Electromagnetic Radiation Pollution and Shielding Textiles

Learn - January 18, 2022

With the further deepening of the technological revolution, the types and intensity of electromagnetic fields in the environment have increased unprecedentedly, mainly from transmission and distribution lines, radio and television transmitters, mobile phones and their base stations, radars, computers, microwave ovens, etc., as well as various equipments used in industries, medical care and commercial fields. Although these high-tech products benefit human beings, they also bring hidden dangers to health in electromagnetic field. Electromagnetic radiation is composed of electrical energy and magnetic energy that are transferred together in space, and this energy is generated by the movement of electric charges. Electromagnetic radiation includes the ones from extremely low frequency to extremely high frequency. With the large-scale use of electronic and electrical equipment, the electromagnetic wave energy existing on the earth has greatly increased. A certain intensity of electromagnetic wave radiation not only directly affects the normal operation of electronic equipment in various fields, but also has adverse effects on human health. The human body is interfered by electromagnetic waves, which changes the original electric field of the molecules in the body tissues, which leads to the disorder of the body's ecological balance, and causes symptoms such as memory decline, insomnia, dreaminess, hair loss, fatigue, dizziness, and menstrual disorders. Electrocardiogram shows arrhythmia, etc. It can also affect the eyesight, and in severe cases can induce cataracts, central nervous system dysfunction, pregnant women abortion, congenital malformations of offspring, leukemia, tumors and other diseases.

Electromagnetic radiation pollution is significantly different from air pollution, water pollution and waste pollution. This kind of pollution is a pollution phenomenon that cannot be sensed by the senses, and is hailed as an "invisible killer." The World Health Organization believes that among all kinds of pollution, electromagnetic radiation poses the greatest threat, and it has become a serious problem affecting public health and destroying the ecological environment in today's world. At present, electromagnetic radiation has become the fourth largest environmental pollution after water, air, and noise pollutions, and has been listed as a pollution that must be controlled by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

The influence of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on human health

As early as a century ago, scientists discovered the effect of electromagnetic waves on the human nervous system. If people work in a strong electromagnetic field (EMF), their sensitivity to sound, light, and taste will change, the visual movement reaction time is significantly longer, and some reaction time is extended by 11%, slower adaptation to light, poor hand-brain coordination, and memory speed response of numbers slows down and there are more errors.

As a result, the increase in work-related injuries and traffic accidents is not difficult to understand. The most prominent impact of electrosmog on human behavior is the impact on memory, which is manifested in memory decline, especially short-term memory loss. At the same time, it makes people emotionally abnormal, irritable, causing sleep disorders, and inability to concentrate; over time, symptoms such as headache, tinnitus, muscle and joint pain or itching appear.

People who have been exposed to short wave for a long time have weakened libido and are indifferent to the opposite sex. When you stop working in such an environment, the uncomfortable feeling will slowly disappear. Women's long-term exposure to high frequency wave causes poor fetal congenital quality, physical defects or dementia. It will also increase the incidence of congenital urethral abnormalities in babies born by 10 times.

Therefore, it makes sense for experts to repeatedly warn TV fans not to be too close to the TV when watching. The habit of using electrical appliances for a long time and body contacting needs to be changed.

Workers, such as those working in the environments of television broadcast transmission stations, microwave stations, radar systems, and industrial, scientific research, and medical high-frequency equipments, are exposed to electromagnetic radiation for a longer time and with higher intensity. The more serious the harm is.

The research report published by Peng Qingtao and others in the 3rd issue of the Chinese Journal of Medical Physics in 2013: Using a biological body weak magnetic field analyzer to monitor 181 electromagnetic radiation workers, they found that they have more prominent uncomfortable symptoms in the digestive system, calcium metabolism system, blood pressure system, heart system, exercise system, immune system, and respiratory system. The operating environment of electromagnetic radiation affects the health of workers, and effective safety protection measures should be taken to reduce or eliminate the impact of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on human health. A number of research reports have proved that workers in power plants and power supply companies are exposed to high-dose power frequency electric fields when working under substations and high-voltage transmission lines. The electromagnetic leakage of some high-frequency electric heating equipments in our country is relatively serious, and the pollution of the environment near the equipments causes serious injury to the operators. According to relevant reports at home and abroad, electromagnetic radiation can cause the following diseases:

1. Central nervous system dysfunction and autonomic disorders

Dizziness, insomnia, dreaminess, fatigue, weakness, memory loss, heart palpitations, etc. are the most serious; followed by headache, sore limbs, loss of appetite, hair loss, weight loss, hyperhidrosis, some people have tachycardia, increased blood pressure, and also some people have arrhythmia. Some people who have been exposed to high intensity EMF for a long time will experience changes in brain bioelectricity, white blood cells may increase or decrease, and the changes will be extremely unstable.

2. Damage to eyes and testicles

Eyes are the organ of the human body that is more sensitive and vulnerable to microwave radiation. Its lens may appear cloudy or edema; in severe cases, cataracts and even total loss of vision.

The damage of microwave radiation to the testis is also more serious. Because microwaves can inhibit the process of sperm production, it can make men suffer from temporary infertility. If the radiation is too strong, it will cause permanent infertility.

Bioelectromagnetics studies have shown that the eyes and testicles of the human body are the tissues that are most vulnerable to thermal effect, because they are relatively lack of effective blood circulation to emit excessive heat (blood circulation is the main mechanism for the human body to process excessive heat). Biological experiments have shown that high-power radio frequency (RF) radiation (100-200Mw/cm) short-term exposure (such as 1 hour and 30 minutes) can cause cataracts in rabbits. When the testicles are exposed to high-power radio frequency radiation (or other forms of energy that produce an equivalent temperature rise), the thermal effect changes the sperm count and motility, which can lead to temporary infertility.

3. Inducing cancer or immunodeficiency diseases

The mechanism of inducing cancer has been fiercely debated in today's medical community, but electromagnetic radiation is an important factor in inducing cancer, which has been a consensus in the academic community.

4. Causing mental system dysfunction

The American psychiatrist pointed out that the significant increase in mental patients in recent years has a clear relationship with the increasing intensity of the surrounding electromagnetic field. The reason is that the human brain also has its own tiny electromagnetic field, which must be compatible with the external electromagnetic field, otherwise, it will affect people's behavior due to maladjustment. Some scholars have proposed that this behavioral change is caused by the disorder of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal or sympathetic nerve-adrenal system.

5. Damage to the blood system and autoimmune system

Electromagnetic radiation can cause disorder and damage to the autoimmune system, resulting in many autoimmune diseases, such as lupus erythematosus, nephritis, rheumatoid, leukemia and so on.

Epidemiological studies have found that people who have been exposed to electromagnetic radiation for a long time are prone to symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, memory loss, loss of appetite, irritability, blood pressure changes, and leucopenia, etc. Irregular menstruation may occur in women, and individual men may experience decline in sexual function, which can lead to teratogenesis, and cancerous changes in certain organs.

The mechanisms of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) harming the human body

The danger of electromagnetic radiation to the human body is caused by particles of different kinds of electromagnetic wave energy. When such high-speed particles penetrate the human body, they will change or destroy the molecular mechanism of human cells. If the radiation intensity is low, damaged proteins and other molecules can usually be repaired; high-intensity radiation will directly kill the cells. Even if the intensity is low, if the radiation affects the DNA that produces protein in the cell, it will still have a major impact on the body. Radiation energy directly affects DNA, destroys its molecular structure, and causes potentially fatal tumors.

The mechanisms of electromagnetic radiation harming the human body are mainly thermal effect, non-thermal effect and cumulative effect, etc.

(1) Thermal effect: More than 70% of the human body is water. The water molecules rub against each other after being radiated by electromagnetic waves, causing the body to heat up, thereby affecting the normal work of internal organs.

(2) Non-thermal effects: Weak electromagnetic fields exist in human organs and tissues. They are stable and orderly. Once disturbed by external electromagnetic fields, the weak electromagnetic fields in a balanced state will be destroyed and the human body will also suffer damage.

(3) Cumulative effect: After the thermal effect and non-thermal effect act on the human body, the damage to the human body has not yet had time to repair itself (usually referred to as human body endurance-internal resistance), if it is exposed to electromagnetic wave radiation again, the degree of damage will accumulate, and over time, it will become a permanent disease and life-threatening. For groups exposed to electromagnetic wave radiation for a long time, even if the power is very small and the frequency is very low, it may induce unexpected lesions, so we should be vigilant.

The methods of shielding electromagnetic radiation (EMR)

For the harms of electromagnetic radiation, passive protection methods are often used at present. In addition to improving the working environment and paying attention to the use methods, measures such as equipped with radiation protection clothing, radiation protective screens, radiation shielding curtains, and anti radiation glasses are adopted for the people frequently contacting EMR, in order to reduce or eliminate the harms of electromagnetic radiation. The specific methods are as follows:

(1) All kinds of household appliances, office equipment, mobile phones, etc. should not be operated for a long time. When electrical appliances such as TVs, computers, etc. need to be used for a long period of time, you should leave once per hour, and look into the distance or close your eyes to reduce eye fatigue and the effects of EMR.

(2) When electrical appliances are not in use, it is the best not to keep them in a standby state, because weak electromagnetic fields (EMF) can be generated at this time, and radiation accumulation will also occur over a long period of time.

(3) A certain safe distance should be kept when using various electrical appliances. For example, the distance between the eyes and the TV screen is usually as about 5 times as the width of the screen; the microwave oven should be one meter away after turning on, pregnant women and children should stay away from the microwave oven; when the mobile phone is in use, the distance between the head and the mobile phone antenna should be as far as possible, and it is better to use separate earphones and microphones to answer calls.

(4) People who live and work near high-voltage lines, radar stations, television stations, electromagnetic wave transmission towers, patients with pacemakers and people living in modern electrical automated environments, especially pregnant women, children, and the elderly with weak resistance, if conditions permit, the products such as anti-radiation cards, etc. blocking electromagnetic radiation should be equipped.

(5) The radiation generated by TV and computer screens may cause dry skin, accelerate skin aging and even cause skin cancer, so wash your face in time after use.

(6) The electromagnetic radiation is the largest when the mobile phone is connected. For this reason, it is the best to answer the call after the mobile phone rings for one or two seconds or when the phone rings between two times.

(7) Eat more carrots, tomatoes, kelp, lean meat, animal liver and other foods rich in vitamin A, C and protein to strengthen the body's ability to resist electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

Anti-radiation textiles

Anti-radiation textiles use a loop formed by metal fibers in the textile to generate induced current, and the induced current generates a reverse electromagnetic field for shielding. Good metal conductors can reflect electromagnetic waves, that is, when the aperture of the metal mesh is smaller than the 1/4 wavelength of the electromagnetic wave (wavelength = speed of light/frequency), the electromagnetic wave cannot pass through the metal mesh.

All anti-radiation textiles on the market are made using this principle. The fabric contains conductive metal fibers or conductive silver fibers. The metal fiber refers to stainless steel metal fiber, and the silver fiber refers to a composite fiber formed by plating pure silver into nylon. Both fibers have good conductivity, so it can play a role in shielding electromagnetic waves.

1. Overview of the development of electromagnetic radiation protection textiles

After the international electromagnetic radiation protection standards were formulated in the 1960s, electromagnetic radiation shielding materials appeared immediately. In the 1980s, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States and other countries developed anti-radiation shielding aprons and shielding protective clothing in order to prevent radiation hazards from household appliances and electronic products. Germany is the first country to study electromagnetic radiation protection materials. Its Snowtex fabric is woven by blending polyester or polyamide fibers with copper, stainless steel, carbon or other metal alloys. The German Tempex Co., Ltd. and the supplier Ploucquet have developed an electromagnetic radiation shielding fabric by coating silver on both sides of the fabric. The shielding effectiveness of this fabric made into a garment will not be attenuated by zippers and seams. The US NSP Company and Euclid Garment Company have jointly developed a fabric made of micro-fine stainless steel fibers. Swiss Shield Company and Sperry Company of Switzerland uses silver-plated copper wire, coated with polyurethane film, and then coated with a layer of cotton or polyester fiber with spinning technology to develop a thin fabric for electromagnetic radiation protection, with a shielding effect of up to 50dB. Kanebo of Japan blends silver nylon yarn with other short fibers, and its products can block more than 96% of electromagnetic waves.

2. The anti-radiation fabrics are as follows

(1) Mixed braid of metal wire and clothing yarn

The mixed braid of metal wire and clothing yarn is the earliest used electromagnetic wave shielding fabric. The metal wire is mainly made of copper wire, nickel wire, stainless steel wire and their alloy wire. In special occasions, silver wire or lead wire is also used.

(2) Metal fiber blended fabric

In order to further improve the wearability of the electromagnetic field (EMF) shielding fabric, the metal wire is drawn into a fiber shape, and then blended with the clothing fiber to woven into a blended fabric. The metal fibers selected are mainly nickel fibers and stainless steel fibers, and the fiber diameter can be 2-10 microns.

(3) Vacuum metallized fabric

There are two main types of metal fabrics prepared by vacuum plating (physical vapor deposition) metal technology. One is to first plate the metal on the polyester film, then cut into wire and inlay in the fabric; the other is to directly coat the metal on the fabric, and then coat the surface with resin.

(4) Metal coated fabric

Adopting a mature coating technology to infiltrate conductive and magnetic materials into the coating slurry, so that the improved fabric has the ability to shield electromagnetic waves. The selected conductive and magnetic materials mainly include silver powder, copper powder, iron powder, and graphite powder, etc.

(5) Electroless plating metal fabric

Electroless plating is to coat metals such as copper, nickel and their alloys on the fabric (the main substrate is polyester, aramid, glass and carbon fiber fabric), and then coat the surface with resin to obtain a uniform coating.

(6) YLshielding® silver fiber / silver plated fabrics

Hebei Yuanlong Textile Technology Co., Ltd. (YLshielding®) adopts vacuum magnetron sputtering silver plating technology to produce silver fiber yarns and silver plated fabrics. The outer layer is 99.99% pure silver, which is resistant to oxidation, discoloration, perspiration, salt water and excellent electrical conductivity. YLshielding® silver fiber yarns are made by coating nylon raw filament with 99.99% pure silver to become a permanent layer; and YLshielding® silver plated fabrics are made by plating nylon base fabric with 99.99% pure silver to form a permanent metal layer. They not only maintain the functions of nylon raw filament and base fabric, but also have the functions of electrical conductivity, antibacterial, deodorizing, antistatic and temperature regulating. Their electrical conductivities are as several times or even hundreds of times as the general conductive metals. YLshielding® silver fiber / silver plated fabrics are the excellent materials for shielding electromagnetic radiation, and they also absorbs moisture and dries quickly, feel soft, safe and comfortable, and can be worn next to the body.

Conclusion

Human beings have lived on the earth for hundreds of thousands of years. Their survival and development have only been spent under the natural magnetic field of the earth. But now, human beings are forced to live in the electromagnetic radiation environments, such as towering TV towers, relay stations, radar stations, scattered radio stations, mobile phone 4G (and coming 5G) base stations, and high-voltage power lines dense like spider webs, mobile phones, as well as household appliances necessary for thousands of households, they are constantly radiating electromagnetic waves. In the living environment where people live, an invisible, intangible, inaudible, and intricate electromagnetic radiation network is formed. Therefore, the environmental protection textile market has a bright future.

YLshielding® Silver Fiber / Silver Plated Fabrics for EMF Radiation Protection, Antimicrobial

Dual faced silver fiber modal woven fabric

Double faced silver fiber modal knitted fabric

Double faced silver fiber cotton plain woven fabric

Twin faced silver fiber cotton twill woven fabric

60% silver fiber colored woven fabric

55% silver fiber silk-like woven fabric

Pure silver plated ripstop fabric

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YLshielding® Metal Fiber Blended Anti-wave Fabrics