitting in a corner, away from human interaction, you can control exposure. As we saw earlier, it really causes issues when children pick them up, hold them, play with them, and spend long periods with the device.
As a parent, the best advice I can provide is to monitor their time with Alexa. Remember, the compliance tests manufacturers must pass have users sitting AT LEAST eight inches away from the device.
Although you might not want a full conversation on EMFs and science with your children, you can explain that Alexa must remain on the shelf or table.
Unfortunately, the exact dangers of children playing up close with an Echo aren’t yet known, so it isn’t worth taking the risk. If they complain of not being able to hear, simply turn up the volume, but don’t allow them to hold the device.
4. Check the Electrical Wiring in Your Home
If you’re taking steps to reduce the EMFs in your home, you need to be working with a good foundation. With this in mind, I advise talking with an electrician and ensuring that all the electrical wiring is done correctly around the property.
Typically, a home with high-quality wiring will have less than 0.3mG of low-frequency EMF. Unfortunately, it’s possible for hotspots to occur in specific areas or even whole rooms. If the wiring has been installed poorly, and then you add an Amazon Echo to this room, the problem will intensify somewhat.
Read my article Clean vs dirty electricity
If I’m allowed to get a little technical for a moment, a magnetic field is always generated around a wire when current is flowing through. When alternating, the magnetic field will continually change from South to North and back again. With this low-frequency magnetic field comes a low-frequency electric field, a problem exacerbated by poor wiring.
When live and neutral wires are in close proximity, the EMFs of both tend to overlap and this negates the problem. When the two are further apart, they can no longer cancel each other out and this means EMFs being emitted into the room. This problem can arise as a result of;
- Ageing wires
- Inexperienced electricians
- Rushed installation
5. Keep the Echo Away from Sitting/Sleeping Areas
Although it sounds simple, you should be aiming to keep your body as far away from EMFs as possible. If you’ve got the Echo on a bedside table within a meter of your head while sleeping, you’ll be exposing yourself to radiation. By moving it across the room, Alexa will still hear you, but the exposure reduces somewhat.
While planning the layout of your home, remember that EMF radiation can travel through walls and solid objects without too much trouble. Know how your WiFi travels around the home and is available in rooms far away from the router? Well, this is why. For radiation, the story is exactly the same.
With this in mind, I urge you to think about where you keep the Amazon Echo with regards to other rooms. If your bedroom is on the other side of the living room, don’t sleep with your head close to the wall when the Echo is on the other side. Alternatively, move the Echo away from the joining wall and reduce the risk of extended radiation exposure.
6. Switch Devices Off When Not Required
We’ve mentioned this briefly elsewhere, but I feel it deserves a point of its own. Over the years, we’ve got into the habit of leaving everything plugged in when not in use. Even while we sleep, there are all sorts of gadgets and devices left on.
If you really want to reduce your exposure to EMF radiation, I recommend getting into the habit of switching your Echo and other devices off when they aren’t being used.
Especially while you sleep, there’s no need for Alexa to be on. Not only will this reduce exposure for you and your family, it will also save energy (and therefore money!).
7. Other Tips
To finish this section, here are some more general tips for reducing EMF levels in your home (for more than just your Echo!);
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- Consider a battery-powered alarm clock
- Replace old microwave ovens with a steam convection oven
- Use a shield for all smart meters
- Use incandescent bulbs rather than CFL bulbs
- Reduce your cell phone time
- Make your bedroom a device-free zone with nothing electric plugged in
Conclusion
Thank you for reading our guide, you should now have everything you need to stay safe from EMF radiation exposure.
Unfortunately, EMF exposure has been linked with many health conditions including cellular damage, DNA breaks, increased risk of chronic diseases, an acceleration of the ageing process, depression, anxiety, autism (when exposed during pregnancy), and even reproductive issues.
In this guide, you have some brilliant advice for keeping yourself and your fellow family members safe with devices such as the Amazon Echo. Let’s recap;
- Check electrical wiring around the home
- Try to keep everything wired
- Monitor all usage
- Rearrange the room
- Keep things you aren’t using switched off
As a final tip, consider investing in EMF radiation protectors and such products. You can check out my top recommendations for EMF protection.
The more proactive you are in this journey, the more benefits you’ll experience so keep going!