Testing For Radiation in the Home and Office

It’s been 10 years since the Fukushima nuclear reactor was crippled by massive earthquakes, in Japan. In that 10 years, nothing much has changed as this recent article shows us: Radiation levels at Fukushima plant far worse than was thought. Considering radioactive materials can last for tens of thousands of years, it’s not surprising.

The rollout of 5G continues unabated. While 5G will change our lives with the advent of driverless cars and remote control surgeries, there are some worrying aspects of the new bandwidth of radiation it uses and the nature of it vs. 4G. The need for many, many more cell towers, risks us to more and more ambient radiation in our daily lives. Here is an excellent article on the risks of our new 5G tech: Are 5G Towers Really More Dangerous?

Recently we’ve got a new risk on the horizon. A nuclear power plant less than 80km from Hong Kong, The Taishan Facility, reported a leak. Actually, the French operator reported the leak to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This was highly unusual, but they felt the need to do so, because of the refusal of the Chinese regulator to do so. Here is a brief article on the need for more transparency when there are millions of lives that can possible be affected: China’s handling of nuclear plant leak shows need for transparency

Our need to understand how radiation can affect our health and what we can do about it has never been more urgent. We are literally surrounded by radiation at all times. While much of it is benign, much of the manmade version isn’t so much.

This entry will try not to get too wonkish and focus on the types of radiation in our environment, how to measure it, and suggestions on how to limit our exposure as much as possible.

Types of Radiation:

There are two main types of radiation. The first type of radiation is non-ionizing radiation. This is mainly from visible light, microwaves, radio waves and electromagnetic waves. All electrical appliances give off this radiation, from our cell phones to our hair dryers. While some people may be sensitive to this type of radiation, most people go through their lives fairly unaffected by it.

That is not to say, it may not be harmful. Increased exposure to this type of radiation can cause health problems, particularly to our eyesight, and may increase our chances of cancer, especially skin cancers. Some symptoms of too much exposure to this radiation is fatigue, nausea and headaches. Which are common enough to be assigned another source. Pregnant mothers should also try to avoid overexposure to this type of radiation. We should also try and avoid resting our laptops (despite their name) and tablets on our laps.

The second type is the ionizing type of radiation which, aside from cosmic rays (background radiation), is usually from man-made activities. Nuclear power plants, nuclear bomb tests, radium paint, and x-rays are a few of the man-made sources of ionizing radiation. Gamma rays, X-rays, alpha particles, and beta particles are the chief sources of ionizing radiation.

Ionizing radiation is the deadliest form of radiation, in that it literally ionizes the atoms it is exposed to. Including the atoms in your body. Ionization is the separation of electrons from atoms, which, in high enough doses, can lead to radiation burns and cancer. Luckily most of us have limited exposure to this type of radiation in our daily lives.

Here is a fact sheet from Rutgers University on the sources of ionizing radiation

Here is another article from 2015 about Hong Kong’s high background radiation levels:

HONG KONG’S BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS ‘ASTOUNDING’, SAYS FORMER TOP OFFICIAL

Why should we test the radiation of our surroundings?

Know, don’t guess.

Why should we just take it for granted that microwave that came with our apartment isn’t leaking dangerous levels of radiation?

Shouldn’t we know how much radiation our cell phones or tablets are giving off at work and at home? Or those cell towers outside our window?

What about the fish or fruit we bought from the market? Where was it caught or grown?

How do I measure the radiation in my home and office?

Non-ionizing Radiation:

There are several ways to measure the types of radiation in the home. For non-ionizing radiation or radiation to the left of high energy UV radiation and X-rays, an EMF detector is the product of choice.  

Peek Concepts has painstakingly researched the various EMF detectors and Geiger Counters on the market and available for dropshipping and we have decided that the best values for money are:

The GDVA Digital EMF Meter Electromagnetic Radiation Tester – Electric Magnetic Field Dosimeter Detector

This EMF Meter uses 3 AAA batteries, and measures the non-ionizing spectrum of radiation. Check your cell phones, computers, microwaves, refrigerators, WIFI and any other appliances to ensure they are within safe levels of radiation.

While there are no international standards of what levels of EMF are dangerous vs. acceptable, here is a great resource from the WHO (Won’t Get Fooled Again): https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/radiation-electromagnetic-fields

The key takeaway is that our daily exposure is usually far below guideline limits. That doesn’t mean there aren’t circumstances where our daily exposure may increase sharply. A leaky microwave oven or a bunch of 5G towers outside our windows can increase our exposure without us knowing it.

Apparently they can be used for ghost hunting as well: Paranormal Technology: Gadgets For Ghost-Tracking

Ionizing Radiation:

For ionizing radiation, you need a Geiger/Muller counter, sometimes shortened to a Geiger counter. Geiger counters can run into the thousands of dollars. Luckily you probably don’t need one in that price range. Here is a great Geiger counter for the home or office:

BR-9B Portable Geiger Counter Personal Dosimeter Handheld Digital Display Nuclear Radiation Detector

This compact Geiger/Muller nuclear radiation detector/dosimeter, detects X-rays, Gamma, Alpha, and Beta radiation is small and compact enough to carry around at all times and to detect the radiation levels of any object or environment. You can use it for detecting radiation in toys, jewelry, antiques, construction materials, marble, food, and water.

That’s right, toys, jewelry and antiques… Along with furniture, clothing, jewelry, dishes, and other treasures sold at thrift stores and antique shops, you might find some items that contain radioactive material.

Knowledge is your best bet for protection you and your family from the possible harmful effects of radiation. There are products out there, like stickers, that purport to protect you from radiation. They are likely a scam and several studies have confirmed it:

SmartDot radiation-protection phone stickers ‘have no effect’

For those who may be sensitive to EMF radiation or live uncomfortably close to a source of EMF radiation, like high tension wires, cell towers or power plants, here is something to think about:

Same with phone cases. According to this site, they may actually expose you to higher levels of radiation. The site also has some good information and neat products if you want to ship from California.

https://techwellness.com/blogs/expertise/anti-radiation-phone-shield-case-review

If you do want to shield yourself from emf radiation coming from cell phones, laptops, and tablets, you need a Faraday case. It will also shield them from receiving a signal, so turn them off before placing inside. It will also make it harder to track you.

There is a lot of information out there regarding this subject. Most of it is dry and scientific. I’ve tried to touch on some of the more important points and help provide some products that will be of help to those who wish to arm themselves with a few tools to help them keep safe.

Knowing if you have a leaky microwave or an old clock, or child’s toy that’s kicking off an unacceptable level of radiation is half the battle.

Turn off the Wi-Fi when not using it, keep your cell phone away from your head, and your laptop away from your lap.

Hong Kong’s Department of Health has an informative, if dated, page on Radiation health: https://www.dh.gov.hk/faq_eng.html

Hong Kong Observatory, also, constantly monitors the background radiation levels:

https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/hk_radiation_level.html

Lastly it’s probably a good idea to have some Potassium Iodide on hand in case of over exposure to radiation. There are tablets available at iHerb: Life Extension, Potassium Iodide Tablets, 130 mg, 14 Tablets

None of this is meant to be medical advice. All the information provided is readily available and backed up by links provided.

***These are dropship products. While we work hard to get our suppliers to ship to Hong Kong within the 3 days, we can’t guarantee it. Please allow 7-10 business days for delivery****

Stay safe and healthy!

Please contact us with any questions: hello@peekconcepts. Follow us on instagram.

Cell/WhatsApp: +852 9302 8179

Advertisement

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: