Earthing mat is making me ill !

[sunnyod]

Hi All


Sorry for the lengthy first post and use of any non-standard terminology. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to electronics, hopefully I've done enough due diligence so I'm not asking anything too silly lol ?


I've bought a Grounding mat that plugs into the mains (earth wire only) which I use for grounding my body during the day and overnight. Problem is I'm waking up in the middle of the night and my I feel like i've got an electric charge wherever my body is in contact with the mat. I've only been using it for a few days so far and the seller is saying it'll pass, however i'm not sure. I'm also sometimes getting head & neck in the morning. It's a mat like this one... Grounding mats, Earthing Yoga and Fitness mat - https://www.groundology.co.uk/earthing/grounding-mats.


I've done a bit of research into this and found that it's possible that I've either got electro hypersensitivity, or there could be some electrical interference on the earth in my house (or maybe something else?). I've got a multimeter and have tried to compare the earth with a baseline source (earthing rod in garden) and I can't see much AC current coming off of it, but I do notice that it's frequency is 50hz (I'm in the UK), so maybe it's picking up some EMF or something not sure. I've tested all plug sockets with a socket tester and all seems to be fine, earth is working normally apparently. I've got a couple of options from what I can tell

1. Find out if the mains is faulty and fix that. Socket tester shows it's clean, so not sure if there's anything else I can do to test this?
2. Upgrade the cable that I'm using to connect the mains to the mat. Guess it would need to be shielded from EMF and also filter/block out any AC current that might on the mains earth and is leaking onto the mat
   Here is an example of a product that already does this and Video here, but I'm not sure what components would be needed to replicate this. Maybe it's a ferrite core to filter any leaking current? Any recommendations for what shielded cable to use? I guess it's not advisable to use something like speaker cable that can carry too much voltage, for safety reasons? Btw, I'm trying to save money otherwise I'd just buy the example cable above (I'm looking at a multi room setup so would work out a lot)
3. Fit a grounding rod like this one (3/8in (9.5mm) x 4ft (1200mm) Copperbond Earth Rod with Cable Clamp - https://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/products/229310) and connect it with shielded cabling into the house
   Can I use thicker cable initially so I can split it and connect up a few rooms (then use thinner (safer) cables to join with connections to the mats)? Again, I'm guessing both types of cable would need to be shielded?

Thanks so much for any help guys! Reason I'm doing this is because I've recently found a skin melanoma and noticed that the EMF levels (high and low) in the house are really high. I'm trying to reduce them all as much as I can


Cheers


Sunny

 

[brianmoooore]

If you think it's making you ill, disconnect it, roll or fold it up, and place it in the bin.
Then stay away from pseudo scientific drivel on social media or the internet, placed there by persons whose only interest is in parting you from your money.

 

[nicebutdim]

Some interesting information in the 'about' and 'FAQ' sections of that website!

 

[Wilko]

Connecting yourself ‘all over’ to the mains earth is not something that I think is wise. I do understand the concept of grounding and what you are hoping to achieve, but the simple fact is the majority of domestic earth installations in the UK are now TNCS where your E is actually the N conductor outside your installation. So your inside E may not be exactly at Earth potential and this defeats the purpose, in my opinion. The next issue - there is a fault which can make N go to a high voltage, which is your E with TNCS, which you are now wrapped up in ... gulp.

For grounding, I enjoy walking about on grass barefoot

 

[marcuswareham]

Some interesting information in the 'about' and 'FAQ' sections of that website!

The FAQ suggest every house is TT, I am sure most are TN

If you think it's making you ill, disconnect it, roll or fold it up, and place it in the bin.
Then stay away from pseudo scientific drivel on social media or the internet, placed there by persons whose only interest is in parting you from your money.

Yes pseudoscience springs to mind

 

[marcuswareham]

The FAQ suggest every house is TT, I am sure most are TN



Yes pseudoscience springs to mind

 

[sunnyod]

Connecting yourself ‘all over’ to the mains earth is not something that I think is wise. I do understand the concept of grounding and what you are hoping to achieve, but the simple fact is the majority of domestic earth installations in the UK are now TNCS where your E is actually the N conductor outside your installation. So your inside E may not be exactly at Earth potential and this defeats the purpose, in my opinion. The next issue - there is a fault which can make N go to a high voltage, which is your E with TNCS, which you are now wrapped up in ... gulp.

For grounding, I enjoy walking about on grass barefoot

Lovely! Thanks for you reply

I think options 1 and 2 are redundant given the information you shared, so thanks for helping me with that decision bud. I’ll go with option 3 and create my own earth.

Any advice on what type of cabling I could use to run from the grounding rod into the house and then rooms? Is it safe to use thicker cable for that first run then in each room join it with the cable that comes with the mat? If you know the names for ideal types of cabling to do this, I’ll have a dig around

 

[sunnyod]

btw there are lots of peer reviewed studies on the benefits of earthing in general but also using mats like this... happy to share if anyone is interested

 

[Lucien Nunes]

You should avoid bringing an independent earth connection into the house that is not part of the electrical installation. In the event of an electrical fault or accident this can significantly increase the risk of electric shock, because the voltage present on the independent (extraneous) connection will not follow that of the installation and anything bonded to it in the equipotential zone.

Without trying to doubt what you say, if the mat is making you feel ill it is as likely to be due to outgassing from the material it's made of, or something like that, than any electrical effect. You might consider yourself a reliable observer of your experiences, however with a cause (putative noisy mains earth) and effect (a strange feeling in your body) that are so tenuously linked, it is very hard to exclude experimental bias.

Can I recommend a simple, blinded testing method to discover whether the effect you experience is related to the earth connection? It's what I would do in your situation. Leave the mat in place but hide the earth connection to it, so that you can't tell whether it is connected. Get someone you know to go to the connection once a week for a month or two, and leave it either connected or disconnected according to the throw of a dice, keeping a log e.g. 'C' for connected and 'D' for disconnected. You stay out of contact with them, so they won't hint to you about how the connection is set that week. Keep a log of how you feel about the effects, using a simple scale of 1-5. At the end, give your log and their log to another person who knows nothing about the experiment or your concerns, and get them to check for any correlation between the letters and the numbers. It might cost you a bottle of wine for your experimental assistant but could save you a lot of time and effort once you can be more sure whether the effect you experience is actually due to the earthing of the mat.

 

[sunnyod]

Thanks for the details information Lucien, really appreciated. I agree an A/B blind test would be ideal way of working out what's causing the uncomfortable feeling. I'll consider doing that

Could you tell me your thoughts on this earthing rod which is designed to be used with the earthing mat?

Grounding rod kit

Groundology supplies personal grounding/earthing systems: earthing sheets, mats, bands, patches, and other accessories. Based in UK, shipping worldwide.

www.groundology.co.uk

It's 2mm cable is unshielded, however do you think it would be safe to use this earthing rod product in my setup and bypass the mains earth idea? If so, do you know of a shielded cable I could use to perform similar function to that used in this product? That's my main issue as I have lots of EMFs running in the house and I wouldn't want to use this product as there may be interference introduced onto the cable.

 

[pc1966]

Lucien beat me to it, but many plastics outgas potentially unpleasant precursor chemicals in their manufacturing process and if you are feeling odd due it its presence, that is FAR more likely to be the reason.

 

[sunnyod]

Lucien beat me to it, but many plastics outgas potentially unpleasant precursor chemicals in their manufacturing process and if you are feeling odd due it its presence, that is FAR more likely to be the reason.

To clarify. The unpleasant feeling is more like i've got micro shocks near where my skin is touching the mat. It's not like toxic poisoning, more electrical. I also get tension in neck muscles and headaches, so I'm assuming it's not related to chemicals etc. The mat itself is made from pure rubber with carbon infused conductive elements, afaik this shouldn't be dangerous

I personally think it could be due to electro hypersensitivity on my part more than anything and the grounding rod solution would stop any issues i have if this is the case

 

[pc1966]

If you are getting a tingling sensation, more pronounced if you brush against things, that can be a sign of a faulty earth allowing a few microamps of AC current to flow.

While that current is not dangerous in itself, the whole purpose of having earth (also called CPC here - circuit protective conductor) is to divert fault currents safely and allow the fuse or breaker to disconnect before it is a major hazard. If the CPC is faulty you are a single fault away from a fatal accident!

Having the home wiring checked by a professional is your best option to rule out that sort of thing. Generally this is referred to as EICR - electrical installation condition report. It has become popular recently following changes to landlord rules, etc, so there are a lot of poor players charging little up-front with the aim of making a profit on potentially unnecessary work later. Doing it properly depends on the size of the installation, etc, but would take from a couple of hours to full day and priced accordingly.

There may be someone on here that could quote for doing such a check properly, though expect something like £200 or so.

 

[sunnyod]

sorry this post is missing, looks like it needs mod approval so you can't see it

 

[Lucien Nunes]

If you get shocks touching the mat, and the mat is connected to the means of earthing of your installation, then you should be getting shocks from all your earthed electrical appliances like your washing machine. Regardless, it would imply that there is a fault with your electrical installation and things that should be at earth potential are not. This should be rectified promptly to avoid risk of serious shock injury.

What is the bulk resistivity and/or surface resistivity of the mat? The reason I ask is that many types of earthing mat (such as the anti-static mat on my bench that protects my equipment) are designed to maintain a significant resistance between any contacting object and the mains earth, to avoid risk of shock. Knowing the spec of your mat might narrow down possible causes.