nervous about EMF - substations, underground cables etc, but want to find somewhere to live!

[ottanxious]

Just trying to gage whether I'm being disproporitionally anxious about electrical infrastructure near property. It's exasperating as we've found a few now which are nice, but within questionable distance of power lines and if they're so common maybe it's ok?

We saw at a property which had a substation near it (20m or so) but we felt ok with that, tho didn't want to be any closer- sadly property needed mega modernisation which we didn't have capacity to do.

Found a great flat, but on closer inspection it's got a flipping underground cable running right next to it - so even closer to 11kv.

Is it reasonable to expect to find a 2 bed property in reasonable condition that isn't within questioanble distance of power lines / substations / cables etc>

Or- should I just either get an EMF survey / reader if I need reassurance and get over myself.
AIbU - yes overthinking it, lots of houses are near underground cables / substatons and it doesn't matter.

NAIBU - no, it's something to bear in mind / and a warranted concern

What are you worried about exactly about being close to EMF? Never really heard of power lines ect. Being called that. I wouldn’t want to live near a pylon because they can make a buzzy noise and they are not very nice to look at but if I needed somewhere to live and the house suited 🤷‍♀️

Lol. EMF won't hurt you. Step away from the foil hat nutters on social media.

Oh dear.

I’m not a scientist but I do have enough common sense to know that this is A Bit Nuts. Do you have a Wi-Fi router? A computer? A microwave? All those are also creating EMF. As is anything using electricity. A substation or cable aren’t going to harm you at all.

Spend more time on rightmove and less on YouTube and you’ll find a lovely place to live in no time.

A close relative lived next door to a substation for over 50 years, and all their family were hale and hearty with no ill effects until the parents moved to a nursing home in their 80s.

YABU, very.

The responses on this board are YABU/YANBU ....
In this case You Are Being Unreasonable.

unbelievable.

Yes you are over-worrying about this and you have to live your life. There are bigger things which are actually evidence-based such as air pollution (for which you could get an air purifier/ move to the countryside/ campaign against it).

If this is a real concern for you, you probably have to weigh up for yourself how much disruption you and your partner are willing to go to, in order to avoid it.

I wonder whether this worry spreads out into other areas of your life though? In which case there is therapy available for being able to tolerate uncertainty about things you can't control - search for your local IAPT service for more info.

What you're afraid of is not real. Stay off the qAnon conspiracy websites and consider seeing a therapist to tackle your willingness to believe in nonsensical guff.

I don't even know what EMF is. It's certainly never been something I've ever considered when buying a property. You should try it

Do you want electricity in your house or not? If not, sure, go and live miles away from any infrastructure. Otherwise, you’ll have to put up with living like the rest of us.

My brain went to the 90's band first! 🤷‍♀️🤣

OP, your user name is apt. Step away from bloody Google, FGS.

Oh god yes @NoWordForFluffy

One hit wonder! Unbelievable was a great song tho

I listen to Absolute during my working day and turn it up when it comes on!

They did have another top 40 song called Children, IIRC. It wasn't as good as Unbelievable though.

Me neither. I'd be more concerned about real life issues when moving, like anti social behaviour, school traffic/parking nearby, loud pubs/venues, local amenities. It takes all sorts I guess.

Electromagnetic field.

Afaik the one thing genuinely worth doing to protect against a known health risk of an EMF is wearing sunblock on a sunny day.

I would suggest you get an EMF survey and see what the readings look like. It is impossible to live somewhere where they would be zero, but at most places they are well within the recommended levels.

thank you.
As username suggests I've got quite bad anxiety, and can't sometimes tell 'actual' worries from 'irrational' worries.

Good to check in with folks.
will get EMF readings and go from there.

I opened the thread hoping someone had said this

You’re only going to avoid it completely if you move to the Outer Hebridies, OP.

Don't be daft, they have electrical power infrastructure too.

You're Unbelievable

Human beings emit EMF.

what exactly do you think power lines and substations are doing to the millions of us who live near them? Don’t post a link to a crank website- what do you think is the issue?
Do you understand that all of the electrical systems in your house emit EMFs? Including all the fixed wiring all over the house?
this is a non-problem. Getting a survey will fuel your anxiety by validating your belief that it’s a problem. You’d be better off spending the money on treatment for your anxiety.