Use Your Laptop Safely: 6 Tips to Get Started

by Sophia Ruan Gushée and her editorial team

We are lucky to enjoy the convenient mobility that technology provides. Not only are our personal lives enriched by more accessibility and connection with our friends and loved ones, but technology has also connected employers and employees from among more parts of the world. More of us can work from home, or from more parts of the world. Technology has provided us with a lot more options, and a lot more freedom.

While most of us appreciate the conveniences and other benefits of technology, many people do not realize that it comes with risks. In this article, we will provide information about laptop radiation, its potential effects on the human body, especially in men and their DNA, and six tips to reduce your radiation exposures from laptops.

What is Laptop Radiation?

The radiation coming from your laptop is described as radio waves. These radio waves are constantly emitting from the device when in use, and even when not in use if WiFi and Bluetooth are not turned off. This creates an electromagnetic field (EMF). 

Your laptop needs this frequency to operate wirelessly. But this radiation poses risks that most people don't know.

Laptop radiation can ‘burn’ your skin

Your laptop produces a lot of heat, especially the more you use it. This heat, while maybe not immediately noticeable, can damage your skin.

Imagine that you are balancing your laptop on your knees. This direct contact with your skin is known to cause permanent discoloration, and in rare cases, this damage can also lead to certain skin cancers.

Another symptom of the skin’s damage from your laptop is a nettle, sting-like rash. This is also known as ‘toasted skin syndrome’.

While this is a risk to consider for adults, perhaps a more important concern is how it is affecting your children. Children are even more susceptible, since their skin is more tender. For this reason, we should pay close attention to how our children use their laptops.

Laptop Radiation and Infertility in Men

Research has shown that WiFi radiation from laptops can damage sperm quality.

Laboratory experiments conducted in Argentina measured the active swimming sperm in 29 healthy men after being exposed to WiFi radiation from a laptop for one hour. The results: 25% of the sperm were no longer swimming.

Within the controlled sperm group (the ones kept under the same exact conditions but not exposed to WiFi radiation), the portion of sperm that stopped swimming was less: at a rate of 14%.

Further research continues to study this. There is not nearly as much understanding on how laptop radiation may affect the fertility of females and their DNA and offspring.

Other Damage

While it’s true that sitting with your laptop on your lap for a few hours is probably not a big deal, the real question you need to ask yourself is how much time that laptop is on your lap over a period of a week, a month, or many years.

Because of the unpredictable and inconsistent nature of each person’s laptop usage, it has been difficult for scientists to get a proper grasp on the long term (including intergenerational) effects. The damage doesn’t happen over one day, or even one month. It is the accumulation of radiation exposures that is most likely to be causing the negative effects.

Also, possible, but not studied sufficiently, are the possible effects on future generations. For example, some experts wonder if the offspring of a man whose reproductive area has had chronic exposure to radiation may be impacted. No one knows. But it's something I wish my husband and I were more thoughtful of before we had our children.

The bottom line is that while your laptop is an essential piece of your daily life, there are compelling reasons why you should adopt some precautionary measures.

6 Tips to Reduce Laptop Radiation Exposure

In addition to being mindful of your laptop habits, routines, and usage, the tips below can help protect yourself:

1. Avoid using your laptop with it on your lap
2. Using a laptop while it is plugged into an electrical outlet creates more radiation. Instead, use a desktop or battery-powered laptop
3. Hardwire your internet connections via cable modem instead of using wireless WiFi connections, and then turn off WiFi on your laptop
4. When not using your laptop, make sure WiFi and Bluetooth are turned off. Even when you are not using the laptop and it is closed, it can still emit radiation as the laptop searches for WiFi and Bluetooth connection
5. If using a keyboard and mouse for your laptop, avoid using Bluetooth and, instead, use a cable connection to connect the keyboard and mouse to your laptop
6. Consider using a high quality laptop shield

To learn about more tips: How to Protect Yourself From Laptop Radiation

Further Support

Certain precautionary measures won't reduce your time, productivity, and enjoyment with laptops. In return, they may position you for more resilient health and fertility. 

In this article, you learned about what laptop radiation is, how it can cause skin problems, and impair sperm quality. You also received precautionary measures to use your laptop more safely.

If you would like to detox your EMFs further, then consider our Detox Your EMFs: The Ultimate 21-Day Digital Detox. It offers a pleasant edit of your home with videos, audio, and checklists of practical changes you won't mind making.