Regulated Headlights - Health Impact ( EMF )

I've been wondering about one of the not so popular aspects of regulated Headlights:

How strong would be the electromagnetic field created by a 3-4 Watt Switching Mode Power supply in an unshielded case ?

I have only ELF (50Hz) testing equipment which is not suitable for this case, but i suspect that mounting this power supply so close to the brain is not the best idea.

As an example i can say that a simple 12v 1A linear power supply (with transformer) The kind we use for our WiFi router etc... creates over 1000 mili Gauss field at 5cm from it. That's about 1000 times more than the recommended value. If we would mount such thing on our forehead, that would be a straight way to the graveyard !

Regulated headlights use a high frequency switchnig power supplies with much smaller induction coils and possibly create lower feilds (but with higher frequency). Unfortunately i can not measure it with my equipment.

I have a Prinecton Tec Apex and hadn't seen any FCC labels on it. I guess they could avoid the FCC EMI tests due to the product type which is 'just' a Headlamp.

Maybe some of the tech guys here have access to some measurement equipment and can put some light on this topic...

interesting....i'll keep my eyes on this thread.

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

Elf testing equipment. Heh heh. Heh. A quick test of an external hard disk switched power supply showed it doesn't affect my CRT computer monitor at all. Does that mean the power supply is shielded?

:tinfoil: on all our headlamps from now on?

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

Huge effort is being put to shield CRT monitors from external interference so actually the monitor is shielded in this case and not the power supply. Modern CRT monitors are not susceptible to most high frequency EMI.

Switching power supply on the contrary can even block radio stations in your entire apartment if one of its noise harmonics falls near the radio station frequency.

And no... you can not measure EMF with a radio First you don't know the frequency it works on. Second watching the influence of the interference ( on CRT screen, radio etc ) will not give you a precise value and you will never know if it's above the accepted standards or not.

I guess that if you move away about 0.5-1 meter from your power supply you are safe. But the headlamp is just on our head (or worse on our children head) and sometimes for a long time...

And no, don't fall in the "if they sell it - its safe" trap. I have a tabletop (small) fan. The ELF from it drops to 1mG only about 3 meters away ! Imagine how many people sleep within 1 meter away from it for many months/years... And yes. it kills. My large floor fan on the contrary is safe already at 30cm. So you never know unless you measure.

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

madcat108 said:

Huge effort is being put to shield CRT monitors from external interference so actually the monitor is shielded in this case and not the power supply. Modern CRT monitors are not susceptible to most high frequency EMI.

Click to expand...

On the other hand, my non-emitting half metre steel ruler gives it conniptions.

madcat108 said:

I have a tabletop (small) fan. The ELF from it drops to 1mG only about 3 meters away !

Click to expand...

I didn't think radiation was measured in gauss. Can you explain, please?

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

TorchBoy said:

On the other hand, my non-emitting half metre steel ruler gives it conniptions.

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Can you check if it is magnetized ? I guess it is. I is extremely difficult to shield somth against a constant magnetic field. When you put a magnet near a CRT screen you divert the electron beam and distort the picture. By moving the magnet you create alternating magntic feild same like in electric motor, which is basically ELF.

TorchBoy said:

I didn't think radiation was measured in gauss. Can you explain, please?

Click to expand...

Radiation is just a general word. Basically it is divided to :

• Ionizing - Gamma rays (like in nuclear reactors), X-Rays etc...
• Non ionizing - Electromagnetic fields (EMF) below 300 Ghz

The EMF spectrum also divides into few categories and each one has its own properties and standards. But all are dangerous.

You can read about ELF (Extremely low frequency) here for example :
http://www.icswebsite.com/emf/emfissues/emfissues5.html

That one i can measure, i gave just just as an example and this is NOT the one we are talking here. Switching power supply uses much higher frequency (possibly few Mhz ) it also can be dangerous and i don't have measurement equipment for it.
After having a good gauss meter for some time i can guess the danger of nearly any household appliance from the point of view of ELF even without measuring. But i have no idea at all about higher frequency appliances like switching power supplies, laptops, computers and so on. What puts the regulated headlight out of all is its direct proximity to the head for a prologed time.
Thus i was asking if anyone knows anything on this topic.

what if the headlamp is strapped on, near the heart? i use it mostly on a shoulder strap.

We humans sit near walls with Romex inside or, worse yet, knob & tube wiring with strong 60Hz fields. Some of us live near million volt transmission lines or million watt transmitters. I'm curious about those, too.

How vulnerable are we? I wish we had more data.

sORe-EyEz said:

what if the headlamp is strapped on, near the heart? i use it mostly on a shoulder strap.

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First, we don't know yet if indeed there is any significant EMF involved. Of course it is there but maybe it's negligible. I've never said that regulated headlights are dangerous. Only that it is possible and someone has to measure it.
Second, you've touched the most difficult part of the topic : the influence of EMF on human body. Many research institutes are working on this for many years. There are many results published. Some are funded by the manufacturers... So the official picture is pretty complicated. But here we have an advantage of not being "official" so we can say it simple.
If you'll ask my personal (and unscientific) opinion. I'd guess that mounting it on the shoulder is safer. And on your leg even more safe... provided its far from your OO :laughing:

Btw... i'm curious... how do you mount it on your shoulder ? Do you use the stock strap ? I tried to remove the top strap from my Apex and mount it on the shoulder but it does not feel convenient, falling off and the wide angle leds light into my eyes.

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

madcat108 said:

Radiation is just a general word. Basically it is divided to :

• Ionizing - Gamma rays (like in nuclear reactors), X-Rays etc...
• Non ionizing - Electromagnetic fields (EMF) below 300 Ghz

The EMF spectrum also divides into few categories and each one has its own properties and standards. But all are dangerous.

You can read about ELF (Extremely low frequency) here for example :
http://www.icswebsite.com/emf/emfissues/emfissues5.html

That one i can measure, i gave just just as an example and this is NOT the one we are talking here. Switching power supply uses much higher frequency (possibly few Mhz ) it also can be dangerous and i don't have measurement equipment for it.
After having a good gauss meter for some time i can guess the danger of nearly any household appliance from the point of view of ELF even without measuring. But i have no idea at all about higher frequency appliances like switching power supplies, laptops, computers and so on. What puts the regulated headlight out of all is its direct proximity to the head for a prologed time.
Thus i was asking if anyone knows anything on this topic.

Click to expand...

If anyone cares to look further into the web site to which you linked, they'll find that it's run by a company that sells a keyboard (?) which supposedly blocks EMF from your computer, as well as cell phone batteries which purport to do the same.

There is some interesting reading in this link, which debunks many of the claims.

jayflash said:

We humans sit near walls with Romex inside or, worse yet, knob & tube wiring with strong 60Hz fields. Some of us live near million volt transmission lines or million watt transmitters. I'm curious about those, too.
How vulnerable are we? I wish we had more data.

Click to expand...

There is no reason to panic. But also only you and yourself can ensure your own and your family's safety on this regard.
If your concern is ELF ( i.e. field from power lines, transformers, home appliances) just buy a good tri-axial gaussmeter which is very easy to operate and will show you everything you need on the ELF topic.
Try to google on the topic. I don't want anyone here start accusing me in selling gaussmeters

Re: Regulated Headlamps - Health Impact ( EMF )

MorePower said:

If anyone cares to look further into the web site to which you linked, they'll find that it's run by a company that sells a keyboard (?) which supposedly blocks EMF from your computer, as well as cell phone batteries which purport to do the same.

Click to expand...

Oh... gosh... Here it starts......
The guy asked a general question about the Gauss unit. I just googled to find a site with a simple and good explanation on what is ELF and why it is measured in Gauss. The top part of that page gives a nice explanation to that. If you can give a better explanation you could answer his question as well.
Additionally if anyone has a doubt that EMF / ELF is a health hazard... well... I wont even tell you to start reading on the topic... some people smoke, some use drugs what to do ? Just skip this thread then.
But when an office worker gets cancer we just sigh... And no one pays attention on the electrical cabinet on the back side of the wall behind his desk that put 300 mG into him through the wall for the past 5 years.

MorePower said:

There is some interesting reading in this link, which debunks many of the claims.

Click to expand...

I don't deal with, don't sell and don't discuss here any "EMF eliminating" equipment. So it Looks OT to me and i don't know what "claims" are you talking about.

Fact: chemical exposure and cancer risk is a generally accepted fact
and avoidable in easily understandable ways i.e. don't breathe the fumes, don't touch the liquid, and don't eat more than (X)ppm etc.

But EMI exposure and cancer risk is something that folks can panic
over because its invisible and radiating from all the powered items around you.
Some a lot more than others!
People understand that they cannot avoid EMI, but dislike the reality so keeping EMI sources a safe distance from the body is something easily understandable. So a direct drive headlamp seems sane while ones with
boost/buck regulation that radiate EMI is nuts.

madcat108 said:

If you'll ask my personal (and unscientific) opinion. I'd guess that mounting it on the shoulder is safer. And on your leg even more safe... provided its far from your OO :laughing:

Btw... i'm curious... how do you mount it on your shoulder ? Do you use the stock strap ? I tried to remove the top strap from my Apex and mount it on the shoulder but it does not feel convenient, falling off and the wide angle leds light into my eyes.

Click to expand...

hmmm... luckily i don't use a pacemaker.:nana: mounting on legs would be safer but the beam bobbing up & down like a tiny boat on choppy waters.:green:

mounting Apex on shoulders will be more tricky because there 2 parts to the light. like my Pelican 2630. i used polyester strap sold per length, trail guides (those plastic accessories commonly used for packs for adjusting length). to fit the battery unit & lamp unit into one combined unit, den finally use snap on/off buckle to attach to a back pack strap. a little basic sewing is needed for some of the trail guides. works better for SL Argo HP.:thumbsup:

lets see.... don't use electric blankets because a wire with electricity going through it produces a magnetic field. Don't sleep on a spring bed for fear the springs are magnetized. Don't drive a car because the alternator and distributor and dash and car stereo produce tiny magnetic fields. Don't watch tv, don't use an electric dryer or range. don't use CCFL lamps.... nothing metal or electric allowed.... lol
I seriously doubt the electronics in a headlamp is going to hurt you even a fraction as much as cholesterol in your diet does and breathing the air outside and mowing your lawn etc.

Hei Lynx arc - I know its a bit of tongue in cheek on this EMI from regulated headlamps. But...The inverse square law is real. NO one watches the food cook
in a microwave oven with their nose pressed against the door. Why I wonder?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverse-square_law

A high power example for sure , unlike the very small headlamp EMI. How could such a small power level hurt and trigger cancer? Some say because its so close to the head. Here's a link to a report about tumors growing around RFID
implanted chips inside lab animals. Now this is in the same power range as regulated headlamps ie portable scanner to read the implanted RFID chip.
Makes me think.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/08/AR2007090800997_pf.html

could it be tumors grow around the RFID chips because they are foreign matter? RFID chips are in there 24/7, I doubt anyone uses a headlamp 24/7 and how much cancer does headphones give folks with the magnetic drivers?

This reminds me of the debate about cellphones and possible brain cancer. So far nothing's proven there is a link.

There needs to be more scientific study over these things, but I won't be losing sleep until there's concrete evidence that this stuff will be more harmful than the things we know for sure are bad for us (smoking, pollution, bad diets, etc).

Lynx, I hear you but foreign bodies such as pace makers and breast implants do not have a 1-10% cancer (sarcoma) incidence! Consider that for a moment.

EMI and cancer risk is a complex issue that medical experts do not understand
fully. Believe in the Inverse square law and keep unshielded EMI sources away from the body to be safe. An annoying burden added to the others in my life

............

yup.... get rid of the cellphone and keep the headlamp it is safer LOL