Do 'EMF harmonizing gadgets work?

EMFs are hard to avoid...from hair dryers to alarm clocks, to our phones. Are EMFs safe, and how can we protect ourselves? ⚡📱🧠

Apr 22, 2025

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Are We in Danger?

You’ve probably seen headlines warning of brain fog or inattention from Wi-Fi, infertility from phones in pockets, or even cancer linked to cell towers or power lines.

On the flip side, public health bodies like the FDA and WHO assure us that EMF exposure from consumer electronics remains well within safety limits.1 2

What’s the truth? My team and I spent a couple of weeks looking at the studies, and we are here to lay it all out for you today.

What Are EMFs, Really?

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) are invisible electric or magnetic energy (aka radiation) that can be found naturally in our environment (e.g., sunlight) or generated by electrical power or when signals are transmitted wirelessly.

When we talk about the electromagnetic spectrum, it covers a wide array of things:

However, generally, when people say ‘radiation’ - they are usually thinking of ionizing radiation on the right-hand side of the chart - X-rays, UV light - which are high frequency and have enough energy to damage our DNA.

However, light, infrared, cell phones, and microwaves are NON-IONIZING. This means they won’t damage our DNA, and these are what people commonly refer to as ‘EMF’. EMF can further be divided into:

Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) EMFs: On the left side of the chart - Found in power lines, electrical wiring, and household appliances (think: wired alarm clocks, fridges, vacuums, hairdryers).
Radiofrequency (RF) EMFs: In the middle of the chart - Emitted by wireless devices like cell phones, Wi-Fi routers, Bluetooth devices.

So... Is EMF Dangerous?

The science is nuanced. While EMFs don’t cause the kind of DNA damage that ionizing radiation does, concerns have emerged around chronic, low-level exposure—especially from RF sources held close to the body, like phones, or high-voltage power lines.3 4 5 6

What the Science Says (And Doesn't)

The FDA’s 2020 review of over 125 studies found no consistent evidence linking radiofrequency radiation to cancer.7 The World Health Organization echoed this conclusion in a 2024 systematic review, stating that mobile phone use likely does not increase the risk of brain cancer or childhood cancers from radio towers.8

However, the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), part of the WHO, has classified RF-EMFs as “possibly carcinogenic” (Group 2B).9 This means there was SOME data suggesting a potential increase in cancer risk, but not enough, so more research is warranted.

They looked at lots of human, animal, and petri dish studies. 5 out of the 9 human studies they looked at showed an increased glioma (brain tumor) and acoustic neuroma (tumor of the hearing nerve) risk in heavy mobile phone users (Heavy being defined as >1,640 hours of use, or ~30 minutes daily for 10 years, of holding the phone to their heads). The other 4 studies showed no increased risks.

If you look at smaller organizations like EUROPAEM (European Academy of Environmental Medicine) and the BioInitiative Report, you’ll notice they place more weight on animal studies than the FDA or WHO.10 11 These groups argue that the current exposure limits set by regulatory bodies like the FCC (Federal Communications Commission, USA) and ICNIRP (International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) are too high and don't adequately protect public health—and have called for limits hundreds of times lower to be set.12 13

So, is EMF a carcinogen? We don’t know for sure. But the evidence isn’t zero, either. It’s murky and inconsistent, but there is enough there to justify caution.

I also think that this is a situation where everyone will react differently. Whether EMF increases your cancer risk probably depends on your individual toxin bucket, the state of your immune health, your lifestyle, and much more. Mechanistic studies have shown that EMF has more biological effects on the cell when the cells are exposed to toxins.14 15 16

When there’s smoke but no confirmed fire, my approach is simple: I take practical precautions.

I’ll share exactly what that looks like below (and no, it doesn’t involve “EMF-harmonizing” gadgets—there’s no solid evidence they work, and in some cases, I actually think they might make things worse. More on that later).

Health Concerns Beyond Cancer

1. Fatigue, Brain Fog, and Anxiety

Multiple observational and epidemiological studies have shown mixed results. A comprehensive review cited 26 human studies, of which 18 reported strong associations between EMF exposure and neuropsychiatric symptoms listed below.17 These effects are thought to be mediated by calcium channel disruption and oxidative stress, not heat (which is what the FCC and ICNIRP exposure limits are based on):

Fatigue and low energy
Poor concentration and memory
Insomnia and headaches
Irritability and restlessness

Still, studies show mixed results. Some controlled trials found no physiological changes or symptoms even in people who self-reported EMF hypersensitivity.18 This suggests a placebo or nocebo effect may be at play in some cases.

2. Impact on Children and Pregnancy

I do feel these two groups should be extra cautious when it comes to EMF. Children may be more vulnerable to EMFs because of thinner skulls, smaller head sizes, and developing brains.19 Several studies have reported:

Behavioral issues (like hyperactivity) in children exposed to phones in utero and in early childhood.20
Lower verbal and cognitive scores in children living near cell towers or with high Wi-Fi exposure.21 22
Children whose address at birth was within 200m of a high-voltage power line are 70% more likely to develop leukemia compared to those who lived more than 600m away.23 When they tested the EMF in these homes, they found that those with a magnetic field of >4 milligauss (mG) had double the risk of developing leukemia compared to those who had <1mG magnetic fields at home.

The BioInitiative Report—a sweeping compilation of studies—recommends limiting ELF exposure to 1mG for children and pregnant women due to these observed correlations with childhood leukemia.24