Can I use an electric blanket????

kittynh

Penultimate Amazing
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Where I live its cold. During a long stay in Scotland my rented furnished flat had electric blankets on the beds. It was wonderful to come into a toasty bed at night. When I returned here and contemplated an electric blanket many people (highly educated people too) told me that the low level electric current would encourage cancer. SEveral of my friends have switched to old fashioned hot water bottles instead of heating pads for the same reason. To me, it sounds fishy. What's the facts Jack????
 
From a fellow granite stater...Ok, so I don't know the facts on this one...I use the electric mattress pad (under you, rather than over you, but same electrical problem, if in fact there is one). Maybe it causes cancer, but I have not heard this. (actually, I think consumer reports addressed this a few years back--worth checking at the library, if you don't get CR...)...

anyway, my opinion is...a low risk of cancer in several years? I'm cold now!


(on the other hand, if it makes a good argument to get your pool boy into bed to warm you up, ignore what I have just said)
 
I use an electric blanket. Can't think of any reason why heating your body with shielded electric current would cause cancer.
 
well Pool Boy works when he's here...
he works in Europe for about half each month (bummer, but I go along a lot)
Hey, Merc, do you find a lot of people who live in NH don't actually work here?

so, unless I'm getting a BIG dog, I'm buying a blanket (or the mattress warmer...that sounds yummy too).
 
Being "highly educated" has no bearing on the subject. Are your friends holding down jobs doing research on cancer? Are they Doctors who specialize in treating the disease? Can they point to an authoritive source for their information? If not, then their overall level of education only fools you into giving their beliefs more weight.

As for electric blankets, that scare is part of the "electromagnetic radiation is a health hazard" camp. According to this theory, everything from living near power lines to using a cell phone causes cancer. Of course, mainstream science has failed to find any evidence of this. That doesn't stop lawyers from trying to sue power companies, or quacks from selling you gadgets that are supposed to protect your brain from cell phones.

The dangers of low level electromagnetic radiation are presented by the media and a few websites as a proven fact, so many people believe it must be true. I'm going to continue snuggling up to my warm blanket and worry about more realistic dangers, like being abducted by aliens in the middle of the night.
 
Simply wear electric pajamas or sleep with a harem.

Actually, throwing a very heavy quilt over me keeps me pretty warm.

-Who
 
Several quite extensive sturies have failed to disclose any obvious connection between low-frequency electromagnetic fields and cancer.

So, your electric blanket may possibly increase your risk of cancer, but not by an amount that is presently measurable.

Hans
 
LeFevre said:
Move to Texas!
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Don't mess with it.

It's like 75 when you wake up, and if you don't have air conditioning and you are a toddler or an old person, you will die.

-Who
 
MRC_Hans said:
Several quite extensive sturies have failed to disclose any obvious connection between low-frequency electromagnetic fields and cancer.

So, your electric blanket may possibly increase your risk of cancer, but not by an amount that is presently measurable.

Hans
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Oh that reminds me to correct something I mentioned above. My dad died of lung cancer and he was a heavy smoker. I don't think it was related to using electric blankets for 30 years.
 
Yeah, I had a friend. He got a new acryllic rug in his apartment and two weeks later, he died!



















He drove into the rear-end of a parked truck.

Hans
 
Okay, and now for the facts: yes, they do increase your chance of cancer. Should you worry about it? Absolutely not!

It is not the electric current you that increases the chance of cancer, as it does not flow through you body. It is the electromagnetic field. As others have said, low level electromagnetism has never proved to be a problem to anyone. However... An electric blanket does not give off low level EM. In fact it gives off a very high energy EM field. Heck, that's the whole purpose of it!

You see, 'electromagnetism' is just a fancy word for 'heat' rays. Anything that gives off heat penetrates you with cancer causing EM rays, usually in infrared frequency. Heat pads, hot water bottles, the sun, even a lightbulb. So the electric blanket does too.

Depending on the weather and where you live on the globe it may be more or less than what you would get when you walk outside in the sun. Depending how much you worry about the sun's rays you should decide whether you think it is worth it to increase your chances of cancer a little more by keeping warm in bed. And whether you chose to use an electic blanket for that should depend on your willingness to pay the electric bill! :)

There is no way to eliminate your chances of cancer completely. It is simply something we should learn to live with.
 
You see, 'electromagnetism' is just a fancy word for 'heat' rays. Anything that gives off heat penetrates you with cancer causing EM rays, usually in infrared frequency. Heat pads, hot water bottles, the sun, even a lightbulb. So the electric blanket does too

I'll have to call you on this one. The heat from an electric blanket would be in the infrared light region, wayyyyy different from the microwaves or xray frequencies that are known to actually cause damage to human tissue in large enough doses. It is, in once sense, all energy, but I don't think people should worry about their fireplace log sending out electromagnetic waves.
 
kittynh said:
Where I live its cold.
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Same thing here. We use insulation: glass wool inside outer walls, triple glazing, and things like that. No need for electric blankets or hot water bottles.
 
Can't stand electric blankets. I was given one as a kid and had to take it off the bed as it made me sweat like hot nitroglycerine.

Never heard the cancer tale before. I recall stories of blankets shorting out and roasting you to death, while you lay , pinned by the current, like "Oddjob"in Goldfinger, unable to escape...

We were a lot younger then.

Can't help thinking if the warmth from an electric blanket is energetic enough to cause cancer, the boiling off of your raw flesh due to the photoelectric effect should be sufficient warning that it's time to get up.

And Ed knows what a hot water bottle could do!
 
Cinorjer said:
You see, 'electromagnetism' is just a fancy word for 'heat' rays. Anything that gives off heat penetrates you with cancer causing EM rays, usually in infrared frequency. Heat pads, hot water bottles, the sun, even a lightbulb. So the electric blanket does too

I'll have to call you on this one. The heat from an electric blanket would be in the infrared light region, wayyyyy different from the microwaves or xray frequencies that are known to actually cause damage to human tissue in large enough doses. It is, in once sense, all energy, but I don't think people should worry about their fireplace log sending out electromagnetic waves.
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Youck! And I will have to call you both.

Some of the heat from an electric blanket is in the form of heat rays, or infra-red radiation (the rest is transferred by conduction of heat), and these are indeed exactly the same as from any other heat-source. And they are electromagnetic waves. They are, however, not a part of the EM spectrum that has yet been suspected of causing cancer.

The concern about electric blankets comes from another source: To heat the blanket, an AC current (from your AC outlet) is passed through wires inside the blanket. This 50 or 60HZ current generates a low-frequency electromagnetic field in the immidiate vicinity of the blanket, and as you will obviously have the blanket close to your body, you will be subjected to the field.

All household appliances emit such fields, but few other appliances are wrapped close to your body for hours on a regular basis. So the concern is, in principle, real enough. However, as mentioned, no tests have been able to link such fields conclusively to cancer risks. So even if such a link does exist, the added risk is obviously very small, and will probably have less impact on your health that repeated exposure to cold nights.

When using electric blankets, I would be much more concerned about fire hazards, overheating, and electric shock; I would make sure that my blanket was equipped with the appropriate safety devices, was dry and in good overall shape. If such a blanket gets even slightly worn or damaged, it should be replaced.

Hans
 
This is from the link that UnrepentantSinner posted:
Electric blankets: Of the seven studies so far, six found no increased risk of cancer. In one study, the risk of leukaemia was higher in children whose mothers used an electric blanket while they were pregnant.
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Personally, I think you are at greater risk of choking to death on a piece of fluff from the blanket or of dying by entangling your foot in the cord and cracking your head against your nightstand than you are of getting cancer from the EM. I wonder how many people who foster this nonsense about the dangers of electric blankets smoke in bed (thus adding fuel to that other fun woo-woo topic, spontaneous human combustion)!
 
When I lived in England, and was in a place without central heating, I used to have an electric blanket to warm the bed. I used to turn it off when I got in, though. I thought that was what you were supposed to do.

It worked for me and there is clearly no risk of anything if you turn it off when you get in bed.
 
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