Who would have guessed that high levels of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) could be emanating from your printer even without a WiFi router in your home?
This is a very common issue.
In this guest post Donald Hillman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University and Mary Hillman, M.A., Michigan State University outline the problem and explain what to do to solve it:
“Elizabeth Jesse, a former neighbor of ours in East Lansing, MI, on May 28, 2016, brought a new HF 35C HF Analyzer to our home and checked for high radio frequencies (RF). Her husband Jack accompanied her and recorded the pictures throughout this report.
Most of our home was cleared from radiation back in the early 2000s when David Stetzer, an expert electrician from Wisconsin, used a Graham-Stetzer Microsurge Meter to find the ‘Dirty Electricity‘ and then filtered it with Graham-Stetzer Filters. Because his time was limited there was one spot near our refrigerator that he was not able to filter.
Radiation Hotspot Found With EMF Meter
When Elizabeth measured throughout the house, again she noted a hot spot near our refrigerator. She traced it into our office and discovered it was coming from a HP Printer that had been turned on. The HF Analyzer measures in micro watts per square meter. When the number goes to ‘1' at the far left of the display window (as it does in the picture at the right), it means that the meter has maxed out and the reading has gone above 1999 micro watts per square meter.
Elizabeth was aware that even though we did not have a WiFi Router in our home that the printer emits high levels of radiation until the WiFi feature on the printer is turned off. She led us through the following steps on our HP Officejet 7500A Wide Width Wireless Printer.
Turn the printer on and the Main Menu will appear.
Use the arrow on the right of the screen to scroll to the next screen. From the 2nd Menu, choose “Setup.” From the Setup Menu, choose “Network.” From the Wireless Menu, choose ‘Wireless Radio.' From the Wireless Radio Menu, choose “Off” (See Figures below).
Other printers may have different menus. The Jesses after choosing Network from their printer menu as above, have a different menu appear which requires ‘Wireless' to be turned Off and ‘Wireless Direct' to be turned Off.
From the Wireless Menu, choose ‘Wireless Radio'
We were very happy to have our room be free from the ‘Dirty Electricity', clear out to the refrigerator in the next room.
We hope that our findings will be helpful for you!”
Be Safe – Turn the Wireless Off from your printer!
As I mentioned this is a very common issue. And it's common problem with pretty much any device which has wireless functionality, even if you're not using the wireless!
Laptops and desktops come to mind first. My desktop, for example, has both WiFi and Bluetooth functionality which I can deactivate by going into the software. But with the introduction of smart appliances throughout the home, all kinds of previously innocuous devices are now being equipped with RF power transmitters which can emit radiation radio frequency radiation into your home 24/7.
The idea is that these appliances connect up with your smart meter to form a smart network which communicates energy usage data back to the utility company wirelessly.
RF radiation from smart appliances which there are more and more of in our homes is another big concern.
Thanks again to Dr. Hillman for sharing this information.
Comments
Elizabeth Jesse said,
I just wanted to add that the frequencies I measured in the Hillman home required the HF35C instrument to measure them, since only the HF35C could pick up the frequencies in this range (800 mHz-2700mHz) that the printer was emitting at, and that traveled through the air into another room. These frequencies are much higher than what we could filter with the Graham Stetzer filters( which filter frequencies of 4-100 kHz), and were best elimintated/disabled, which was what we did. So, while it is all “dirty” electromagnetic radiation to me, the testing equipment and the remedy is different, depending on the frequency.
Smart Meter Education Network said,
Turning the WiFi off might not be sufficient. My own experience with a laptop is that I had to physically remove the wifi card. Turning the wifi off helped a small amount, but only physically removing the card stopped my symptoms.
Barb Payne said,
Some printers, even though you change the settings to be Wireless Off, and even if the setting does remain permanently Off, during the printer’s start-up whenever it is powered on, it will emit a massive spike of RF. I assume that the sequence of the start-up must first test its Wireless system and then after that arrives at the instruction to heed the Wireless On/Off setting. So you might want to temporarily shield the printer from before you power it on until the start-up procedure is complete; and you might want to push the power-on button with a wooden stick so that you can stand away from the printer and then right away walk away from it while its performing its start-up procedures. I measured a temporary start-up spike at 23,000 microwatts per meter-squared. I have never measured to see if a similar spike happens during the shut-down procedure. For some printers (not all), that automatic spike is prevented by making sure the printer is connected to a powered on computer via cord before powering on the printer.
Best,
Barb
Daniel said,
You know, I’ve tried to be diligent about EMF’S BUT it is impossible to escape them. Even from a printer like this. So the best thing one can do, unless one wants to go live where no one exists and be totally paranoid, is to take sensible precautions without going crazy about it, in my opinion. We have bought a Earthcalm total home system. We have noticed a difference, for sure. This is a high tech world that is not going away.
Barb Payne said,
Some printers, even though you change the settings to be Wireless Off, and even if the setting does remain permanently Off, during the printer’s start-up whenever it is powered on, it will emit a massive spike of RF. I assume that the sequence of the start-up must first test its Wireless system and then after that arrives at the instruction to heed the Wireless On/Off setting. So you might want to temporarily shield the printer from before you power it on until the start-up procedure is complete; and you might want to push the power-on button with a wooden stick so that you can stand away from the printer and then right away walk away from it while its performing its start-up procedures. I measured a temporary start-up spike at 23,000 microwatts per meter-squared. I have never measured to see if a similar spike happens during the shut-down procedure. For some printers (not all), that automatic spike is prevented by making sure the printer is connected to a powered on computer via cord before powering on the printer.
Angela said,
Excellent article! If a person does not use Wi-Fi they may not even think to check to make sure it is turned off.
Thank you Lloyd!!!
Mary Ellen said,
Thank you for the info. It worked–the wireless light is now turned off on my PIXMA MG5520 printer. I will have to get a meter with audio to see what other EMFs it may be emitting.
W said,
HI All: Please also note that if you have a router that has wireless capability it may still be on even if you turn it off in your router and on line via the isp.
Please also realize that if you have a “smart” TV, I had a Samsung, it is difficult, if not impossible, to stop it from broadcasting somewhere between 2.4 GHz – 5.8 GHz.
I have a 59B & a 59D and I am educated in their use.
Angela said,
I am not electrically savvy by any stretch of the imagination, lol. The wireless was turned off on my MODEM by ATT and online. (I don’t know if this is the same as a router.) Just in case it is still on, what can I do to cover the modem or block wifi? I have seen modem covers. I have a wired connection for my computer.
Thank you!!!
Smart Meter Education Network said,
This article needs to be amended to take in the feedback people have given. Please do so. Otherwise, many will be falsely reassured that they are getting no EMFs, when they might be.
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