Our Love Affair with Video Games

Take a look at the all-time global sales figures of the most popular video gaming systems on the planet.

The trend is clear. The world is in love with video games. But at what risk to the long-term health of ourselves and our children? The answer is uncertain.

Before I realized I was electrically sensitive, my husband bought me a Wii console as a gift and wanted me to play it with him. I never much cared for it, because I always felt tired and had a headache whenever I used it. I could tolerate it for a few minutes at a time, but I never wanted to be in the room for long periods of time when it was on.

Knowing what I know now about wireless frequencies and my sensitivity to them, it makes complete sense to me why I never got into the Guitar Hero craze a few years ago.

Before I divest myself of this toxic environmental polluter, I decided to take it out of the box, set it up, and do a few measurements, just to see how bad the radiation was. Please keep in mind that I'm not trying to single out the Wii; other wireless consoles like the XBox 360 also employ wireless technologies and transmitters as well. This is just a demonstration of my own unit.

Just How Bad Is the Radiation?

Here is a video of my results with the standard game controller:

RECAP:

1. Whenever the control box was on and the remote was on, I was exposed to levels of about 200-250 microwatts/square meter of microwave radiation.
2. If the control box was OFF but the remote was on, I could still generate bursts of almost 200 microwatts/square meter by clicking the trigger button on the remote.
3. I did not have to be actively engaged in playing a game: if the control box was on and the remotes were on, the unit was transmitting, even after the screen went into the dim, power-save mode.

What About Our Inner Rock God?

After seeing what the normal game controller does, I measured the output from the guitar controller. The results are not happy ones. See for yourself.

Yeah, I know. Video games are fun. They're entertaining. They bring families together again, all Hallmark card-like, warm and fuzzy, smiling and hearts filled with love. If you believe everything you see on TV.

Wireless video games are environmental polluters. They muddy the already toxic waters of our home with another insidious form of microwave radiation and increase our cumulative exposure by masquerading as something innocuous and harmless. They may entertain our children for a while and give us more free time to do what we want, but that freedom comes with a price. How great that price is, the world has yet to see.

We ignore the plummeting fertility rates in industrialized nations, the dramatically increased use of pharmaceuticals to suppress hyperactive, aggressive behavior in children, and we ignore this important environmental component in the onset of autism, one of the most frightening pandemics to affect our most precious resource: our children.

What to the Manufacturers have to Say?

The Wii Owner's Manual comes with a warning about RF radiation. Did you read it? It says,

The Wii console and Wii Remote can emit radio waves that can affect the operation of nearby electronics, including cardiac pacemakers.

• Do not operate the Wii console or remote within 9 inches of a pacemaker.

• If you have a pacemaker or other implanted medical device, do not use the Wii console or remote without first consulting your doctor or the manufacturer of your medical device.

Of course, we're sort of blithely ignoring the fact that the entire human body runs on electromagnetic energy, and what will cause electronics to malfunction will also, in the long run, cause the human body to malfunction.

What is the Radiation Threshhold?

The fact is, children are much more susceptible to the harmful biological effects of wireless radiation than adults, simply because their cells are dividing at a faster rate and their neurological development is not complete until about the age of twenty-one. (See our article, Cell Phone Radiation Drastically Underestimated for Children)

For electrically sensitive people like me, the threshold is about 15-20 microwatts, i.e., anything over that power density will cause biological symptoms in a person, such as a headache, rash, or digestive upset. For bau-biologie standards, there is no safe threshold for radio frequency radiation, because adverse biological effects have been observed to occur at levels around 0.1 microwatt/square meter. But for convenience's sake, we use the 0.1 microwatt/square meter as a rule of thumb for super-spectacular low-radiation environments. These are generally unheard of in today's industrialized nations.

How did the Video Game Console Compare to Other Household Devices?

You'll probably be surprised that I was pleasantly surprised by my findings. 200 microwatts, though 2000 times higher than the levels we want to see in a home, and 10 times greater than a sensitive person's safe threshold, is not the biggest offender in the home.

Do you want to know which are the worst offenders?

The Worst Offenders

The worst RF polluters in a home are wireless routers and digital wireless baby monitors. These devices can emit in excess of 20,000 microwatts/square meter continuously, and people routinely keep these devices in the bedroom, baby's room, and sometimes mounted to the baby's crib.

If you read our article, The Most Toxic Thing to Your Pregnancy That You Completely Ignore, we discussed the pilot study by Dr. Klinghardt demonstrating a strong correlation between chronic exposure to radio frequency radiation during gestation and infancy and the development of autism and neurological disorders.

The group of women whose children were affected with autism and other neurological disorders were exposed, on average, to power densities of only 290 microwatts/square meter.

If your household has a wireless router and a wireless game console, think about the cumulative exposure your children are getting every single day. Think about where these devices are located, how often they are used, and what you can do today to make your home environment safer for you and your children.

The Answer to Toxic Black Mold

What if I told you there was an all-natural, non-toxic product that has been shown to kill 85 to 100% of the dreaded Stachybotrys chartarum "Black Mold" spores after only one application?

I didn't believe it myself when a fellow building biologist mentioned this product to me at a recent professional convention. I live in a conventional light wood-frame construction house, which my husband and I built a few years ago before we knew any better. And now that I know that staggering percentages of conventionally built homes suffer from chronic mold infestation, I'm all for finding all-natural, inexpensive solutions to improve the overall indoor air quality of any home. And that includes reducing the number of toxic mold spores that could be releasing poisonous mycotoxins into your home.

A Brief Lesson on Mold and its Health Effects

There are numerous species of mold, and not all of them are as toxic as Stachybotrys, but many of them produce mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are toxic metabolites that mold spores produce during their life cycle, and it's really these mycotoxins, especially the chronic exposure to them, that cause a wide-ranging spectrum of symptoms that can lead to serious illness and even death.

Read more about mycotoxins here.

Common Symptoms of Mold Exposure

Mold can cause a variety of symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, and respiratory problems, as well as the following symptoms, among many others:

1. Asthma
2. Dermatitis
3. Eye and Vision problems
4. Chronic joint pain and inflammation
5. Nervous system disorders
6. Memory and learning problems

If left unchecked, these can build into neurological disorders and life-threatening illnesses. Mold is not something to be taken lightly. It is a formidable adversary, but luckily, nature's bounty has given us powerful weapons to help us in our fight against mycotoxin poisoning in the form of natural essential oils. One formulation of essential oils that has been proven effective against many different types of mold is called Thieves Oil

The Black Plague and the origin of Thieves' Oil

In 15^th century France, during the aftermath of the Black Plague, certain people of ill-repute reportedly would apply mixtures of essential oils to their clothes, go into the homes of people who had died of the plague, and rob them. The antimicrobial properties prevented them from contracting the plague—thus, the name Thieves' Oil came into being.

Modern Day Thieves' Oil

A forward-thinking company found the recipe for thieves' oil and decided to produce it as an all-natural antimicrobial agent, and today the modern incarnation of thieves' oil has retained remarkable capacities to kill airborne bacteria and mold spores, simply by diffusing the oil into the air. Too simple to be true? Some of the best things in life are too simple, and that's why people doubt them, but the results speak for themselves.

Does Thieves' Oil Really Work? Dozens of Case Studies say Yes

In several eye-opening case studies by Dr. Edward Close, a single 48-hour continuous diffusion of the thieves' oil blend into the air of a room with documented, Stachybotrys chartarum
infestation reduced the number of spores from over 10,667 per cubic meter to thirteen. And in another case, over a 72-hour period, from 75,000 to zero. What's more, according to Dr. Close, one treatment of the thieves continues to work for up to five months afterward in buildings. In thirteen out of fourteen case studies on Stachybotrys, Dr. Close found 100% removal of Stachybotrys mold spores after treatment with thieves oil. Read more about Dr. Close's research here.

What Does it Smell Like?

I know what you're thinking: if something is that powerful that it will kill black mold on contact, it's got to stink to high heaven. And for MCS/EHS people, even certain natural terpenes from citrus and wood are enough to cause adverse reactions. Well, here's my commentary, and I'm extremely sensitive to petrochemical products including but not limited to any kind of synthetic fragrance and gasoline fumes. I didn't have any problems at all. It smells like a heartwarming mixture of cinnamon and clove, perfect for the winter season.

My Personal Experience with Thieves

Like most people who live in traditionally constructed homes, I think I might have some mold in my house. Let's face it, over the course of a few years, there are always things like roof leaks, plumbing leaks, A/C compressors that condense and drip where they're not supposed to, and other more disastrous things like flooding and storm damage that can provide pathways for unwanted moisture to creep into our walls and under our baseboards.

This winter, however, I diffused the Thieves' oil to see if it would get rid of a chronic musty smell from the vents when we use the heater a lot in the winter. After a few days, it was gone. Or the mildew smell that comes from the master bathroom after someone has taken a shower. Problem solved. Or the thin powdery substance that sometimes grows on the surface of my indoor potted plants. Not any more! My tell-tale symptoms of an early mold problem in my house have basically disappeared since I started diffusing with Thieves.

Who Should Use Thieves?

Granted, if you have visible mold colonies growing on your walls, you might need a mold remediation specialist (but be sure to hire a company that does not use any toxic biocides in its remediation plan-those can be more harmful than the mycotoxins themselves). But if you're one of the millions of people out there who want to do something proactive to prevent the spread and proliferation of mold in your living space, I strongly recommend diffusing with Thieves. You'll never have to buy another scented candle to cover up musty bathroom odors, because the thieves will address the problem at its root cause, and your house will smell wonderfully crisp and spicy.

It's safe and non-toxic, and does not have any known contraindications, though if you are pregnant, limit your exposure at first and gradually let your body adapt to the diffusion concentration. And it's a perfect example of the baubiologie creed: Nature is the ultimate guide. With all our high-tech poisons and biocides which kill mold but do not adequately prevent it from returning, thieves' oil goes one step further, without the toxic aftereffects by continuing to prevent future mold growth, even after the diffusing has been discontinued. Nature's bounty has given us a most powerful weapon in our arsenal against mold. Isn't that amazing? You should really give it a try.

Shop for Thieves' oil products

Shop for mold test kits

Further Reading: Links to Mold Spore Studies

Cinnamon Bark vapors as "the Ideal chemotherapy for respiratory tract mycoses"

Inhibition of aflatoxin production using essential oils

Essential oils as safe alternatives to preservatives used in bakery products

Effects of cinnamon essential oil against wood decay fungi