Radiation Exposure from Flying on Airplanes

by Dr. Nelson October 16, 2019

Hello!,

Traveling peaks during the holidays when people are going home to relax with family so it's good to discuss the ways you can minimize your radiation exposure while taking your vacation. Give your health a recharge too. Ever heard that you should opt out of security scans to protect yourself from exposure? Well if you have ever opted out, you are sure to remember a grumbling staff member that is trained to give pat downs tell you how you are getting much more exposure on the plane compared to one of those machines. For years, we have always opted for a pat down instead of going through the scanners despite the stares from unaware passengers of the dangers that they are exposing their health too.

Which raises the question, is that true, and if so, just how much emf radiation do we get when we fly? The fact is that when you’re in the air, you are indeed exposed to additional radiation. This is not a new concept. Jon Barron talked about it 20 years ago in the first edition of Lessons From The Medical Doctors.

Where Exactly does the Radiation Originate from?

The radiation comes from space—from earth’s magnetic fields, from solar flares, and from cosmic rays emitted by the stars. The radiation you get in-flight differs from what you get during a medical x-ray or an airport scan. Space radiation is heavily ionizing, which means it can travel through matter and human tissue easily, knocking out the electrons, which can trigger changes to DNA and cell structure if the dose is high enough. When you’re on the ground the earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field give you plenty of protection from these natural energies, but when you’re in the air, that protection is lessened.

The amount of space radiation you’re exposed in flight depends on flight length, how high you fly, and the latitude of your flight path. The earth’s magnetic shield is most powerful around the equator, so if your flight takes you along those tropical zones, you’ll experience less radiation exposure than if you fly closer to the earth’s poles. In fact, you’ll get about two to three times the dose of radiation if you fly a northern or southern route compared to a route close to the equator. And of course, the longer the flight, the more radiation you’re exposed to.

For occasional travelers, the exposure is negligible. A typical coast-to-coast, round-trip flight exposes you to about the same amount of radiation you’d get from a chest x-ray. Going from New York to Tokyo one-way will expose you to the equivalent of two chest x-rays.

So Why is this Dangerous?

So the next question you're probably asking is, what are those effects? It’s a known fact that radiation can cause cancer, birth defects, and DNA damage. Studies to date have largely focused on effects of x-rays and nuclear radiation, not on the cosmic radiation in space. Still, a JAMA review of 19 studies involving over 260,000 people found that pilots and aircrew members have twice the incidence of melanoma compared to the general population. And, a study in Iceland found that long-term flight attendants developed breast cancer at five times the rate of the population-at-large. It’s noteworthy that several of the studies confirming a cancer risk tied to lots of flying took place in Scandinavian countries where the flights took a northerly route.

The bottom line is that an annual long-haul vacation flight or two probably won't do much harm—and the benefits of relaxing on vacation will likely outweigh any radiation effects. But if you’re airborne constantly, particularly on long flights at high altitudes closer to the poles, you might want to think about cutting back and at least be extra careful about additional radiation exposures.

What You can do to Protect Yourself


For those of you still wanting to go the extra mile for your health here are a few tips we suggest to have the most EMF/EMR free trip possible:

1. WEAR EMF PROTECTIVE JEWELRY OR ONE OF OUR EMF NEUTRALIZING BUTTONS: – these jewelry and buttons pieces are programmed with frequencies that are designed to help minimize the effects of EMF exposure.

2. TAKE SUPERFOOD GREENS: – Superfood Greens are designed to help absorb EMF radiation within the body. Matter of fact, everyone should be taking 2 – 4 of these everyday anyways, with the constant electronics that we are all exposed to. It’s a large bottle containing 400 capsules. They can be found on our website!

3. USE EMF NEUTRALIZERS: – EMF Cell Phone Neutralizers can also be found on our site and should be placed on all electronics in addition to cell phones that are in close proximity to the body.

4. OPT OUT: opt out of those pesky scanners and take a pat down instead, this imply helps you cut back on as much radiation as possible for your flight

5. FULLY CHARGE DEVICES: fully charge ALL electronics that you may be wanting to use during your flight ahead of time in order to avoid the work/charging stations. These charging stations are emitting tons of electronic signals and you are being surrounded by all other passengers devices that are giving off emf/emr radiation as well. If its a trip that is a long haul and you will need to charge your devices at some point, bring portable chargers or leave your devices on the charging stations and distance yourself from the exposure to mitigate the negative effects.

6. DON'T RUSH TO GET ON: A plane is a big metal box that is attracting signals. Avoid getting on as fast as possible because less time on the plane equivalates to less exposure. Other places where EMFs emit a lot of exposure in the plane are the cockpit and the planes engine. Try to sit in the middle of the plane where you are more centralized from those locations. Also, a window seat is a break in the plane metal so snag a window seat to decrease some of your exposure!

7. CHOOSE A WIFI FREE FLIGHT IF POSSIBLE: 64% of planes still do not offer free wifi. Call the flight booking ahead of time to find out if your plane will have free wifi or not and try to go with an option that does not offer it to avoid extra exposure on the plane.