Could your smartphone or home WiFi be encouraging the growth of toxic mold?
Listen as I share the surprising results of an experiment performed to study whether exposure to electric fields, magnetic fields, or WiFi affects mold growth. Hear what did cause black mold such as Stachybotrys sand toxigenic species such as Aspergillus to grow. An insightful breakdown of what was discovered — and what it might mean for your health and environment.
SHOW NOTES :
Experiment Equipment, Procedure, Data
Watch the full experiment on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/2Y5zyHBivQ8
TRANSCRIPT:
Following is a summary of an experiment that I did to study whether EMFs, electromagnetic fields, in particular, electric fields, magnetic fields, high-frequency fields, wireless technologies.
Does the fuse box in your house magnetic field affect mold growth? Do the electrical wires that you have for your cord, your things that are plugged in affect it? Does Wi-Fi or your cell phone? And how is that compared to if we try to grow mold outside in mother nature, like miles from town where there's no power lines in the middle of nowhere and it's zero. And I measured everything.
Short answer is no, your cell phone does not help black mold grow. And if anything, it was the lamp cord in the living room, the inoculus looking cord that does maybe help more mold grow, and the stachybotrys and the aspergillus.
Mind you, it's just one experiment. It's not a bad experiment. It's randomized and designed reasonably well. But based on that, if you look at it in the video, you'll probably say, it looks to me like some more green and black mold grew just from the lamp cord compared to everything else. What do you do for that? To unplug the cords next to your bed. Well, grounding might be good for your health. That's where you sleep on a bed cloth or you get some kind of cloth to cover yourself with, to protect you from fields. It's also good for the mold.
In terms of mold, you want to prevent mold. It's easy. Keep things dry. They get wet, dry it out. Other than that, just forget about any connection between EMFs and mold. Mold grows if things get wet.
Interesting fact:. I once tried to grow mold outside, framed up in 8x4, double-sided 8x4 drywall on both sides. I was trying to build a mock wall outside to hose it down and keep it wet, let it stay out in the rain to grow black mold, so that I could do an experiment if it was a wall in somebody's house moldy.
I couldn't get Stachybotrys (black mold) to grow. Black mold grew. It was Alternaria and Cladosporium. Why didn't Stachybotrys grow? Maybe because it was way far away from the house by no electric field because my partner wanted that thing nowhere near the house, and we lived in a rural neighborhood on 5 acres, where she made sure it's far enough away from the house. Why does it seem like a lamp cord is something as simple as electric fields that are present in a wire that you plug into the wall? Might be a factor. I don't know the answer.
In terms of mold, don't water it. It won't grow. That we know .
To close, know your cell phone does not help black mold grow. And if you're concerned about EMFs, proactively would like to do something that supports your health and well-being, just consider unplugging all the stuff next to your bed at night.
Sample Preparation Equipment & Supplies:
MEA agar plates from the laboratory, Anderson sampler, Bio Primary Standard calibrator, vane high flow vacuum pump, alcohol swabs to clean the equipment prior to sampling, stop watch.
The plates were prepared by impacting 113 liters of air of outdoor air onto each of them using an Anderson sampler calibrated with a digital Bio primary standard calibration tool.
After being collected outdoors, the 10 samples were randomized using a random number generator into 5 groups or two, to minimize variability inherit with air sampling.
A W.F. Bell 4010 was used to measure A/C magnetic fields.
Electric fields were measured using the Body Voltage method with a multimeter, one end connected to ground as reference.
Two (2) samples were placed in each of the following conditions and locations:
- Exposed to A/C Electric fields by placing the plates on a table in the living room next to an electrical cord plugged in: 2.7 Volts (2,700 mV); 1.0 mG ambient; RF ambient
- Exposed to A/C Magnetic fields by taping the plates to the cover of the fuse box: 0.6 Volts (600 mV); 15- 60 mG. (depending of use of power. 60 mG+ when air-conditioner/ heater blower running, otherwise approximately 15 mG.); RF ambient
- Exposed to RF (high frequency radiation) by placing the plates on top of the WiFi router. Middle unit of a 6-unit condominium duplex: 3.2 Volts (3,200 mV); 1.5 - 3.5 mG. (1.5 mG with interment pulses to 3.5 mG from the WiFi unit. An average of 2.5 mG is used in the data table that follows.)
- Shielded from Electric fields by placing the plates on a sheet of conductive Velostat material connected to a cord plugged in to the electrical ground: 1.0 mG ambient; 0 Volts; RF ambient
- Outside, in Nature, 30 minutes from town: 0.0 mG (as measured with the meter)
*******************************************************
Q: Based on the total counts, not colors, is there a difference - did one set of plates (sample type) grow more than the other?
A: Yes — based on total colony counts , there are differences between the sample types (conditions) as follows:
- Electric Fields had the highest consistent total growth.
- Magnetic Fields were the most variable.
- Grounded and Nature samples had a moderate average, with variation between replicates.
- RF WiFi had the lowest average total colony count.
TO SUMMARIZE:
I was unable to draw definitive conclusions. To perform such as experiment effectively requires a significant amount of money, resources in lab personal, and strict control of environmental conditions, adding to complexity and cost. Based on my observations:
- No. Your cell phone does not help black mold grow.
- Electric cords may help mold grow. Do the sensible thing and unplug them next to your bed at night. The only sample Stachybotrys was detected. The only sample Aspergillus was a clearly isolated and identified Chance? Coincide? Watch the video and see for yourself.
- While this study showed there might be some connection between EMFs and mold growth, specifically molds exposed to electric fields, more research needs to be done.
- Grounding yourself (to reduce electric fields) may be good for your health - it’s also good for the health of mold. The best way to prevent mold is to keep things dry - when there’s a leak in your home dry things out..It does not matter how low of EMF you make your home - water it and mold will grow
- This is a complex topic I don’t think is worth studying further, as we have better things to study for the purpose of obtaining and maintaining optimal health. In regard to mold, it’s as simple as keep things dry, and if they get wet dry them out as fast as possible. Notice in the video mold growth was visible in 48 hours.
To close:
No. Your phone does not help black mold grow.
If you are concerned about EMFs, or proactively would like to do something that supports your health and well being, consider unplugging any and all electrical cords next to or near your bed.
If you found this interesting, please listen, follow and subscribe to my podcasts: “The Daniel Stih Podcast” and the Mold Money Podcast. Thank you!
Daniel Stih