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So-called “protective products against electrosmog” are unnecessary

  • From the point of view of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, “protective products against electrosmog” are unnecessary or unsuitable for the protection of health.
  • Even the manufacturers themselves often point out (albeit in the small print) that their products have no scientifically proven effects.
  • In the worst case, some of these products even increase the strength of the fields to which you are exposed.
  • The legal limits and product standards provide sufficient protection against electromagnetic fields.

Some people fear that even below the applicable limit values, electric, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields are harmful to health. Symptoms such as headaches and sleep disorders as well as serious diseases such as cancer are attributed to these fields, which are colloquially referred to as electrosmog. Various products claim to offer protection against these scientifically unproven effects. However, from the point of view of radiation protection, these are unnecessary. The offer is varied. There are

  • canopies for beds
  • shielding mats and curtains
  • stickers
  • wall paint
  • technical devices such as neutralisers, harmonisers, and energisers
  • and much more

Protection products with and without effect are unnecessary

There are two types of products. On one hand, there are products that have no specific scientifically proven effect on the fields or the body because they are technically non-functional. These include pendants, chains, bracelets, minerals, and chip cards that are intended to harmonise or energise electromagnetic fields. In this context, “harmonisation” and “energisation” have no scientific basis. Even between vendors, there are differences of opinion about what these terms are supposed to mean. Power plugs and other devices that are supposed to generate fields in the form of a “protective aura” or for the “absorption of negative energies” are also useless.

Furthermore, such products consist primarily of materials that cannot have a specific influence on the electromagnetic fields of mobile phones or other devices. In the case of such products, it is often emphasised in the small print that these have no effect on the mobile signal.

Canopy Canopy for shielding

On the other hand, there are shielding products that consist of materials that can have an effect on field propagation. However, they also do not provide any additional health protection. These include clothing, bed linen, screening mats, canopies, curtains, and paints made of or with appropriate materials such as metal threads. Because of their physical properties, a measurable shielding effect against external fields can be achieved under certain circumstances (Faraday cage). However, from a radiation protection point of view, this effect is unnecessary because of current limit values and product safety.

Alleged protective products can even reinforce fieldsShow / Hide

In the worst case, the effect will result in exposure to stronger fields. Because mobile phones have automatic power control, they transmit more strongly in the case of poor reception in order to maintain the connection. As a result of the additional shielding, the phone detects poor reception and transmits more strongly. In the worst case, the shielding of the mobile phone signal can even lead to the opposite rather than the advertised effect. In certain cases, protective clothing can act as an antenna and reinforce existing fields.

Protective labels for various end devices such as mobile phones or laptops may or may not provide a shielding effect depending on the materials used. From the point of view of radiation protection, they are not only unnecessary but sometimes even problematic.

If they do not shield the electromagnetic fields of the device (e.g. plastic stickers), this is harmless but useless in terms of radiation protection.

However, if they shield the fields of the device in places (e.g. stickers with metal wires), this can be unfavourable from a radiation protection point of view. A mobile phone automatically optimises the transmission power, and a sticker can affect this optimisation. If such a sticker is placed over the antenna, thereby causing the connection to the base station to deteriorate, the device will increase the transmission power in order to maintain the connection. This unnecessarily exposes the user to stronger fields.

Contradictions among manufacturers – pay attention to small print and wordingShow / Hide

The advertising of these protective products assumes that electromagnetic fields below the limit values are harmful to health and the products offer protection against them. You should therefore pay close attention to the formulations and the small print.

small print Magnifying glass for small printSource: Feng Yu/stock.adobe.com

There are often indications that the allegedly positive effects of the products are subjective experiences. Alternatively, non-binding formulations such as “could help” are used because all statements about the medical effect of products must be scientifically verifiable.

Just as often, the protective effect advertised is refuted in the small print. Laws require indications that the products in question are not medical devices under the Medical Devices Act or medicinal products under the Medicinal Products Act. Therefore, it is often mentioned that neither the underlying mechanism of action nor the advertised protective effect are generally scientifically recognised.

For example, a provider declares that his product “is neither a medicinal product under the German Medicinal Products Act nor a medical device under the German Medical Devices Act. Neither the mechanism of action nor the manufacturing technology nor a positive effect on health well-being have yet been scientifically recognised to date”.

What can be done to reduce field strength?

If you want to be exposed to the weakest possible fields, there is a simple and effective way: Increase your distance from the device. A distance of a few centimetres is enough.

With a mobile phone, you can do this with a headset. Or you can use the hands-free function. Most of the time, devices such as mobile phones or household appliances such as hair dryers are the comparatively strongest source of electromagnetic fields that your bodies are exposed to.

State of 2024.03.15

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